Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

Season finale of Criminal Minds (CBS, 8pm)
Season finale of Boston Legal (ABC, 9pm)
Season finale of Law & Order (NBC, 9pm)
New Top Chef (Bravo, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm, 1am)
Harrison Ford, Eric McCormack, Atmosphere on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm)

News & Notes:

Thanks to TVPicks.net reader Katie O. who signed up for the $5 per month donation/subscription plan in support of this website! There are a few readers who have opted to support the site in this way and that’s very cool of them. That option and other options are available from the donation page– you can choose to have funds taken from a credit card or Paypal account on a monthly or annual basis or you can make a one-time donation. It just takes a couple of mouseclicks to stop the recurring payments if you decide it’s no longer worth it to you or if your financial situation changes. If anyone has questions or problems, please get in touch with me.

I like to think that this site is useful enough that it’s worth donating $5 per month, which is really just about the price of one overpriced cup of coffee per month or one fast food meal or . . . well, some small thing like that. Obviously, everyone’s financial situation differs and some folks can’t afford to put $5 per month in their budget for something like this because they need that money to make ends meet; others may just not find my site worth supporting with donations or choose to support it in some other way– that’s totally cool too. Thanks to all of you who support the site, however you choose to do so!

Daytime

“Dr. Oz Goes to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Camp” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings). In this episode “six people have 72 hours to conquer their obsessions.”

Primetime Grid

Primetime

Baseball: Mets at Braves (ESPN, 6pm), followed by Baseball Tonight (ESPN, 9pm or so).

From all accounts, Depression: Out of the Shadows (PBS, check your local listings) is an excellent new special about clinical depression. I recommend the special to everyone because odds are you know people who suffer from depression or may suffer from it yourself. Here’s a link to an official page about the special. If you’re busy watching finales in primetime tonight, check your local listings (or the aforementioned web link) as it’s likely your local PBS station will be airing it again this week (or even later tonight). I’ve talked about my own struggles with depression openly online for years and on the radio and in other public forums as well; it’s difficult to explain what it’s like to someone who hasn’t experienced it, which is why I think specials like this are important. Here’s a link to an article about the special from MinnPost.com. In the Twin Cities area on TPT channel 2, it airs tonight at 8pm and again at 2am and also later in the week.

If you care about these things, you surely already know about the season finale of American Idol (FOX, 7pm).

A special rebroadcast of the two episodes of Lost (ABC, 7pm – 9pm) that aired right before the most recent episode (which debuted last week and was part 1 of the finale). Presumably will have captions with additional data about the show. In the first episode, Jack has a medical emergency of his own; in the second, Locke finds the cabin. There’s no Lost tomorrow night, but next Thursday all three hours of the season finale air (including the one we saw last week, plus two new hours).

The BAU is called on to investigate a series of shootings in New York City in the season finale of Criminal Minds (CBS, 8pm). Are the victims random? Is it the work of a single shooter or a group of shooters? I guess they’ll figure it out. Erik Palladino (of Over There, ER) is among the guest stars.

Season premiere of MI-5 (BBC America, 8pm, 11pm, 1am). This is such a great show, I should write more about it (I’ve been reluctant to since I’m a bit behind in my viewing, which in no way should reflect on the quality of the show).

NBA: Spurs at Lakers (TNT, 8pm).

Former MN Governor, writer, actor, wrestler Jesse Ventura on Larry King Live (CNN, 8pm, 11pm, 2am). I think this is a new appearance, not a rerun of an old one.

Alan and Denny face off against each other in court in the season finale of Boston Legal (ABC, 9pm). I suppose it had to happen eventually, this certainly should be interesting. Is this show the most political scripted series on the air? Sometimes I think so. In tonight’s episode, a city wants to secede from the United States. I’m very pleased to report that the show will be back for another season, though I’m a little sad that next season will be the last of this unique show. Boston Legal will air next season on Monday nights at 9pm on ABC.

If you were wondering why Tom Everett Scott appeared so briefly in last week’s episode, well tonight it sounds like he has a much bigger part in the season finale of Law & Order (NBC, 9pm). The case involves a dead jeweler and a prostitution ring. Sounds like we see a lot of Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) in this one which is always a good thing. Law & Order will be back next year, but probably not until midseason/winter as it did last season; will probably air on the same night and time (Wednesdays at 9pm).

The chefs are forced to work the line at a greasy spoon during breakfast rush on a new Top Chef (Bravo, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm, 1am).

A heist goes bad and the gunman requests that a CSI come to the bank to help prove their innocense in the season finale of CSI: NY (CBS, 9pm). Sounds like Mac will get to work a crime scene, while the crime is still in progress as he and others are hostages in the bank. The always fabulous Adam Baldwin (of Chuck, Day Break, The Inside, and Firefly) is among the guest stars.

Late Night

Denis Leary (of Rescue Me, The Job) on a rerun of The Daily Show (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).

Jennifer Hooper McCarty on a rerun of The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).

Kristin Davis (of Sex and the City), Jimmy Buffett on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Adam Sandler, Hilary Duff, Al Green on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).

Harrison Ford, Eric McCormack, Atmosphere on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).

Laura Dern, k.d. lang on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).

Josh Groban, Kat Von D, the Kooks on Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, check your local listings).

Bill Bellamy on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).