Friday, September 26, 2008
Best Bets
Hacking History (History Channel, 7pm and 11pm)
Presidential Debate (various stations, 8pm)
New Stargate Atlantis (Sci-Fi, 9pm and 11pm)
News & Notes
I probably will be doing picks for Saturday and Sunday this weekend or at least for Sunday. Of course you can follow the RSS feed for the site or watch for updates on twitter or get the emails, etc. See sidebar for details.
If you are a DirecTV customer who lacks Showtime, you can watch Californication on the DirecTV channel known as “The 101″ (which is not actually channel 101). I’ve included info on tonight’s airings in my picks today. The 101 is also the station that will be carrying the new season of Friday Night Lights starting on October 1st; those who don’t have DirecTV may have to wait to see the new season on NBC starting in February. (If any of you ever want to sign up for DirecTV, I’d be happy to refer you so you can get a discount and I can get a little bit off of my bill; I’ve been a satisfied customer for a few years now. Also happy to answer any questions I can.)
The Deal of the Day at Amazon is on Weeds – Seasons 1-3
Wondering when shows on the Fall schedule for Friday nights which haven’t premiered already will have their series or season premieres? Here’s a list of upcoming premieres (with premiere date in parenthesis):
Crash (Starz, 10/17)
Crusoe (NBC, 10/17)
Everybody Hates Chris (CW, 10/3)
The Ex List (CBS, 10/3)
The Game (CW, 10/3)
Life (NBC, 10/3)
Numb3rs (CBS, 10/3)
Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 10/3)
The Starter Wife (USA, 10/10)
Sanctuary (Sci-Fi, 10/3)
Supernanny (ABC, 10/3)
Wife Swap (ABC, 10/3)
Daytime
“Fridays Live in Chicago” wherein Oprah and folks discuss various topics on a new Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings). Spike Lee will appear on the show.
Primetime Grid
| Fri | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | 20/20 | Presidential Debate | Debate Analysis | |||
| CBS | The Mentalist Rerun | Presidential Debate | ||||
| NBC | America’s Toughest Jobs | Presidential Debate | ||||
| FOX | Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? | Presidential Debate | ||||
| CW | WWE Friday Night Smackdown! | Local Programming | ||||
| SciFi | Stargate Atlantis Rerun | Stargate Atlantis Rerun | Stargate Atlantis also at 11pm | |||
Primetime
Bre Pettis (of Make and Etsy) recreates some of Nikola Tesla’s inventions and looks into “how the principles that Tesla pioneered are being applied to space propulsion” in Hacking History (History Channel, 7pm and 11pm). This is a pilot for a new series; if it does well they might make more episodes. Sounds very cool, I say check it out. You can follow Bre on Twitter and I also linked to his website earlier in this paragraph if you want to find out more about him. He posted to his blog about how you can help this show become a series.
Baseball: Cubs at Brewers (ESPN, 7pm). To be followed by SportsCenter (ESPN, approximately 10pm) and Baseball Tonight (ESPN, at around 11pm).
On a special edition of 20/20 (ABC, 7pm), they’ll show interviews with Senators Barack Obama and John McCain and their families. Basically they’re airing profiles of both candidates.
If you missed the series premiere of The Mentalist (CBS, 7pm), here’s a second chance to see it. I liked the first episode of the show and wrote about it in my picks for Tuesday.
Season finale of Gone Country (CMT, 7pm).
THS Investigates Cults, Religion & Mind Control (E!, 7pm – 9pm; also on Saturday at 4pm and Sunday at 7pm).
It appears that the debate is on so both Obama and McCain will be there. You can see tonight’s Presidential Debate at 8pm on the following stations: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, BBC America, CNN, and various other channels.
Two new episodes of Fight Quest (Discovery, 8pm and midnight, 9pm and 1am). First covers Muay Thai kickboxing, in the the second episode Jimmy and Doug study Kalarippayattu in India.
Hour-long season finale of Grizzly Man Diaries (Animal Planet, 8pm and midnight).
A look at the Satan’s Disciples gang on a new Gangland (History Channel, 8pm and midnight).
New episode of Outsiders Inn (CMT, 8pm). Wherein Maureen McCormick, Bobby Brown, and Carnie Wilson run a B&B.
All I know about tonight’s new episode of Stargate Atlantis (Sci-Fi, 9pm and 11pm) is that it’s titled “First Contact”.
Has the new Knight Rider made you nostalgic or curious about the original series? Well, Sleuth is airing the original. You can see the two-hour first episode of the original Knight Rider tonight (Sleuth, 9pm – 11pm, 3am – 5am). A dying millionaire played by Richard Basehart rescues a badly wounded undercover police officer and gives him a new identity– David Hasselhoff stars along with the car, of course. A couple of additional episodes air this weekend (Saturday at 5pm and 6pm; Sunday at 3pm and 4pm).
New episode of Shockwave (History Channel, 9pm and 1am). Rescuers try to save a couple from their burning car after a horrifying highway wreck in Houston, a fire erupts aboard a nuclear aircraft carrier, a San Antonio police helicopter crashes, a dump truck hits a bus, and flooding in Boscastle, England.
Some brides have no idea what kind of dress they want in a new Say Yes to the Dress (TLC, 9pm and midnight).
New episode of The Soup (E!, 9pm and 11:30pm; also at 9am and 10pm on Saturday).
The last two episodes of season one of Californication (The 101 on DirecTV, 9pm and 9:30pm, 11pm and 11:30pm).
Rachael Ray and her husband John visit Montreal on a new Rachael’s Vacation (Food Network, 9:30pm and 12:30am).
Late Night
Queen Hatshepsut is the focus of a new episode of Paranormal Egypt (Travel Channel, 10pm).
The season premiere of Californication (The 101 on DirecTV, 10pm, 10:30pm, midnight, 12:30am). Wherein Hank gets a vasectomy and the famly contemplates a move to New York City, among other things.
New episode of Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO, 10pm; HBO2, midnight; various other airings). With guests actor Tim Daly, presidential candidate Ralph Nader, and commentator Lisa Schiffren. Plus (via satellite) comedian Chris Rock and journalist Ron Suskind.
New Best Week Ever (VH1, 10pm and midnight).
Reid falls for a starlet who is connected to a high profile murder in Hollywood in this rerun of Criminal Minds (A&E, 10pm and 2am) from late in season one. Amber Heard guest stars.
Rerun of the season premiere of House (USA, 10pm) which was titled “Dying Changes Everything”. In case you missed it when it first aired on FOX a couple of weeks ago.
House: “If I told you that I was sorry, would it change anything?”
Wilson: “I wouldn’t believe you.”
House: “If you believed me.”
Wilson: “It’s hard to imagine such a world.”
from House
Rerun of the latest episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX, 10pm).
Lance Armstrong, Kristen Wiig, TV on the Radio on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).
Jimmy Kimmel, Jennifer Hudson on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).
Brooke Shields, Robert Reich, Amos Lee on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).
Drew Carey, Tony Parker, Lady Antebellum on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).
Martin Short, Solange Knowles on a rerun of Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, check your local listings).
Miranda Kerr, Rachael Harris, Seether on a rerun of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).
