Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

New House (FOX, 7pm)
New NCIS (CBS, 7pm)
New The Mentalist (CBS, 8pm)
New Privileged (CW, 8pm)
New Eli Stone (ABC, 9:02pm)
New Without a Trace (CBS, 9pm)
New Law & Order: SVU (NBC, 9pm; also on Sat)
New The Shield (FX, 9pm and 11pm or so)
Don Rickles, Amy Brenneman, Alicia Keys, a Top Ten List from Terrell Owens on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)
Selma Blair, Tom Dreesen, Tim Reid on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm)
Seth Green, Artie Lange, Conor Oberst on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm)

Primetime Grid

Primetime

An agoraphobic man falls ill and refuses to leave his home for treatment on House (FOX, 7pm). It turns out Cameron has treated him before so she’s in charge of the case. It sounds like we’ll see a lot more of both Cameron and Chase than we usually do, which will be nice. And then there’s surely gotta be some fallout from the events of the previous episode. DVR/VCR Alert: This episode runs from 7pm ’til 8:01pm.

Agent Michelle Lee (heh!) is back on the team for a case involving a bank robbery on NCIS (CBS, 7pm); she’s played by Liza Lapira. Given the events of the season opener, this should prove interesting. The commercials have mentioned that the robbery is at Quantico. Michael Swan is listed among the guest stars; I still remember Swan fondly for his turn as “Duncan McKechnie” on As The World Turns years ago.

Word gets out that a certain teacher is taking a leave of absence after “hooking up” with a student on 90210 (CW, 7pm). I imagine Kelly will be surprised too as she returns from her trip in this episode. Annie has a 16th birthday party and Naomi wants to teach her a lesson after what she saw last week. And yes, I’m actually watching the show and enjoying it.

It’s time for the prom in one episode and an earthquake in a second new episode of Lincoln Heights (ABC Family, 7pm, 8pm). Actually that second episode is the season finale and it airs at a special time following another new episode.

New Spice Up My Kitchen (HGTV, 7:30pm and 11:30pm).

A casino owner is murdered on a new The Mentalist (CBS, 8pm). I’d say this show and Privileged are probably my two favorite new network shows so far this season, though I’m also enjoying both Life on Mars and Eleventh Hour.

Sarah Drew, who played “Hannah” on Everwood and who more recently played “Kitty” on Mad Men, guest stars as one of Megan’s friends from college on Privileged (CW, 8pm). Kathy Najimy returns as the girl’s publicist and Perez Hilton makes a cameo appearance on the show.

“A strange, almost-otherworldly parasite mysteriously attaches itself to the internal organs of a dying FBI agent” on Fringe (FOX, 8:01pm). I hate it when that happens. Have any of you stuck with this show? Has it improved at all since the first episodes?

A visit to a mannequin factory on a new Dirty Jobs (Discovery, 8pm and midnight).

A look at “Deep Space Disasters” on the season premiere of The Universe (History, 8pm and ). Find out more on the official site for the show.

New Man Caves (DIY, 8pm and midnight).

The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo, 8pm, 10pm, midnight; with lots of rebroadcasts during the week).

Eli and Jordan struggle to retain associates after the firm splits on Eli Stone (ABC, 9:02pm).

The team searches for a bank manager who goes missing after an argument on Without a Trace (CBS, 9pm). And it looks like Jack is back in charge of the team or will be soon. Yay! Bill Smitrovich (of Millennium) makes an appearance again. Geoffrey Owens, who is still probably best known for playing “Elvin” on The Cosby Show, is among the guest stars.

A teenager is found burned to death and Stabler and Munch (yay!) investigate on Law & Order: SVU (NBC, 9pm; also on Sat). The case involves a pregnancy pact, you knew that had to show up on this show eventually. Jesse McCartney guest stars; he’s a singing star, but he also played “Bradin” on Summerland.

New episode of The Shield (FX, 9pm and 11pm; also airs on Saturday at 10:30pm). DVR/VCR Alert: Episode probably runs a little long and that likely bumps the start time of the second airing a little late.

Series premiere of Extreme Trains (History Channel, 9pm). Find out more on the official site for the show.

Series premiere of Extreme Loggers (Discovery Channel, 9pm).

Andrew is in Ethiopia for a new episode of Bizarre Food with Andrew Zimmern (Travel Channel, 9pm, 10pm, 1am).

Series premiere of Cha$e (Sci-Fi, 9pm). Find out more on the official site for the show.

Series premiere of Blush: The Search for the Next Great Make-Up Artist (Lifetime, 9pm). Find out more on the official site for the show.

New Coolio’s Rules (Oxygen, 9pm, 10pm, 1am).

New The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm).

New episode of Paris Hilton’s My New BFF (MTV, 9pm and 10pm).

Season premiere of Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is (BET, 9pm) followed bya second new episode (BET, 9:30pm). Find out more on the official site for the show.

Late Night

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

Rerun of the latest episode of Californication (Showtime, 10pm, 10:30pm).

New Frank TV (TBS, 10pm and 1am).

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

Don Rickles, Amy Brenneman, Alicia Keys, a Top Ten List from Terrell Owens on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Sen. John McCain, Steve Byrne, the Kaiser Chiefs on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

Selma Blair, Tom Dreesen, Tim Reid on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).

Seth Green, Artie Lange, Conor Oberst on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).

Joshua Jackson, latest person to leave Dancing with the Stars, Low vs. Diamond on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Jay Mohr, the Sounds on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).