Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets for Friday

Season premiere of Law & Order (NBC, 7pm)
Series premiere of Brothers (FOX, 7pm)
Season premiere of Medium (CBS, 8pm)
Season premiere of Dollhouse (FOX, 8pm)
Season premiere of Numb3rs (CBS, 9pm)
New Psych (USA, 9pm and midnight)
Bruce Willis, LL Cool J, Noisettes on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)

News & Notes

I plan to do picks this weekend, at least on/for Sunday.

Daytime

Mackenzie and Chynna Phillips, Jay Leno, Harry Connick Jr. on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

Primetime Grid

Primetime

Baseball: Red Sox at Yankees (TBS, 6pm).

A young war veteran is found dead and detectives Lupo and Bernard are on the case in the season premiere of Law & Order (NBC, 7pm). I thought last season was great and I’m looking forward to this season of the show: the current group of actors and writers is really good.

Series premiere of Brothers (FOX, 7pm). Michael Strahan stars as a retired NFL player who winds up heading home to help his brother and parents. Daryl “Chill” Mitchell (of Ed, The John Larroquette Show) plays his wheelchair-bound brother, who is struggling to keep his retaurant afloat. The always fabulous CCH Pounder (of Warehouse 13, The Shield) plays their mother; Carl Weathers plays their father, who may have some health issues. Some very talented folks are behind this show, so I’m looking forward to checking it out.

If you missed the series premiere of FlashForward (ABC, 7pm) on Thursday night, you should definitely check it out tonight. It may be my favorite new show for this Fall.

Clark tells Jor-El he’s ready to start his training, Lois reappears; Brian Austin Green (of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) guest stars as a new reporter at The Daily Planet in the season premiere of Smallville (CW, 7pm).

Melinda gives birth to a baby boy in the season premiere of Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 7pm). The episode was directed by series star (and executive producer) Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Episodes of the classic series The Prisoner (IFC, 7pm – 10pm) are airing on Friday nights on IFC. Three more episodes air next Friday. The episodes are also available on the AMC website.

Natalie Zea (of Dirty Sexy Money), Deirdre Lovejoy (of The Wire), and Pruitt Taylor Vince guest star in the season premiere of Medium (CBS, 8pm). Allison and her family deal with the outcome of her surgery; a sportscaster is stalked. This is one of my favorite shows, I’m glad it survived and has found a home on a new network. DVR Alert: The series moves from NBC to CBS so you may need to update your “season passes” (or equivalent) if you have the show scheduled to record.

Joss Whedon wrote and directed the season premiere of Dollhouse (FOX, 8pm). Guest stars for this episode include Jamie Bamber (who was “Apollo” on Battlestar Galactica) and Alexis Denisof (who was “Wesley” on Buffy and Angel); Summer Glau (of Sarah Connor Chronicles and Firefly) will be showing up in future episodes. Echo has an assignment that involves marrying a British businesswoman, Adele makes an offer to Ballard, Dr. Saunders struggles a bit on the job. This series disappointed me last year, but finally started getting interesting near the end of last season, so I’m going to give it a chance this year. If you like the show and haven’t yet seen the unaired episode from season one, you should track it down on DVD or online.

Meat Loaf guest stars in a new episode of Monk (USA, 8pm and 11pm; also on Sunday at 8am) which has something to do with a voodoo curse.

Sir David Attenborough; Eva Herzigova; Jay-Z; Peter Andre on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (BBC America, 8pm, 11pm, 1am).

New Jockeys (Animal Planet, 8pm, 1pm, 3am).

The Dog Whisperer helps a Welsh Sealyham terrier, English mastiff, and a Tibetan terrier on The Dog Whisperer (National Geographic, 8pm and 11pm; also on Sunday at 8am).

They play “The Michael Jackson Tapes” on a new Dateline NBC (NBC, 8pm).

Felix Mitchell Jr. is profiled on a new American Gangster (BIography Channel, 8pm and midnight).

New Say Yes to the Dress (TLC, 8pm and 10pm).

New Bang for Your Buck (HGTV, 8:30pm and 12:30am).

Gary Cole guest stars in the season premiere of Numb3rs (CBS, 9pm).

Gus rejoins his estranged college singing buddies after a member of their group is killed on a new Psych (USA, 9pm and midnight; also at 10pm on Saturday and 9am on Sunday). This should be fun. Kenan Thompson and Jaleel White guest star.

Season premiere of Crash (Starz, 9pm and 11:40pm; lots of additional airings on various Starz stations).

Paul Krugman and fmr. Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-NY). Plus, talks with filmmakers Michael Moore and John Waters on Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO, 9pm, 10pm; lots of other airings on various HBO stations).

Hugh Laurie, LeBron James on The Jay Leno Show (NBC, 9pm).

New episode of The Soup (E!, 9pm and 11:30pm; also on Saturday at 9am, 3:30pm, and 10pm).

New Masters of Reception (TLC, 9pm and 11pm).

Late Night

Bruce Willis, LL Cool J, Noisettes on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Teri Hatcher, Seth MacFarlane, Rodrigo y Gabriela on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 10:35pm).

LeBron James and his high school basketball teammates on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, 11:05pm).

Ted Danson, Christopher Miller & Phil Lord on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 11:35pm).

Julianna Margulies, Kevin Smith on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC, 11:35pm).

Mekhi Phifer, Ladyhawke on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, 12:35am).