Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

Season premiere of Doctor Who (Sci-Fi, 7:30pm – 9pm, 10pm – 11:30pm)
New Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 9pm and 11:30pm)
Amy Poehler, Jason Segel, Jordan Zevon on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)
Kristen Bell, Oliver Hudson, Liam Finn on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm)
Charles Barkley, Judd Apatow, Lyrics Born on Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, check your local listings)

News & Notes

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Primetime Grid

Primetime

Part 1 (of 2) of a new episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures (Sci-Fi, 7pm) titled “The Revenge of the Slitheen”. Some adults like this show, others (like me) are underwhelmed. The target audience is pre-teens. Looks like Sci-Fi will just be airing this episode once, so if you’re interested be sure to watch/record this sole airing.

Another broadcast of this week’s new episode of REAL Sports With Bryant Gumbel (HBO, 7pm). Guests include Sen. Barack Obama and outfielder Torii Hunter (of the Angels, formerly of the Minnesota Twins).

New episodes of Lemur Kingdom (Animal Planet, 7pm, 10pm, 2am) and Escape to Chimp Eden (Animal Planet, 8pm, 11pm, 3am).

Ben teams up with Gwen and Kevin to find his missing grandfather on a new Ben 10: Alien Force (Cartoon Network, 7pm; also at 9am on Saturday and 10am on Sunday).

An aggressive bulldog, a beagle/terrier mix with a fear of trash cans, and a Lab mix who has started to exhibit anxiety outside on a new Dog Whisperer (National Geographic, 7pm and 10pm).

A couple of specials for NBA fans: Best NBA Games From the 2007-08 Season (ESPN2, 7pm) and Best NBA Plays of the 2007-08 Season (ESPN2, 7:30pm).

Kyle Minogue guest stars in the season premiere of Doctor Who (Sci-Fi, 7:30pm – 9pm, 10pm – 11:30pm). This is one of the “Christmas specials,” a special 90-minute episode that aired on Christmas after the end of last season, before the start of the current one. But I guess you could call it the season premiere given the way the show airs here in the U.S. It is the U.S. debut of this episode in which the Doctor tries to save the lives of people on an orbiting cruise ship called the Titanic. Next week the true season premiere will air at 8pm and 10pm, it debuted on the BBC just a few weeks ago.

Elizabeth finds herself defending a rapist (something she swore she would never do) in the season finale (and probable series finale) of Canterbury’s Law (FOX, 8pm). Keith David guest stars.

“A man goes on trial 15 years after the murder that divided his family and pitted a father against a son” on Dateline NBC (NBC, 8pm – 10pm).

If you forgot where Moonlight (CBS, 8pm) left off and plan to watch the remaining new episodes for this season (the first of which airs next week), you might want to watch this rerun of the last episode to air before the show went on a break.

A woman who encourages recycling in Las Vegas gets a wardrobe to match her environmental message on a new What Not To Wear (TLC, 8pm and midnight; also at 1pm on Saturday).

Season finale of Your Mama Don’t Dance (Lifetime, 8pm). Ian Ziering hosts. The three remaining teams compete and a winner is selected.

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). DVR/VCR Alert: Episodes have a runtime of 40 minutes. In this episode: “A couple finds an antique wardrobe that is a gateway to Narnia, Sir Digby and Ginger may have been told by the Queen to steal pills from the hospital.”

New episode of Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 9pm and 11:30pm; airs again on Sunday at 10pm). The Sci-Fi Channel isn’t really releasing much in the way of details about these episode to the press and I guess I approve of that. If you’re watching, you’ll keep watching and don’t need me to give away plot points (the commercials do enough of that).

“Your Weather: Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity” on a new 20/20 (ABC, 9pm).

Former U.S. Marine Captain Brian Steidle travels into the heart of Darfur, accessing parts of the country journalists cannot access because of the Sudanese government in the new special The Devil Came on Horseback (National Geographic, 9pm and midnight; also on Sunday at 11am).

Baseball Tonight (ESPN, 9pm).

The USS Enterprise supports one of the largest and most deadly battles of the Pacific War, nearly wiping out Japanese naval air power in the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” on Battle 360 (History Channel, 9pm and 1am).

A nurse, a singer, and a comic are on a new 10 Years Younger (TLC, 9pm; also at Noon on Saturday).

Late Night

Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO, 10pm).

Amy Poehler, Jason Segel (of How I Met Your Mother, Freaks and Geeks), Jordan Zevon (son of Warren Zevon) on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm). Segel wrote and starred in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall; Kristen Bell is also in the movie and Judd Apatow produced it. Nicholas Stoller directed the movie, he was a writer on Apatow’s series Undeclared (and Segel had a role on that show too).

Tracey Ullman, Jason Taylor, Flogging Molly on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).

Martin Short, Ray Allen (of the Boston Celtics), the Kooks on a rerun of Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).

Kristen Bell (of Veronica Mars), Oliver Hudson, Liam Finn on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm). Liam Finn is the son of Neil Finn of Crowded House, Split Enz, et al. and is an excellent songwriter and performer in his own right; he played and toured with Crowded House on their most recent tour.

Charles Barkley, Judd Apatow (creator of Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared), Lyrics Born on Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, check your local listings).

Perez Hilton, Sig & Edgar Hansen, Katy Perry on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).