Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

Season premiere of Ugly Betty (ABC, 7pm)
Season premiere of My Name Is Earl (NBC, 7pm – 8pm)
Season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, 8pm – 10pm)
Season premiere of The Office (NBC, 8pm – 9pm)
Julianne Moore, Zachary Levi, Jakob Dylan with Norah Jones on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm)

News & Notes

CBS has picked up Flashpoint for a second season to air next year; there are still four remaining episodes from this season that haven’t aired, I’m guessing they might show them if any of the new shows are pulled from the schedule or possibly at midseason.

I hope you caught the shows you wanted to watch last night in their entirety. The season premiere of CSI: NY is available on the CBS website. The season premieres of both Knight Rider and Lipstick Jungle are on the NBC website.

I haven’t found a legal means of watching the Criminal Minds premiere online (let me know if you have), it’d be great if CBS would air the premiere on Saturday night instead of the scheduled rerun but as of yesterday evening CBS had no plans to do that. If you missed the end of the episode and want them to air it again or make it available on their website, I recommend that you get in touch with CBS. You could also try posting to the fan forums on the official site for the show.

There are still a number of shows on the Fall schedule for Thursday nights that don’t debut tonight and haven’t started airing new episodes yet; here’s a list of them (with network and premiere date in parenthesis):
CSI (CBS, 10/9)
Eleventh Hour (CBS, 10/9)
Kath & Kim (NBC, 10/9)
Life on Mars (ABC, 10/9)
SNL Thursday Night (NBC, 10/9)
Testees (FX, 10/9)

I hope you guys are finding the site useful, I’m working very hard on it and this is my tenth TV season doing this! (For no pay save for your donations and the little bit I earn via affiliate links and ads. I must be insane. And broke.)

Daytime

The “Tiniest Dog in the World” is featured on a new Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings). Plus an update on puppy mills.

Primetime Grid

Primetime

Season premiere of My Name Is Earl (NBC, 7pm). It’s followed by a second new episode (NBC, 7:30pm). I honestly lost interest in this show last season after the atrocious start it had and didn’t usually bother to watch, only sometimes checking in. But I really like these first two episodes of this season, it seems like the show might be back on track or at least back to its roots. Seth Green guest stars in the first episode as Earl tries to make things right with someone he wronged. Beau Bridges guest stars in the second episode as Earl’s Dad, who freaks out a bit when a big secret comes to light.

Betty makes a big decision about what to do with her life in the season premiere of Ugly Betty (ABC, 7pm). This is the first episode of the series since the pilot to be filmed entirely in New York. Lindsay Lohan guest stars; Regis and Kelly appear as themselves. Are you still loving this show? I missed most of last season after I fell behind; I keep meaning to catch up and I’m a little surprised that I haven’t yet bothered. Someone should send me the DVD sets for review so I have a good excuse to spend some time with Betty, her family, and the rest of the gang.

Host Daniel H. Wilson, who has more than a decade of experience studying artificial intelligence which can create smart houses, explores the world of robots on a new episode of The Works (History Channel, 7pm and 11pm).

At long last, it’s Clark Kent’s first day at The Daily Planet in this new episode of Smallville (CW, 7pm; airs again on Sunday at 4pm in some markets). He and Lois work on a story and one of the folks involved with the story has some “meteor abilities” of their own. Yet another DC Comics character makes their debut on the show tonight and I can’t decide if I should spell it out or let it be a surprise to the comic geeks out there.

Two hour season premiere of Survivor: Gabon (CBS, 7pm – 9:01pm). DVR/VCR Alert: Will run at least one minute long. For more information on this season of the show, check out the official website.

New episodes of Designed to Sell (HGTV, 7pm and 11pm) and Myles of Style (HGTV, 7:30pm and 11:30pm).

HBO rebroadcasts the first three episodes of True Blood (HBO, 7pm – 10pm). In case you missed any of them and want to check out this new series. I liked the first two episodes, haven’t seen the third one yet. Can’t really afford HBO, but am trying to find a way to swing it so I can keep watching (or else I guess I’ll have to keep pestering my contacts at HBO to send me episodes).

College Football Live (ESPN, 7pm) followed by College Football: USC at Oregon State (ESPN, 8pm).

There’s a “freak ice storm” in tonight’s two-hour season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, 8pm – 10pm). Cool! The episode was penned by series creator Shonda Rhimes and directed by Rob Corn. Kevin McKidd, who starred in Journeyman last season, guest stars as a “mysterious military doctor” and I just wish he was also traveling through time because I loved Journeyman. Bernadette Peters, Kathy Baker, and Mariette Hartley all guest star– certainly an interesting group of women! I still like this show a lot even though Meredith Grey is my least favorite character (by far) and there’ve been some storylines that just didn’t work very well at all. And I still miss the character Preston Burke, darnit, and think it’s a shame that offscreen stuff meant the departure of a great character and the break-up of an interesting couple. (Not saying I disagree with the decision, just that it’s a bummer for those who liked the character.) But I’m still thoroughly hooked and can’t wait to see what happens next.

We finally get to see what happens over the summer at Dunder Mifflin in the hour-long season premiere of The Office (NBC, 8pm – 9pm). During this particular summer, there’s a big weight loss initiative at the office which causes everyone to obsess over their weight.

Ghosts of characters from previous episodes haunt Sam and Dean in a new episode of Supernatural (CW, 8pm).

New episode of Blog Cabin (DIY, 8pm and midnight).

New episode of Destroyed in Seconds (Discovery, 8pm and midnight).

Adventurer Yves Rossy attempts to fly across the English Channel from France to England with nothing more than a single jet-propelled wing on his back in Flight of the Jet Man (National Geographic, 8pm and 11pm; also on Saturday at 3pm).

New episode of Extreme Living (HGTV, 8:30pm and 12:30am).

It sounds like the season premiere of ER (NBC, 9pm) picks up right where last season left off as we find out how folks are after the ambulance explosion. This will be the final season for the show. Every time we see a commercial for this series, my husband comments “is that still on?” and also wonders how it can still be on if Carter has left the building. I always preferred Chicago Hope to ER and it’s kinda fun to imagine what sort of show it might’ve morphed into if it had lasted as long as ER. (I wonder how many times Mandy Patinkin would’ve left the show and returned to the show by now!) Do any of you still watch ER? How was last season? I tuned out a few season ago, save for a few episodes each season.

Rerun of last season’s dramatic finale of CSI (CBS, 9:01pm). Part one of two, the second part is this season’s premiere which will air on October 9th.

Duff, Mary Alice, and Geof travel to Boston for the premiere of Get Smart and they also make a cake for someone who is hosting their own funeral on Ace of Cakes (Food Network, 9pm and midnight).

Two half-hour episodes are combined to make a single new hour of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX, 9pm, 10:02pm; also on Friday at 10pm). There’s a competition for Paddy’s “next top model”; also Dee and Charlie try to create a YouTube sensation. And so on. DVR/VCR Alert: The episode has a running time of 62 minutes.

New episode of MTV’s Top Pop Group (MTV, 9pm).

“Solar Storms” are the topic on a new Naked Science (National Geographic, 9pm and midnight).

New episode of Tabatha’s Salon Takeover (Bravo, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm).

One stylist “declares war on the other four” in a new episode of Glam God With Vivica A. Fox (VH1, 9pm and 1am; also Friday at 10am).

New episode of Jacked: Auto Theft Task Force (A&E, 9pm and 1am).

Late Night

Bob Schieffer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).

The final two episodes of the first season of The Cho Show (VH1, 10pm and midnight, 10:30pm and 12:30am; also Friday at 11am and 11:30am).

A look at the deadly conflicts between elephants and humans in Africa on a new Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein (Discovery, 10pm).

Rerun of the latest new episode of Mad Men (AMC, 10pm).

Nick Carr on The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).

Paris Hilton, Olympic Gold Medalist Usain Bolt, Morningwood on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Christian Slater, Cloris Leachman, the Hives on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).

Julianne Moore, Zachary Levi (of Chuck), Jakob Dylan with Norah Jones on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).

Tim Gunn, Elizabeth Reaser on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).

Rob Lowe, MMA fighter Kimbo Slice, chef Chris Bianco on Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, check your local listings).

Seth McFarlane, Unwritten Law on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).