Tonight on the Tube: House, Boston Legal, College Basketball and Dirt

A little more newness in the TV lineups tonight once you get past the first hour of primetime. Are your ready for the return of American Idol? Will you be watching from the first episode on? I won’t be. The audition phase of the show doesn’t really do it for me. I don’t really find it all that entertaining. I do like the competition part of the show but only if there is somebody that I like or find interesting in some way. I really hope it doesn’t happen this season, as then it will really cut into my viewing time for other shows. Seeing how everything from the new Friday Night Lights to the veteran Lost is moving to get out of the way maybe it won’t be that bad after all.

Prime Picks

House (FOX): Repeat. The last episode of 2006, “Merry Little Christmas,” replays where House tries to diagnose what is killing a little person while dealing with being cutoff from his pain pills.

House (FOX): New. House is on trial and reveals something in an attempt to not go to jail. Meanwhile a firefighter agrees to have his brain shocked.

Boston Legal (ABC): New. A doctor who is accused of euthanizing patients under her care during Hurricane Katrina is defended by Alan Shore.

Solid Selections

NCIS (CBS): Repeat. A Navy lieutenant has gone missing and the team only has her bloody car to go on.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC): New. Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond) guests in this episode as a prominent Virginia socialite whose granddaughter is killed. Goren and Eames investigate.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC): New. A husband and wife are in a dispute over custody of their child.

Cable Choices

Dead Like Me (Sci Fi) Repeat. The second of two episodes play tonight of the old Showtime Original show about reapers.

Eureka (Sci Fi): Repeat. See the “H.O.U.S.E. Rules” episode replay where a bunch of people gets trapped in Carter’s super smart house.

The Closer (TNT): Repeat. The second season encore continues tonight with tonight’s episode where the Priority Homicide Division investigates when a paparazzo is killed.

Other Options

• Dirt (FX): New. I thought the first episode was terrible and hard to watch. It had no flow and left me wishing that it actually had a few commercial breaks instead of playing without any. Maybe tonight will be better but I don’t have high hopes. Runs 66 minutes and plays twice.
• Dirty Jobs (Discovery Channel): New. Have you ever wondered how dirty is would be to breed exotic insects?
• The 33rd Annual People’s Choice Awards (CBS): New. Hosted by Queen Latifah awards are handed out for movies, music and television as chosen by a public poll. Runs two hours.
• The Hungry Detective (Food Network): New. Boston restaurants are investigated.
• My Boys (TBS): Repeat. The TBS original comedy series, which is actually pretty good, at least the episodes I have seen were pretty good.
• Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels (Food Network): New. Rachael eats where the locals eat.
• Veronica Mars (The CW): Repeat. Patricia Hearst guests as Selma Rose whose is the granddaughter of the founder of Hearst College where the show is set. She goes missing and Keith is hired to find her. Very good casting but very bad acting, yet overall the episode was good.

Sports Notes

• ESPN has a college basketball doubleheader with Arkansas at Florida followed by Ohio State at Wisconsin.
• ESPN2 also has two college basketball games with West Virginia at Notre Dame followed by LSU at Alabama.
• NBA TV has the Dallas Mavericks at the Utah Jazz.
• Versus has an NHL game between Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche.