Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

XXIX Summer Olympics (NBC, et al, various times)
New The Secret Life of the American Teenager (ABC Family, 7pm and 11pm)
New Eureka (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 11pm)
New How to Look Good Naked (Lifetime, 9pm)

Recommended Reruns

The Closer (TNT, 7pm – 10pm)
NCIS (CBS, 7pm)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX, 8pm)

News & Notes

There’s a fairly good chance I won’t be posting TV picks for Wednesday. If I can, I will, but thought I’d give you warning that the odds aren’t good at this point. I should be back with picks on Thursday.

Primetime Grid

Primetime

The XXIX Summer Olympics continue. Check out Lisa Schmeiser’s excellent grid to give you some idea what airs when. There’s also a ton of coverage all over the place. You can watch many events online.

Amy “considers a change in her living situation” and Ricky has a hard time accepting responsibility on a new The Secret Life of the American Teenager (ABC Family, 7pm and 11pm).

New episode of Wipeout (ABC, 7pm – 8:02pm). This show, which my husband likes to joke will be the Biggest Sport in the World years from now, has been picked up for another season. DVR/VCR Alert: Note that it’s scheduled to run two minutes long.

TNT airs three reruns of The Closer (TNT, 7pm – 10pm) that all seem to focus on Provenza and the rather big mistakes he’s made. The first episode is the one where a body is found in his garage, the second episode is the one where his business card is found on a body, and the third episode involves a funeral gone awry. I guess the folks who put together the schedule were inspired by last night’s new episode (set to air again on Saturday at 9am and Monday at 7pm).

A look at the homicidal tendencies animals sometimes have toward their own kind on Killing for a Living (Animal Planet, 7pm, 10pm, 2am).

Rerun of last week’s episode of Eureka (Sci-Fi, 7pm). Wherein a guy names Bob is a snake in more ways than one.

Rerun of the first episode of this past season of House (FOX, 7pm). Yeah, they’ve jumped back a ways with the reruns for some reason. The episode was titled “Alone” because House was all alone after he lost his team at the end of the previous season. He ends up working with a janitor for a little while. And someone steals his guitar, which is freaking hilarious.

House: “Give it back.”
Dr. Wilson: “What happened? Did someone kidnap your guitar? Your twelve-thousand-dollar 1967 Flying V? Or something?”
House: “Where’d you hide it?”
Dr. Wilson: “I’m flattered you would consider me this bold and brilliant.”
  from House

The team goes on a stakeout at a warehouse to guard a new naval radar system in this rerun of NCIS (CBS, 7pm). Guest stars include Ned Vaughn (who was “Jeff Hyers” on China Beach) and Gretchen Egolf (who was “Katie Vasser” on Journeyman).

Ducky: “Is the stakeout over?”
Tony: “I wish. It’s worse than watching five day cricket match.”
Ducky: “Careful, young man.”
  from NCIS

Lucy and Barbara convince Lee to try speed dating on a new Not Going Out (BBC America, 7:40pm, 10:40pm, 12:40am). DVR/VCR Alert: This comedy has a run time of 40 minutes.

There’s a dog show in tonight’s new episode of Eureka (Sci-Fi, 8pm and 11pm) and of course it’s a unique one given it takes place in Eureka.

Ted Allen (of Queer Eye) and the experts have a look at how to prevent “brain freeze,” why aged beef is gourmet, and whether you can really test positive on a drug test after eating a poppyseed bagel in this new episode of Food Detectives (Food Network, 8pm and 11pm).

Rerun of the third ever episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX, 8pm). It’s a key episode that involves a computer system (called “The Turk”) that plays chess. These early episodes show promise but also remind me why I was so letdown after the pilot episode; mostly I was driven nuts by how Cameron was able to easily blend into high school in the pilot, but in these episodes she’s all awkward and clueless at dealing with other students at the school.

Sarah: “So what’s your deal, Andy? I can’t imagine you majored in cell phone sales in college.”
Andy: “No. No, more like Funyuns and twelve packs of Jolt from the vintage soda store while my roomates and I hacked Zelda 3 so the princess would say funny lines ripped from reruns.”
Sarah: “What’s that language you speak, boy?”
Andy: “Computer science, CalTech. Advanced dork.”
  from The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Reruns of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th episodes of The Cleaner (A&E, 8pm and midnight, 9pm and 1am, 10pm and 2am). So all of the episodes thus far save for the first one. Next new episode airs on August 19th, no new episode this week.

The Devil refuses to help with the capture of an escaped soul so the guys turn to Gladys for help in this rerun of Reaper (CW, 8pm). Jeff Kober, who was “Dodger” on China Beach, guest stars.

New special Making the Band’s Greatest Hits (MTV, 8pm and 11:30pm). Includes a preview of the upcoming season.

New It’s Not Easy Being Green (Sundance, 8pm; also on Friday at 9am and Sunday at 2pm). DVR/VCR Alert: This show has a runtime of 35 minutes.

A mother and daughter team try to turn a shabby apartment into a chic space on a new episode of The Stagers (HGTV, 8:30pm and 12:30am).

The Neelys visit Santa Fe, New Mexico in a new episode of Road Tasted With the Neelys (Food Network, 8:30pm and 11:30pm).

New five-minute “minisode” of Rescue Me (FX, 9pm) debuts on FX. These episodes are supposed to each stand alone. They are available online after they debut each Tuesday on FX; supposed to be available on Hulu, YouTube, MySpace, Crackle, and elsewhere.

Sisters, who once were cheerleaders, try to “recapture their glory days” with a naked photo shoot in Hawaii on a new How to Look Good Naked (Lifetime, 9pm; also airs on Friday at 8am). Carson Kressley (of Queer Eye) hosts this show that’s all about helping women become comfortable (and happy!) with their bodies as they are.

“The team tries to make a car crash-proof by developing reactive armor technology and a new metal-aluminum foam” on a new Smash Lab (Discovery, 9pm).

A man wakes up from a coma, but then a while later he disappears in this rerun of Without A Trace (CBS, 9pm).

Jack Malone: “Nice flowers.”
Samantha Spade: “They’re from the office. Everyone was concerned.”
Jack Malone: “Concerned I was shot or concerned I’m coming back?”
Samantha Spade: “A little bit of both.”
  from Without A Trace

Tori and Dean bring their new baby home from the hospital and have a housewarming party on a new Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood (Oxygen, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm, 1am). I suspect that some of Tori’s castmates from 90210 may be in this episode.

A look at the evolution of the jaw on Evolve (History Channel, 9pm and 1am).

New Million Dollar Listing (Bravo, 9pm, 10pm, midnight).

New Baldwin Hills (BET, 9pm and 1am).

New episode of From G’s to Gents (MTV, 9pm; also on Wednesday at 9am and 6pm).

Rebroadcasts of the new episode of Weeds (Showtime, 9pm, 9:30pm) that debuted last night.

Late Night

NBC late night talk shows are pre-empted for Olympic coverage.

New episode of General Hospital: Night Shift (Soap Network, 10pm).

Sen. Mel Martinez on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).

Joey Cheek, Jane Mayer on The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Neil Young, the Hold Steady on a rerun of The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Kiefer Sutherland, Kate Mara on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).

David Duchovny, Katharine McPhee, Wendy Liebman on a rerun of Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).