Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Best Bets
James Stewart movies all day on TCM
Two-hour season finale of NCIS (CBS, 7pm – 9pm)
Season finale of Reaper (CW, 8pm)
Series finale of Shark (CBS, 9pm)
Harrison Ford, Ali Lohan, Leona Lewis on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)
Denis Leary, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Mates of State on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm)
News & Notes
‘Tis the season when there are spoilers for finales all over the place– remember that I try my best to keep this site a “spoiler free” zone. This site probably doesn’t get the traffic it could if I posted “scoops” or spoilers, but it is a safe place for you to read about what’s on TV without getting spoiled for what’s going to happen or even for what already happened on a show that aired recently. Heck, I try to be careful when talking about big revelations even on older shows.
How are you enjoying the finales thus far? Any standouts? Any you can’t wait to see? Any that you found disappointing? Are you disappointed about any of the shows that aren’t returning? Already excited about some of the new shows for Fall? As always, I like hearing what you guys think: please do comment on posts (no spoilers, please) or contact me directly.
The Fall 2008 Schedule Grid Preview is the most popular page on this site right now so I feel obligated to mention it in case someone is looking for it and somehow hasn’t found it yet or needs to give it another look. I know I’m referring to it often these days.
Daytime
Today would’ve been Jimmy Stewart’s 100th birthday so Turner Classic Movies is celebrating with a marathon of his films today. Awesome! You can read more about it on the TCM website and you’ll find a full schedule of today’s movies there too.
“Take 10 Years Off Your Looks Makeovers” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).
Primetime Grid
| Tue | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Dancing with the Stars Rerun | Dancing with the Stars Season finale | ||||
| CBS | NCIS Season finale | Shark Series finale | ||||
| NBC | Most Outrageous Moments | Outrageous Moments | Law & Order: SVU Rerun | Law & Order: SVU Rerun | ||
| FOX | American Idol runs ’til 8:02pm | Hell’s Kitchen | Local Programming | |||
| CW | Reaper Rerun | Reaper Season finale | Local Programming | |||
Primetime
Today would’ve been Jimmy Stewart’s 100th birthday so Turner Classic Movies is celebrating with a marathon of his films today. Awesome! You can read more about it on the TCM website and you’ll find a full schedule of today’s movies there too.
Special two-hour season finale of NCIS (CBS, 7pm). I can’t wait to see this and figure the less said about what may or may not happen in it the better. If you’re already a fan of the show, you’ll be watching. NCIS will be back next season on the same night and time (Tuesdays at 7pm).
The final two perform on part one of the two-part season finale of American Idol (FOX, 7pm). DVR/VCR Alert: Runs at least two minutes long.
2008 NBA Draft Lottery (ESPN, 7pm).
New episode of Raw Nature (Animal Planet, 7pm, 10pm, 2am).
NBA action: Pistons at Celtics (ESPN, 7:30pm).
Series premiere of Not Going Out (BBC America, 7:40pm – 8:20pm; airs again at 10:40pm and 12:40am). DVR/VCR Alert: Runtime of 40 minutes. What the BBC America website says about this new show: “In the series premiere of the sitcom Not Going Out, Lee (Lee Mack) gets more than he bargained for when he moves in with a clean-living Californian, Kate (Megan Dodds, Viva Blackpool, MI-5). It isn’t long before their easy-going, comfortable friendship moves into uncharted waters – a situation complicated by the fact that Lee’s best friend, Tim (Tim Vine), is Kate’s ex-boyfriend, and he wants her back.”
Tony and the demons set a trap for Sam in the season finale of Reaper (CW, 8pm). The CW has picked up this show for another season, but for now the plan is that it won’t debut ’til midseason (winter). Not sure what night and time it will air, nor when it will start airing, but it will be back.
Season finale of Dancing with the Stars (ABC, 8pm – 10pm). As I mentioned yesterday, Usher performs and all sorts of other things happen including the return of the “fallen stars” and so on and so forth. A winner is crowned. The winner appears on Jimmy Kimmel tonight. If you missed part one of the finale, it’s rebroadcast tonight at 7pm on ABC.
Chef Ramsay asks for a volunteer to switch teams on a new Hell’s Kitchen (FOX, 8:02pm). In this week’s challenge they are given twenty ingredients and asked to create four dishes using all of the ingredients.
New Deadliest Catch (Discovery, 8pm, 10pm, midnight).
New Big Ideas for a Small Planet (Sundance, 8pm; also on Friday at 9am).
Remember when Billy Campbell (of The 4400, Once and Again) guest starred as a particularly scary serial killer? And he went after Sebastian and his daughter? Well Campbell is back as “Wayne Callison” for the series finale of Shark (CBS, 9pm). I really hope that when they made this episode they knew there was a good chance the show wouldn’t be picked up for another season– it wouldn’t be good if this were meant to be a season finale with a cliffhanger, you know?
New Work Out (Bravo, 9pm, 10pm, midnight, 2am).
New The Alaska Experiment (Discovery, 9pm and 1am).
New College Hill: Atlanta (BET, 9pm; also tomorrow at 7pm).
New A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila (MTV, 9pm, 10:30pm, midnight).
The women face each other for the first time in four months in The Bad Girls Club Reunion (Oxygen, 8:30pm, 10pm, 12:30am).
New Iron Ring (BET, 9:30pm and 1am).
Gene and the family answer fan e-mail questions and look at their favorite scenes on a new Gene Simmons Family Jewels (A&E, 9:30pm and 1:30am).
Pilar and Deion give a young couple marriage advise on a new Deion & Pilar: Prime Time Love (Oxygen, 9:30pm, 111pm, 1:30am).
Late Night
Fareed Zakaria on a rerun of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).
Rain, Carl Hiaasen on a rerun of The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).
Harrison Ford, Ali Lohan, Leona Lewis on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).
Sylvester Stallone, Irma & Ray Ziff, Jason Mraz on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).
A.J. Buckley on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).
Denis Leary, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Mates of State on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).
Matthew Fox (of Lost, the winner of this season of Dancing with the Stars, Pussycat Dolls on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).
Lonny Ross, Flobots on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).
