Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Best Bets
Big Bands in the Movies on TCM
Koppel: People’s Republic of Capitalism (Discovery Channel, 9pm and 1am)
Kyra Sedgwick, Jim Cramer, Joe Cocker on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm)
Recommended Reruns
Good Eats (Food Network, 7pm and 2am, 7:30pm and 2:30am)
Mythbusters (Discovery, 7pm and 11pm; 8pm and midnight)
Criminal Minds (CBS, 8pm)
CSI: NY (CBS, 9pm)
News & Notes
There are lots of really good deals as part of a Crime Time TV on DVD Sale
The complete Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVD set was featured as a “Lightning Deal” in the Amazon Gold Box yesterday, but sold out in minutes; it looks like Angel will be featured at Noon today.
On Wednesdays in July, Turner Classic Movies will spotlight “Big Bands in the Movies”. You can read more about these films on the website.
Daytime
Rerun of the “Money Interventions: The Mom Who Shopped Her Family Broke” episode of Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings). With guest Suze Orman.
Primetime Grid
| Wed | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Wife Swap Rerun | Supernanny Rerun | Primetime: Crime | |||
| CBS | Price is Right | Criminal Minds Rerun | CSI: NY Rerun | |||
| NBC | Baby Borrowers Rerun | Baby Borrowers | Celebrity Circus | |||
| FOX | So You Think You Can Dance | Local Programming | ||||
| CW | America’s Next Top Model Rerun | Pussycat Girls Rerun | Local Programming | |||
Primetime
Baseball: Cardinals at Phillies (ESPN, 6pm) followed by Baseball Tonight (ESPN, 9pm or so).
The top 12 perform on a new So You Think You Can Dance (FOX, 7pm).
I’d much rather watch a group of music professors take in a singer on the run from her gangster boyfriend in A Song Is Born (TCM, 7pm). Howard Hawks was the director for this musical remake of another film of his: Ball of Fire. Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, and Benny Goodman star– with Goodman actually playing someone other than himself! Includes performances by Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet, and Mel Powell. Read more about this movie on the TCM website.
Reruns of the “Mentos and Soda” and “Lead Balloon” episodes of Mythbusters (Discovery, 7pm and 11pm; 8pm and midnight).
“Olive Me” and “Salad Daze II: The Long Arm of the Slaw” episodes of Good Eats (Food Network, 7pm and 2am, 7:30pm and 2:30am).
More ’80s nostalgia with reruns of the 1983, 1984, and 1985 installments of I Love the ’80s: 3D (VH1 Classics, 7pm – 10pm, midnight – 3am). The 1980, 1981, and 1982 episodes air earlier in the day (VH1 Classics, 4pm – 7pm).
HGTV airs new episodes of Designed to Sell (HGTV, 7pm and 11pm), Deserving Design (HGTV, 8pm and midnight), and Design on a Dime (HGTV, 8:30pm and 12:30am).
A “black beast” is at large in the moors of England and killing livestock on a new MonsterQuest (History Channel, 8pm and midnight). There’s also a rerun of the “Giant Killer Snakes” episode (History Channel, 7pm and 11pm).
Part 1 of a visit to Los Angeles on a new On The Road in America (Sundance, 8pm; with additional airings later in the week).
New Most Daring (TruTV, 8pm and midnight).
A look at some Extreme Places to Stay (Travel Channel, 8pm and midnight).
A special two-hour look at the life and career of Eddie Murphy on Biography (Biography Channel, 8pm – 10pm, midnight – 2am).
Larnach Castle is the setting for a new Ghost Hunters International (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 10:04pm).
A new episode of All-Girl Getaways (Fine Living, 8pm and midnight, 8:30pm and 12:30am) is followed by a rerun.
Rerun of part two of the special two-hour episode of Criminal Minds (CBS, 8pm) where where SSA Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) was held captive. Guest stars include James Van Der Beek, Jane Lynch, Muse Watson, and Bill Smitrovich.
JJ: “I keep thinking the one thing we need to crack this case is, well, Reid.”
Ted Koppel brings us a look at the city of Chongquing in the new special Koppel: People’s Republic of Capitalism (Discovery Channel, 9pm and 1am). This is part one of a four-part series about China from Ted Koppel and the Discovery Channel. You can read more about it on their website.
Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell star in I Dood It (TCM, 9pm). I’m told the real reason to see this is for the “song battle” between Lena Horne and Hazel Scott. Jimmy Dorsey also performs in this movie. Vincente Minnelli was brought in partway through production to finish this picture. You can read all about the movie on the TCM website.
A man convicted of his wife’s murder leads police to the body in exchange for a reduction in jail time on Primetime: Crime (ABC, 9pm).
Robert races the clock to make the quintessential Quinceanera celebration for a young girl on a new Dinner Impossible (Food Network, 9pm and midnight).
The Big Dog’s driller is beginning to lose his patience with their rookie and someone is seriously injured on a new Black Gold (TruTV, 9pm and 1am).
Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (TBS, 9pm, 9:30pm).
All I know about tonight’s new episode of Shear Genius (Bravo, 9pm, 10pm, 1am) is that the episode title is “Red Carpet Worthy”.
Tracy Morgan (of 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live) hosts the season premiere of Scare Tactics (Sci-Fi, 9pm) which is followed by another new episode (Sci-Fi, 9:30pm). Episodes air again on Sunday and Monday. In case you aren’t familiar with this show: it’s a hidden camera show where “unsuspecting victims are placed into elaborately staged scary situations” by their friends and family. Nice! Well, I wouldn’t think so. They try to tap into their biggest fears, of course. Not my kinda show, but I mention it in case it’s yours.
I just quoted a description of Scare Tactics from their press release to Kevin (my husband); here’s the part I quoted:
Set up by friends and loved ones, unsuspecting victims are placed into elaborately staged scary situations involving film-quality special effects, makeup and stunts. The horror hoaxes are skillfully designed to tap into the wildest fears of the prank’s prey. Viewers laugh along with the hilarious reactions of the show’s “stars” as they are caught off-guard and on-camera.
Kevin responded (via instant message):
little do the hoaxters realize however that some of those being pranked have concealed carry permits. Hilarity ensues when one of the shows “stars” shoots and kills the people scaring them, following up by shooting the horrified camera crew.
Season finale of The Real World (MTV, 9pm, 10pm, 1am).
Season finale of She’s Got the Look (TV Land, 9pm and midnight).
This rerun of CSI: NY (CBS, 9pm) involves a series of heists and some cool spy stuff. Mykelti Williamson (of Kidnapped, Boomtown) is among the guest stars. And there are references to James Bond in this episode.
Late Night
James McAvoy on a rerun of The Daily Show (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).
Rep. Robert Wexler on a rerun of The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).
Harrison Ford, Ali Lohan, Leona Lewis on a rerun of The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).
Jarod Miller, David Koechner, Sara Bareilles on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).
June Allyson and Gloria DeHaven play a sister song-and-dance team who open up a servicemen’s canteen in Two Girls and a Sailor (TCM, 11pm); they get involved with a couple of servicemen played by Van Johnson and Tom Drake and complications ensue. It’s another remake of The Broadway Melody. The movie includes comedy from Jimmy Durante and Gracie Allen and performances by Jose Iturbi, Harry James, and Xavier Cugat. You can read more about the movie on the TCM website.
Kyra Sedgwick (of The Closer), Jim Cramer, Joe Cocker on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).
Kristin Davis, Joel McHale, Shooter Jennings on a rerun of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).
Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain on a rerun of Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, check your local listings). They appeared in two different episodes, it looks like this episode features reruns of both those appearances.
Kathy Griffin, Gavin DeGraw on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).
Kay Kyser stars as a band leader who has to overcome a film studio head’s hatred to make it on the big screen in That’s Right– You’re Wrong (TCM, 1:15am). Adolphe Menjou plays the studio head, Lucille Ball plays an aspiring movie siren, and Dennis O’Keefe plays the bandleader’s manager. May Robson makes an appearance. Real-life Hollywood gossip columnists appear in scenes as members of the press including: Hedda Hopper, Sheilah Graham, Erskine Johnson, Jimmy Starr, Feg Murray, and Fred Orthman. You can learn more about Kay Kyser and this movie on the TCM website.
Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey star as themselves in a fictionalized version of their lives in The Fabulous Dorseys (TCM, 3am). Charlie Barnet, Ziggy Elman, and Art Tatum also perform in this movie. You can read more about this movie on the TCM website.
Short film: Rita Rio and Her Orchestra (TCM, 4:30am).
Short film: Cab Calloway in “Hi De Ho” (TCM, 4:40am).
