Tonight on the Tube: Extended American Idol, New House and Dirt Season Finale

Dancing With the Stars takes a page out of the How To Milk It Handbook from American Idol tonight. ABC will be airing an hour-long recap episode of the first two weeks up against Idol and then in the second hour of primetime they will have an hour-long results show. That will be followed by the premiere of The Great American Dream Vote, which is hosted by Donny Osmond. In this show, eight people will tell of their dream and then the studio audience will pick their favorite two. Those two will be voted on by anybody who wants to at ABC.com. The show moves to its regular timeslot in the first hour of primetime tomorrow.

Prime Picks

American Idol (FOX): New. The theme of the week is pop music and the remaining 10 get a little help from Gwen Stefani on their performances. Runs 67 minutes.

House (FOX): New. House has a new patient, an ex-Marine that he finds intriguing. Runs 60 minutes, so that means it will run seven minutes into the final hour of primetime or in this case delay your local FOX affiliate’s news broadcast.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC): New. Tim Daly (The Nine, Wings) plays a preacher that the detectives suspect of murder.

Solid Selections

NCIS (CBS): Repeat. When a Marine colonel is found dead at a golf course the team ends up working with the Army Criminal Investigative Unit on a suspected terrorist attack.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC): New. When the son of a judge is found dead, the detectives start with the friends and family of a young rapper who was handed a tough sentence by the father.

Shark (CBS): Repeat. Stark is prosecuting a case that seems very similar to a case he lost 15 years earlier when he was a defense attorney. He hopes that the verdict here could get an innocent man out of jail.

Cable Choices

Emeril Live (Food Network): Repeat. Emeril cooks with soul.

Ace of Cakes (Food Network): Repeat. The ski slope cake episode replays.
Throwdown With Bobby Flay (Food Network): Repeat. Bobby competes in a Mac & Cheese battle.

Dirt (FX): Season Finale. Jennifer Anniston (Friends) guests as Tina Harrod, who has been a rival of Lucy’s for a while. Lucy hears of a rumor about Tina being up for her job. Runs 66 minutes and plays twice.

Other Options

• Taste of America With Mark DeCarlo (Travel Channel): New. Check out some tasty bagels in New York and a dude that cooks entire meals with Coke as a main ingredient. A repeat episode plays right after.
• The Unit (CBS): Repeat. Pretty good episode where Bob and his translator crash land in a helicopter and must survive without any of their gear.

Sports Notes

• ESPN has a couple of Women’s NCAA Tournament games.
• ESPN2 has a couple of NIT college basketball games.
• NBA TV has the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Indiana Pacers.

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