Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

Sidney Poitier classics on TCM starting at 7pm
New The Sarah Jane Adventures (Sci-Fi, 7pm, 7:30pm)
New Doctor Who (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 10pm)
Series finale of Moonlight (CBS, 8pm)
New Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 9pm and 11pm)
Season finale of Numb3rs (CBS, 9pm)
Count Yorga, Vampire (TCM, 1am, letterboxed)
The Fearless Vampire Killers (TCM, 2:45am, letterboxed)

News & Notes

The Fall 2008 Schedule Grid Preview is now complete as it includes the schedules for Fall for ABC, CBS, the CW, FOX, and NBC. Plus a list of shows that will air at midseason, some that may air at midseason, and a list of shows that won’t be returning. I hope you’ve found it useful.

In the coming weeks I will be adding more info to the grid: premiere dates (once they’re announced), links to official websites for the new shows, and data on cable original programming that will air in the Fall.

I’m also almost done with a Summer Grid for those of you that have requested that, should be up by Monday. And I’m working on one for Winter already too since so many upfront announcements also contained schedule data for midseason/winter.

Daytime

“Oprah’s Top Picks for Summer” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings). Heidi Klum and Donald Trump appear on the show, Mary J. Blige performs.

Primetime Grid

Primetime

NBA playoffs: Celtics at Cavaliers (ESPN, 7pm), Lakers at Jazz (ESPN, 9:30pm).

Sidney Poitier is just so very very good. Tonight, Turner Classic Movies airs three movies that he starred in: Edge of the City (TCM, 7pm, letterboxed), Lilies of the Field (TCM, 8:30pm, letterboxed), and The Defiant Ones (TCM, 10:15pm, letterboxed). Poitier received an Academy Award for his work in Lilies of the Field (with this win, he was the first African-American man to receive an Academy Award). Poitier was also nominated for an Oscar for his work in The Defiant Ones. You can read more about these films and Poitier on the TCM website.

Back to back episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures (Sci-Fi, 7pm, 7:30pm). The first is the conclusion of the “Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?” episode, the second kicks off the final story of season one which is titled “The Lost Boy”.

Alan: “This is too much to take in.”
Sarah Jane: “That’s the universe, Alan. Once it’s chosen to show you some of its secrets, you can’t ever turn your back on it; none of us can.”
  from The Sarah Jane Adventures

Special two-hour season finale of America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC, 7pm – 9pm). On location in Paris and Disneyland. The series will return next season; it will air at 6pm on Sunday nights.

Melinda uncovers the truth about her family’s past in the season finale of Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 7pm). Martin Donovan and Anne Archer guest star. This one was written and directed by series Creator and Executive Producer John Gray. This series will, for reasons I don’t understand, be back next season. Will air on the same night and time (Fridays at 7pm).

The Sontarans return to cause trouble in modern day Earth and it’s up to The Doctor to fix things (as usual) on a new episode of Doctor Who (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 10pm). The Sontarans last appeared on Doctor Who in 1985 when Colin Baker was The Doctor or so the internet tells me. This is part one of a two-part episode.

General Staal: “There is an enemy of the Sontarans known as the Doctor. A face-changer.”
Luke Rattigan: “Do you mean he’s an alien too?”
General Staal: “Legend says he led the battle in the Last Great Time War. The finest war in history and we weren’t allowed to be part of it. Oh, but this is excellent! The last of the Time Lords will die at the hands of the Sontaran Empire in the ruins of his precious Earth!”
  from Doctor Who

A vampire kills a human during a passionate moment and this has Mick and Beth facing some truths about their relationship in the series finale of Moonlight (CBS, 8pm). Guest stars include Eric Winter, Claudia Black (of Farscape, Stargate SG-1), and Jonathan LaPaglia. This series did not make the CBS schedule for next season which is why the season finale is now considered a series finale. Fans of the show are trying to save the show, but it’s extremely unusual for a show to be saved after it doesn’t make the schedules which are announced at the Upfronts. Sorry I don’t have better news for those of you who like the show!

The cast of Dancing with the Stars on Larry King Live (CNN, 8pm, 11pm, 2am, 4am).

Bear Grylls tries to survive a week on a deserted island in the Indian Ocean on a new Man vs. Wild (Discovery, 8pm and midnight). Followed by a rerun of the “Sierra Nevada” episode (Discovery, 9pm and 1am).

All I know about tonight’s new episode of Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 9pm and 11pm; also on Sunday at midnight) is that it’s titled “Guess What’s Coming to Dinner?” and it’s probably best to be surprised anyway. This is the ninth episode of the show’s final season of twenty-two episodes, just in case you were wondering.

Charlie and Don disagree about how to handle a case and Megan is struggling with her conscience in the season finale of Numb3rs (CBS, 9pm). The case in question involves national security somehow. The always fabulous Zeljko Ivanek guest stars as a Special Agent. Ivanek played “Danvers” on Homicide and has had guest spots and recurring roles on many many TV shows; I suppose most recently he was a regular on Damages. Did you know I once saw him play “Hamlet” at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis? Julianne Moore was “Ophelia” in that same production (which I saw at least three times). Numb3rs will be back next season in the same timeslot (Fridays at 9pm).

The effect of surveillance cameras on police culture, how colleges and students are being affected by a particular anonymous website popular with college students, and a young woman from a polygamist sect tells of being forced to wed at the age of 14 on a new 20/20 (ABC, 9pm).

A look at the murder of the wife of a police officer on Dateline NBC (NBC, 9pm).

Tonight’s new episode of Shockwave (History Channel, 9pm and 1am) is supposed to include: a paraglider that goes into a death spiral in Mexico, stuntman Spanky Spangler trying to set an automotive world record, a fireball which erupts inside a military helicopter transporting journalists, a speedboat that races out of control, and a gas tank truck inferno.

Baseball: White Sox at Giants (WGN, 9pm).

Sex and the City: The Movie: HBO First Look (HBO, 9:45pm, lots of additional airings on various HBO stations to be sure).

Late Night

Teri Hatcher (of Desperate Housewives), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Matthew Fox (of Lost), Kathleen Edwards on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).

Alan Alda, John Cena, Everest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).

Reba McEntire, Vinnie Jones on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).

Ryan Seacrest, Clay Aiken on Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, check your local listings).

Daryl Hannah, Josh Kelley on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

Robert Osbourne interviews Tony Curtis on Private Screenings: Tony Curtis (TCM, midnight).

Count Yorga, Vampire (TCM, 1am, letterboxed) is featured as part of TCM Underground. Robert Quarry stars. Read all about this unusual film.

I’ve long wanted to check out the horror parody/comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers (TCM, 2:45am, letterboxed) and so it’s cool to see it air on TCM. You can read more about it on the TCM website. Roman Polanski directed the movie and acted in it; Sharon Tate also was in the movie, she and Polanski fell in love during the filming and later married. The movie is followed by a short film All Eyes on Sharon Tate (TCM, 4:34am).