Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

Season premiere of Greatest American Dog (CBS, 7pm)
New My Boys (TBS, 8:30pm and 12:30am)
Season premiere of Burn Notice (USA, 9pm and midnight)
Koppel: People’s Republic of Capitalism (Discovery Channel, 9pm and 1am)

Recommended Reruns

Jeremiah (Sci-Fi Channel, 6pm – 10pm)

News & Notes

Fear Itself is pre-empted tonight for a two-hour Last Comic Standing, but the show will be back with a new episode next Thursday.

Daytime

Burn Notice marathon (USA, 8:30am – 4:30pm). A bunch of notable episodes from the first season of the show.

Rerun of the “Lisa Ling Investigates: Wombs for Rent” episode of Oprah (syndicated, check our local listings). It’s about surrogates in India. Plus Martha Stewart’s daughter Alexis Stewart talks about her fertility problems and how she deals with them.

Primetime Grid

Featured Pick

Season premiere of Burn Notice (USA, 9pm and midnight).

The first season of Burn Notice was a delightful surprise and if you haven’t seen it yet, you should really track down the DVD set or catch the reruns on USA (a bunch air during the day today).

Jeffrey Donovan, who was fabulous in the U.S. version of Touching Evil and who has had memorable guest roles in all sorts of shows, stars as a spy named Michael Westen who gets “burned” at the beginning of the series. In the world of spies, having a “burn notice” put out on your or getting “burned” means that your assets are frozen and no one in that biz wants to have anything to do with you any more– in extreme cases, it might mean you’re killed.

Michael is dropped off in his hometown of Miami and told he’s gotta stay there or else– he ends up reluctantly dealing with his mother (played by Sharon Gless) and he reconnects with an old friend (played by the ever-awesome Bruce Campbell) and an ex-girlfriend (played by Gabrielle Anwar). In season one, Michael tries to find out who “burned” him and why while also helping out people in need who could use the help of someone with his special skills.

By the end of season one, things were pretty intense and it looked like Michael might finally be getting to the bottom of who got him in trouble, but of course since the show needs somewhere to go this season . . . don’t expect a ton of answers tonight.

I’ve seen the first two episodes of season two and they’re as good as any of the better episodes of season one. At first, I was a little disappointed to see how fast things get back to what passes for normal for Michael and his family and friends, but since I liked all that stuff and there are some new wrinkles this season, I’m cool with it. And there really are new wrinkles this season as Tricia Helfer (of Battlestar Galactica) joins the show in a recurring role as the latest person who may or may not be responsible for Michael getting “burned”. Michael is no longer working just for himself and his clients.

There’s humor and there’s all that usual nifty exposition about how spies supposedly do things. I love the geeky spy stuff and it’s handled differently here than anywhere else– there aren’t goofy spy gadgets, it seems more like how people might really handle surveillance, confidence scams, and all that stuff. The spyware is more grounded in reality and that actually makes the show even cooler (and I didn’t think there were many things cooler than wacky James Bond gadgets).

If you missed some or all of season one, it’s safe to jump into the show with season two and it should all make sense and be fun for you. I liked the first two episodes of this season and can’t wait to see more. This really is one of my favorite summer series.

The season premiere of Burn Notice airs tonight on USA at 9pm and midnight; it will also air multiple times on Saturday from Noon ’til 4pm; and again on Sunday at 9am and Monday at 10:05pm.

Featured Series Premiere

Jarod Miller hosts the series premiere of Greatest American Dog (CBS, 7pm). In this new reality series, dogs and their owners move into a big mansion where they live with and compete with each other. The prize for the dog (and owner) who wins the competition is $250,000.

The twelve dogs and owners who compete are a diverse lot, as you might expect, presumably chosen with an eye for drama. I liked the dogs, but was a little concerned that some of their owners would annoy me too much and make this show difficult to watch– fortunately, the first episode is really darn watchable. R.J. Cutler is one of the folks behind this show, he’s worked on 30 Days, Black White, and other quality reality shows.

As you might expect, there are competitions in each episode. In the first episode, the dog/owner teams compete for a chance to live in the best suite in the mansion; the winner of that challenge also gets to choose who gets to live in the worst accomodations on the property. There are also competitions in front of judges; these judges will send one owner/dog pair home at the end of each episode. I appreciated the fact that the judging isn’t just about whether the dog performs tricks, but also about how the owner relates to their dog and handles them. Before the series began, all of the dogs went through some challenges to determine what they’re capable of so any dog/owner should have a chance to win.

It shouldn’t be hard for anyone to find an owner/dog pair or two to root for as well as a couple pairings you wish would just go away; I was pleased to see that I found more teams I liked than didn’t like. The first episode is fun if you like dogs or this kind of show, though I found myself wanting more of the dogs and less of the people (but then I’m kinda like that in real life, too!).

The series premiere of Greatest American Dog airs tonight at 7pm on CBS; the show will air regularly in this same timeslot on Thursdays at 7pm.

Primetime

The first four episodes of Jeremiah (Sci-Fi Channel, 6pm – 10pm). This series originally debuted on Showtime back in 2002. Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Luke Perry star in this science fiction series from J. Michael Straczynski (creator of Babylon 5). The series is set in a future fifteen years after a virus wiped out everyone who had passed puberty. Jason Priestley, Luke Perry’s co-star on Beverly Hills 90210, guest stars in the fourth episode. It looks like Sci-Fi will air four episodes each Thursday night. The series ran for two seasons on Showtime; the first season is available on DVD and both seasons are available on iTunes.

Series premiere of Greatest American Dog (CBS, 7pm). See above.

They fix up a bathroom on a new Designed to Sell (HGTV, 7pm and 11pm).

After the wedding, Wilhelmina plots another way to conquer Mode and Betty tries to mend her relationship with Daniel in this rerun of Ugly Betty (ABC, 7pm).

A mysterious man plants a bomb on Chloe in this rerun of Smallville (CW, 7pm). Man, I hate it when that happens, especially at Christmastime (as it is in this episode if I recall correctly).

New Myles of Style (HGTV, 7:30pm and 11:30pm).

New The Bill Engvall Show (TBS, 8pm and midnight; also on Sunday at 4pm and Monday at 10pm).

New American Chopper (TLC, 8pm and 10pm).

Unbreakable Records – MLB 2008 (ESPN, 8pm) is the name of a new special on ESPN and that’s all I know about it so far.

A neglected bedroom is given some attention on a new Rate My Space (HGTV, 8pm and midnight).

The Chief invites McDreamy and McSteamy over to his place, a couple of patients fight over a wedding dress, George and Izzie try to find time to be alone together, a birdwatcher needs surgery, and a patient falls from a great height and survives in this rerun of Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, 8pm).

Mark: “Dr. Hahn, I heard a crazy rumor about you.”
Erica: “That I’m performing open heart surgery on a man who’s wide awake.”
Mark: “That’s the rumor.”
Erica: “That’s the truth.”
Derek: “I perform awake brain surgery all the time.”
Erica and Mark: “Not the same thing.”
Mark: “You ever hear of a gentlemen’s evening?”
Erica: “I’m sorry?”
Derek: “The Chief is hosting a gentleman’s evening.”
Mark: “We’re pretty sure it doesn’t involve porn, but… I wanna be sure.”
Derek: “Hm. Right.”
Erica: “Are you two a couple?”
Derek and Mark: (laughing) “No.”
Erica: “Okay, just checking.” (walks off)
Derek: “Why– Why would she ask that?”
Mark: “I- I don’t know. I’m worried about this gentlemen’s thing.”
  from Grey’s Anatomy

Method Man returns as “Drops” for this episode of CSI (CBS, 8pm). Rerun from near the end of this past season. A couple of bodies are found in an apartment building and in order to catch up with a suspect, Nick & Brass have Drops released from prison which really isn’t all that good of an idea.

Drops: “I can’t explain these women. One minute, they’re sending each other cupcakes on Facebook, the next they’re trying to kill each other over a broken curling iron.”
  from CSI

In this Christmas episode of Supernatural (CW, 8pm), people are abducted via chimneys by an “anti-Santa” or something like that.

Kenny begins dating two women and the guys recognize themselves when they read Stephanie’s book on a new My Boys (TBS, 8:30pm and 12:30am; also on Saturday at 10pm). DVR Alert: I’ve noticed that I need to pad the recordings of this show by a minute or two in order to see the whole thing (I’m using a DirecTiVo).

A new episode of Extreme Living (HGTV, 8:30pm and 12:30am) is about a “Refrigerator Panel House”.

Season premiere of Burn Notice (USA, 9pm and midnight; will air multiple times on Saturday from Noon ’til 4pm; also airs on Sunday at 9am and Monday at 10:05pm). My “featured pick” for today, see above.

Part two of Koppel: People’s Republic of Capitalism (Discovery Channel, 9pm and 1am). This is part two of a four-part series about China from Ted Koppel and the Discovery Channel. You can read more about it on their website.

It’s hard to believe that the series Hopkins 24/7 aired almost eight years ago; for the new six-part documentary Hopkins (ABC, 9pm) ABC returns to Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital for a look at the work done there. This is the third episode of six.

Tonight’s new episode of Penn & Teller: Bulls…! (Showtime, 9pm, 9:30pm) is, to at least some extent, about dolphins.

Are you watching Swingtown (CBS, 9pm)? Has it improved since the first episodes? I must say, I got bored silly by the show and gave up, but may give it another try if I hear it’s improved. In tonight’s new episode, Tom (Grant Show) gets jealous when Trina (Lana Parrilla) reconnects with her high school sweetheart.

New Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew (MTV, 9pm, 10:30pm, 2:30am).

New episode of House Hunters (HGTV, 9pm and 1am). Someone’s looking for a place with more space in St. Louis.

New episode of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo, 9pm, 10pm, midnight; also on Friday at 5pm and many other times).

Season finale of Reno 911! (Comedy Central, 9:30pm and 11:30pm; also Sunday at 10:30pm and 12:30am).

Late Night

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

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

Paris Hilton, Steve Wyrick, Panic at the Disco on a rerun of The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Kathy Griffin, Adam Carolla, Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).

Ed Helms, Pilobolus, and probably another guest yet to be announced on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm). Check the website for updates.

Valerie Bertinelli, Paulina Porizkova, Estelle on a rerun of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).

Regis Philbin, Sharon Osborne, Lil Wayne on a rerun of Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, check your local listings).

Aviva Yael, the Game on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).