Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

Season premiere of History Detectives (PBS, check your local listings)
New Modern Marvels (History, 7pm and 11pm)
New The Middleman (ABC Family, 9pm and 11pm)
New Weeds (Showtime, 9pm, 10pm)

Recommended Reruns

Bones (FOX, 7pm)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS, 7pm)
How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 7:30pm)
Two and a Half Men (CBS, 8pm)
House (FOX, 8pm)

News & Notes

The Middleman moves into a new timeslot from 7pm to 9pm Mondays; the second airing of the night remains at 11pm.

My birthday is this coming Saturday should you be interested in passing along well-wishes. I don’t expect gifts (though they’re always a welcome surprise), but it’s always especially nice to hear from people at this time of year.

The Deal of the Day at Amazon is Planet of the Apes - The Ultimate DVD Collection for just $60. The set includes the TV series and all the movies and normally sells for more than twice this amount.

Daytime

“Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts Together for the First Time!” on a rerun of Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings) from back in November 2007 when they were promoting Charlie Wilson’s War.

Primetime Grid

Primetime

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

Season premiere of History Detectives (PBS, check your local listings). One of my favorite PBS series returns with another season of fascinating new episodes. You can read more about it on the official website. The objects investigated in this episode are a diary written by a World War II pilot, an 1856 book about a woman married to a Mormon elder when polygamy was openly practiced, and a coin shot by Annie Oakley.

A look at the latest in bathroom technology on a new episode of Modern Marvels (History, 7pm and 11pm).

Rebroadcast of the latest episode of Army Wives (Lifetime, 9pm) which debuted this weekend.

The mummified remains of a young girl are found at a Halloween maze in this rerun of Bones (FOX, 7pm) from this past season. ‘Course the real reason to watch is because Brennan dresses up as Wonder Woman for Halloween (plus Angela dresses up as Chef, Cam as Catwoman, and Booth as a Squint).

Rerun of the Thanksgiving episode of Gossip Girl (CW, 7pm; also on Sunday at 5pm). Dan invites Serena and her family to Thanksgiving with him, not knowing of the current situation between Rufus and Lily. It’s awkward.

Sheldon is rattled when he meets a 15-year-old physicist who may be smarter than him in this rerun of The Big Bang Theory (CBS, 7pm). I somehow missed this one the first time around so look forward to catching it tonight. This show really grew on me; I didn’t like the first episode, but the show got better as the season progressed. The geekier it got, the better it was.

Leonard: “So what are you gonna do, just give up?”
Sheldon: “Yes. That’s what any rational person would do when his entire life’s work is invalidated by a post-pubescent aged wunderkind. He ceases his fruitless efforts, he donates his body to scientific research, and he waits to die.”
Penny: (after Sheldon leaves the room) “You know, I’m confused again. Is he waiting, or do we get to shoot him between the eyes?”
  from The Big Bang Theory

New episodes of Designed to Sell (HGTV, 7pm and 11pm) and Hidden Potential (HGTV, 8:30pm and 12:30am).

Barney really does not want Ted to move in with Robin (leaving Marshall and Lily with an apartment to themselves) in this rerun of How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 7:30pm) from the season before last.

Barney: “Question one: Ted, do you want to move in with Robin?”
Ted: “Yes.”
Barney: “Wrong! The correct answer is: ‘No, I want to stay single and have fun with my awesome friend Barney.’ Question two: Robin, do you think you can find someone who’s hotter than Ted?”
[pause]
Barney: “Correct! The correct answer is awkward silence.”
  from How I Met Your Mother

A patient mirrors the people around them in this rerun of House (FOX, 8pm).

Brennan: “You want us to stop his breathing?”
House: “Well only until you can figure out why. After that it would be irresponsible.”
  from House

46664: A Concert for Nelson Mandela (VH1, VH1 Classic, 8pm - 9:30pm; also on VH1 at 11pm).

Monty Halls leads a safari to investigate the historical, medical, scientific, and evolutionary importance of excrement and what it reveals to researchers in the special All About Dung (History Channel, 8pm - 10pm, midnight - 2am; airs again on Saturday at 4pm).

A new special that covers the current state of air travel: Unfriendly Skies: State of Travel (Travel Channel, 8pm and midnight).

Richard Kind (of Spin City, Mad About You) guest stars in this rerun of Two and a Half Men (CBS, 8pm). It’s the one where Charlie finds fame singing songs for kids. We still sing some of these songs around the house here at Wit’s End.

Alan: (to Berta) “I just don’t understand what kind of spiteful god could allow my drunken whoremonger of a brother to become a children’s singing star while I toil away in poverty-stricken anonymity.”
  from Two and a Half Men

An American is caught mailing hashish to himself from the Philippines to Korea and is imprisoned for three and a half years on Locked Up Abroad (National Geographic, 8pm and 11pm).

A look at “cereal giants” on a new Unwrapped (Food Network, 8pm and 11pm, 8:30pm and 11:30pm) followed by a rerun of the “Sweet as Sugar” episode which is about “sugar treats”.

New episode of of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (TLC, 8pm and 11pm).

Mexican wrestlers are somehow involved in tonight’s new episode of The Middleman (ABC Family, 9pm and 11pm). I enjoyed the second episode a bit more than the first (and the first really grew on me when I saw it a second time). It’s a goofy comic book series, check out the website for a taste of it; they’re adding neat stuff to the website all the time.

Nancy makes her first successful trip across the border, Captain Till makes a deal with Celia, and Andy tries to convince his family to put his grandmother out of her misery on a new episode of Weeds (Showtime, 9pm, 10pm).

Roman squeezes through tight spaces looking for rats, the source of an apartment rat infestation blows Mike away, and a pigeon problem at a historical church on a new Verminators (Discovery, 9pm and 1am).

There’s an “ugly divorce battle” and the mistress involved in it is found dead in this rerun of CSI: Miami (CBS, 9pm).

New episode of Legally Blonde (MTV, 9pm).

Belle’s client books her for an overnight engagement on a new Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Showtime, 9:30pm, 10:30pm). He was her first client and is a favorite, but she still finds herself a bit bored when she does the all-night thing with him– probably because she doesn’t believe in doing any sleeping. Billie Piper (of Doctor Who) stars.

Late Night

It’s a holiday week which means nothing but reruns for the late night talk shows.

Steve Carell on a rerun of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).

Bishop N.T. Wright on a rerun of The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).

Julia Roberts, Al Green on a rerun of The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

William Shatner, Chelsea Handler, Newton Faulkner on a rerun of The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

Steven Wright, Tricia Helfer (of Battlestar Galactica) on a rerun of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).

Eddie Izzard (of The Riches), Morgan Spurlock (of 30 Days), Tapes ‘n Tapes on a rerun of Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).

Kate Walsh (of Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy), Jerry Springer, Chromeo on a rerun of Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Kaley Cuoco (of The Big Bang Theory), Gavin DeGraw on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).