Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
Best Bets
Elvis Costello, The Police on a new Spectacle (Sundance, 8pm)
Season premiere of Damages (FX, 9pm, 10:10pm, midnight)
New Law & Order (NBC, 9pm)
New Friday Night Lights (The 101 on DirecTV, 8pm and 11pm)
Rachel Maddow on The Daily Show (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight)
Ricky Gervais, Rose Byrne, Okkervil River on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)
Christopher Meloni, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Derek Trucks Band on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm)
William Shatner on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm)
Ron Howard, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Gabe Dixon Band on Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, check your local listings)
News & Notes
Criminal Minds and CSI: NY will return with new episodes on Wednesday, January 14th.
Life won’t be back with new episodes ’til February.
Still no word on when/if the remaining episodes of Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money will air. Private Practice has moved to Thursday nights after Grey’s Anatomy.
Primetime Grid
| Wed | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Scrubs Rerun | Scrubs Rerun | 20/20 | Barbara Walters Special | ||
| CBS | Old Christine Rerun | Gary Unmarried Rerun | 35th Annual People’s Choice Awards | |||
| NBC | Knight Rider | Law & Order: SVU Rerun | Law & Order | |||
| FOX | Bones Rerun | Bones Rerun | Local Programming | |||
| CW | 13: Fear is Real Series premiere | 90210 Rerun | Local Programming | |||
| FX | Damages Season premiere, also at 10:10pm | |||||
Primetime
If you missed the two new episodes of Scrubs (ABC, 7pm, 7:30pm) that debuted last night on ABC, they air again tonight. Season premiere and the show’s debut on a new network.
Back to back reruns of Bones (FOX, 7pm, 8pm).
Another new installment of National Body Challenge (Discovery Health Channel, 7pm and 10pm). Episodes air each weeknight at 7pm and 10pm this week; all of the episodes will be rerun on Saturday starting at 9am.
Mike and KITT try to rescue a kidnapped foreign ambassador in this new episode of Knight Rider (NBC, 7pm). Vanessa Williams and Rick Hoffman guest star. There’s a subplot involving a sick robot that is probably more interesting than the main plot, but then this whole show is so awful it’s hard to say.
Series premiere of 13: The Fear is Real (CW, 7pm; also on Friday at 8pm). I’m completely uninterested in this show, but imagine some of you might find it interesting. Here’s a link to the official website. Here’s the description from the press release:
Thirteen people compete to “stay alive” as they face their deepest fears in an all-out elimination competition and scare-fest. Pitted against each other in situations straight from the horror movies, the 13 will face shocking surprises, psychological scares and lots of “beware of the dark” moments, all designed by a “mastermind” of terror. Each week, one unlucky victim will be “killed off” via frightening challenges and game-playing until only one person is left to win the grand prize of fittingly $66,666.
New episode of Friday Night Lights (The 101, 8pm and 11pm; also airs on Friday at 8pm and 11pm). The 101 is a station that’s only available on DirecTV; these episodes of Friday Night Lights will air on NBC, starting later this month.
Elvis Costello interviews and plays some music with The Police in tonight’s new episode of Spectacle (Sundance, 8pm; also on Thursday at 11pm, Sunday at 1am and 1pm, and next Monday at 11pm).
New episode of Whatever, Martha! (Fine Living, 8pm and 11pm). Martha makes a yo-yo quilt.
A “special edition” of 20/20 (ABC, 8pm) which is subtitled “Vanished: Missing in Milwaukee”.
Queen Latifah hosts The 3th Annual People’s Choice Awards (CBS, 8pm – 10pm).
New Inside the NFL (Showtime, 8pm).
Season premiere of Damages (FX, 9pm, 10:10pm, midnight; also on Sunday at 11:03pm). DVR Alert: this episode has a running time of 70 minutes. I’ve seen the first three episodes of the new season of Damages and they’re great. Joining the cast this season are William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, and Timothy Olyphant. I really liked season one of this show and in order to enjoy season two– you really need to have seen season one (fortunately it’s available on DVD). FX is airing a “Season 1 Recap” show for those who’d like a refresher on what happened last season (FX, 1am Friday and Saturday, though you might want to think of those as being on very late on Thursday and Friday nights).
Married divorce attorneys are brutally murdered in this new episode of Law & Order (NBC, 9pm). Guest stars include Jessica Hecht, Tom Gilroy, Thuliso Dingwall, Steven Friedman, Marty Beth O’Connor, Paul DeBoy, and Maureen Silliman.
Barbara Walters talks to Patrick Swayze in A Barbara Walters Special: Patrick Swayze: The Truth (ABC, 9pm).
The competitors must make a sweet treat without using sugar in this new episode of Top Chef (Bravo, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm).
Two new episodes of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (TBS, 9pm, 9:30pm).
Late Night
Rachel Maddow on The Daily Show (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).
Benicio Del Toro on The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30pm and 12:30am).
Ricky Gervais, Rose Byrne (of Damages), Okkervil River on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).
Anne Hathaway, Brady Barr, Jeff Dunham on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC, 10:35pm).
Christopher Meloni (of Law & Order: SVU), Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Derek Trucks Band on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:37pm).
William Shatner, other guests still to be announced on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:37pm).
Ron Howard, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Gabe Dixon Band on Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, check your local listings).
Jamal Woolard on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).
