Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

New Canterbury’s Law (FOX, 8pm)
Season premiere of Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 9pm - 10:01pm, 11pm - 12:01am)
New Numb3rs (CBS, 9pm)
Christina Applegate, Lewis Black on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm)

News & Notes

Birds of Prey (TV Series) is now available for pre-order from Amazon; they don’t list a release date, but I’m pretty sure it’s due out in July. I’m so glad this show will finally be available on DVD, I recently watched it all and enjoyed the heck out of it. The show originally aired on the WB in 2002, but only lasted one short season. The stars of the show are: Ashley Scott (of Jericho), Dina Meyer, Rachel Skarsten, and Shemar Moore (of Criminal Minds); with Ian Abercrombie, Shawn Christian, and Rob Benedict in recurring roles. Very loosely based on the comic book of the same name, it follows Oracle (the superheroine formerly known as Batgirl), the Huntress (daughter of Batman and Catwoman), a new wannabe superhero, and a police detective as they fight crime and stuff. Mia Sara plays Dr. Harleen Quinzel a.k.a. Harley Quinn and she’s up to no good.

Amazon has launched a new section of their store: Cosmotopia, a Sci-Fi Destination which is, as the title says, focused on science fiction. To celebrate the opening of the store and what they’re calling “Sci-Fi Month,” they’ve got some really good sales going on science fiction DVDs including some of SF TV shows. Worth a look if you’re a fan of any science fiction movies, TV shows, books, etc.

Primetime Grid

Primetime

Rerun of a season two episode of Bones (FOX, 7pm). The skeletal remains of a young girl are found and evidence causes the team to believe she was the victim of a serial killer. But is the killer behind bars or still at large? Bones is set to return with a new episode on April 14th.

Brennan: “You said you’ve dealt with manipulative men before.”
Angela: “Sweetie, this is a psycho killer, not some loser who wants you to co-sign a loan for his jet-ski.”
  from Bones

More gadgets are featured on a new Modern Marvels (History Channel, 7pm and 11pm).

New Dog Whisperer (National Geographic, 7pm and 10pm).

Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 7pm) returns with a new episode. Ned’s girlfriend thinks she’s being haunted by her dead father. I guess. This is the first new episode for the show after the WGA strike. Sounds like there’ll be five more new episodes after this one for this season; the show will be back next season.

Two teenage girls are accused of soliticing the murder of another teenager girl in this new episode of Canterbury’s Law (FOX, 8pm). This show has been moved from Monday night to Friday night which is never a good sign. If you like it, enjoy it while it lasts. I’ve seen this episode and thought it was decent. Kevin (my husband) says that this isn’t a show he’d go out of his way for and is only elevated from being an average show by the fabulous Julianna Margulies. You know what? I think he’s right. If you haven’t tuned in to the show yet, you can tune in and get the hang of it. Margulies plays a defense attorney with a messy personal life (of course). FOX originally ordered thirteen episodes of this show, but only six were produced because of the strike. This is the fourth episode.

Dateline NBC (NBC, 8pm - 10pm). Stories covered include ones about Barry Beach (a man who has spent 24 years in prison for a crime he says he did not commit) and rumors that still shake the town of Poplar, Montana.

New episode of What Not To Wear (TLC, 8pm and midnight; also at 9pm and midnight on Sunday).

Ian Ziering hosts a new episode of Your Mama Don’t Dance (Lifetime, 8pm and 11pm).

Mike Greenberg hosts the season premiere of Duel (ABC, 8pm). It’s a game show, in case you missed it last season and don’t remember it. Here’s how the press release describes the show: “In a cutting edge format combining trivia challenges like those on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with the strategy played in the World Series of Poker — contestants will once again find themselves in intense head-to-head matches, reacting quickly under pressure and outsmarting their opponents by using strategy and deception, as well as intellect and skill, in the race to win big money.” There’s also an online version of the game if you’d like to play it yourself.

Robert Webb and David Mitchell star in a new episode of sketch comedy show That Mitchell and Webb Look (BBC America, 8:20pm, 11:20pm, 1:20am). The episode has a runtime of 40 minutes.

Season premiere of Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 9pm and 11pm). DVR/VCR Alert: Runs a minute or so long. If you’re a fan of Battlestar Galactica, I don’t need to tell you to watch; if you aren’t yet hooked on the show, don’t start here– track down the DVDs and watch from the beginning (it’s one of those shows where that’s important). There’s a marathon of reruns all day on the Sci-Fi channel leading right up to this premiere.

Don and the team take down an inner city meth lab on a new Numb3rs (CBS, 9pm), but it sounds like that’s just the beginning of the story. This is the first new episode for the show after the WGA strike. There are five more new episodes yet to come this season; the show has been renewed for next season.

I’m not sure what the stories will be on tonight’s episode of 20/20 (ABC, 9pm), if you really want to know you might be able to find more information somewhere on the ABC website. But I kinda figure most of you are gonna be watching Battlestar Galactica and/or Numb3rs and really don’t care about 20/20 so I’m not gonna take 5-10 minutes to dig around and try to find out the topics du jour.

New Battle 360 (History Channel, 9pm and 1am).

New 10 Years Younger (TLC, 9pm).

Late Night

Esai Morales, fmr. Sec. of Labor Robert Reich, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Real Time correspondent Amy Holmes. Plus, via satellite, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) on a new Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO, 10pm).

Ellen Pompeo (of Grey’s Anatomy), Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

David Spade, Nora Hardwick, Ben Lee on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).

Christina Applegate, Lewis Black on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).

Jena Malone, Mrs. Hughes on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).

Artie Lang, Spencer Grammer, Paramore on Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, check your local listings).

Eddie Izzard (of The Riches), Rick Ross on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).