Tonight on the Tube: Sci Fi Friday with Stargate Atlantis, Moonlight, Las Vegas & Numb3rs

The ABC Friday night lineup is still two weeks away. Tonight, CBS has the season premieres of Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs and the series premiere of Moonlight to bridge the two together. FOX has pulled reality series Nashville as of tonight. It may reappear at a later date, sometime in October. For now, replays of K-Ville will occupy the timeslot until The Next Great American Band premieres in three weeks with two-hour episodes. NBC has the time period premiere of Deal or No Deal and the two-hour season premiere of Las Vegas. Friday Night Lights premieres next week. Over on cable, Sci Fi has the season premiere of Stargate Atlantis that will cap off the three hour Sci Fi Friday block. Look for a replay of the Bionic Woman premiere right before it, as it looks like episodes will be replaying each Friday in that timeslot.

In other news, USA has renewed Psych for a third season. Which is great. That means that this January won’t be the last we see of Shawn and Gus, as the will be back next summer once again with the first part of 16 new episodes.

Prime Picks

Just for Laughs (ABC): New. An officer uses magic and a gorilla hangs from a tree. Two episodes play.

Moonlight (CBS): Series Premiere. A vampire that is a private detective, Mick St. John, attempts to help people in ways the authorities can’t. It looks interesting and with supporting players like Jason Dohring (Veronica Mars), it looks worth checking out.

Numb3rs (CBS): Season Premiere. Granger has gotten away from FBI custody and Don and his team must track him down.

Solid Selections

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (FOX): New. Two new contestants try to answer questions from grade school textbooks for money while Jeff Foxworthy cracks wise.

Las Vegas (NBC): Season Premiere. Two episodes play for a two-hour kick off of the new season. Sam tries to escape. There may be a new clue as to who killed Mary’s father, casino robbers are searched for and Delinda may finally tell Danny about her secret.

Cable Choices

Doctor Who (Sci Fi): New. Harry Saxon is now prime minister and announces the first contact with an alien race has occurred, thus starting his reign of terror. Plays again later.

Flash Gordon (Sci Fi): New. Flash takes another trip to Mongo in search of his father. Plays again later.

Stargate Atlantis (Sci Fi): Season Premiere. Atlantis’ power systems are starting to fail and Dr. McKay and the rest must work to fix things before it is too late. Picks up from where season three left off. Plays again later. Read review. Check out the Sci Fi Video Player for an interview with actors, David Hewlett and Rachel Luttrell, and executive producers and writers, Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. Also, look for an interview with Amanda Tapping and Jewel Staite to be posted later in the day and photos from a set tour before next week’s episode.

Other Options

• K-Ville (FOX): Repeat. The “Pilot” episode replays.
• Paula’s Party (Food Network): New. Gloria Gaynor joins Paula for a “Disco Party.”
• What Not to Wear (TLC): New. An actor comic that mainly wears oversized men’s clothes gets made over. Plays again later.

Sports Notes

• ESPN has Friday Night Baseball with the San Diego Padres at the Milwaukee Brewers.
• ESPN2 has Friday Night College Football with West Virginia at South Florida.
• USA has golf action with day two of the Presidents Cup.

TV Marathons

MTV has nine episodes of America’s Next Top Model.
The N has 12 hours of Degrassi: The Next Generation tonight and the next three nights as well.
Sci Fi has eight season one episodes of Stargate Atlantis early, including the two-part series premiere, “Rising,” starting things off.
Spike has five episodes of Disorderly Conduct: Video on Patrol.