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.

Show: Stargate Atlantis (Sci Fi)
Episode: “Adrift” - Season Premiere (Season 4)
Premiere Date: Friday, September 28th, 2007
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Quick Synopsis: Power drain, very little time, collapsing shields and asteroid fields.

Long Synopsis: Picks up right where the season three finale left off. Atlantis having been grazed by the beam is now starting to lose power. Dr. McKay, played by David Hewlett, works to turn off all non-essential power, but it can’t be done from the control room. As power levels continue to drop, Atlantis starts collapsing the protective shield to save power. The protective shield is brought all the way in and is only protecting the main tower. This leaves most of the city exposed to space and their current path will take them through the edge of an asteroid field.

Lt. Col. Sheppard, played by Joe Flanigan, gathers all those with the gene to fly the jumpers into the field and shoot a path through. Most having no real jumper time makes this a desperate measure. The mission turns out mostly successful, but some damage still occurs. With the current power leakage, they only have a short time to make repairs and still have enough power and make it to a nearby inhabitable planet.

Meanwhile, Dr Keller, played by Jewel Staite (Firefly), is working to save Weir. She may live, but will never be the same until a potentially dangerous idea to save her is conceived.

Not having completed the repairs in time, a new plan is hatched, but you will have to tune in next week to see if it works out.

Review: Stargate Atlantis is a whole lot of fun, with solid action and intermittent comic relief that leaves the TVaholic wondering why he hasn’t been watching this show all along. Used to watch Stargate SG-1 back in its Showtime days, but hadn’t followed it much since then. When Stargate Atlantis was spun off, it never grabbed my attention, until deciding to watch the season three finale last June.

This episode, “Adrift,” is the second act of a three-act story. The first being the season three finale, “First Strike,” and the third being next week’s “Lifeline.”

For fans of Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis looking forward to the arrival of the character of Col. Samantha Carter, played by Amanda Tapping, she makes a couple of brief appearances. Carter appears more in next week’s episode, as she searches for the missing Atlantis. In the third episode of the season, “Reunion,” she will finally arrive on Atlantis.

One of the best things about the show is its humor. The writers do a really good job of tossing in lines at just the right time and they are delivered quite well by the actors. One of the best lines comes during a space walk in the second half of the episode, as Sheppard and another have to take a space walk to make repairs.

The pace really keeps you interested. Just when it looks like things are on the upswing, another problem arises that needs attention. The writers really put together an exciting season opener. Longtime fans of the show, I am sure, won’t be disappointed. But, as a newcomer, it also was pretty easy to come in and enjoy it as well, while not really feeling lost. This is a real accomplishment, since the show has three seasons of back-story and character development.

What did you think of the season four premiere of Stargate Atlantis?

How great has this week been so far? The TVaholic loves this time of year. On ABC we have the season premieres of Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy and the series premiere of Big Shots. CBS has the season premieres of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Without a Trace. The CW has the season premiere of Smallville. NBC has the season premieres of My Name Is Earl, The Office and ER. On cable, Spike TV has the season finale of TNA iMPACT!

Right now you can download the Grey’s Anatomy Breathe In Breathe Out music video and the Ugly Betty Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) / Hey Betty Mix music video for free at iTunes .

Prime Picks

Smallville (The CW): Season Premiere. Clark goes up against the last Zoner, but the fight damages the dam and sends water spilling out. Supergirl makes an appearance.

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): Season Premiere. Izzie has gone on what was supposed to be her honeymoon and returns still can’t find Burke anywhere. The interns are now residents and get to have their own groups of interns follow them around. Poor George is one of the interns and not a resident with the rest of the gang. Meredith’s sister gets fully introduced. Runs 61 minutes.

Big Shots (ABC): Series Premiere. It looks a lot like Sex and the City, but with dudes. Guys bond and moan about the women in their lives while trying to manage their professional lives.

Solid Selections

My Name Is Earl (NBC): Season Premiere. Earl starts serving his time and finds it a rough go. Joy figures out just the right way to pay Earl back for what he did for her. Randy is having trouble dealing with life without his brother around.

The Office (NBC): Season Premiere. Michael starts to think that the office is curse and also decides to organize a charity fun run. Find out what is going on with Jim and Pam.

Without a Trace (CBS): Season Premiere. A celebrity couple adopts a baby from Sudan and then it kidnapped. The team tries to figure out whether where he came from or the famous parents are what may have spurred the crime.

Cable Choices

Good Eats (Food Network): Repeat. Alton cooks up some tasty donuts. Plays again later.
Throwdown With Bobby Flay (Food Network): Repeat. A pie battle is waged. Plays again later.

Iron Chef America (Food Network): Repeat. Chef John Besh takes on Iron Chef Mario Batali in battle “Andouille Sausage.” Plays again later.

Mad Men (AMC): New. It looks like it is a “Long Weekend.” Plays twice and again later.

Other Options

• Ace of Cakes (Food Network): New. Celebrity basketball plays into the episode. Plays again later.
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS): Season Premiere. The frantic search to find Sara plays out after she was left in peril by “The Miniature Killer” to die before they can find her.
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX): New. Two new episodes play tonight. In the first, Dee finds out that one of the biggest losers in her high school is now a big time fashion designer. In the second, a Korean restaurant owner attempts to get Paddy’s removed from the annual pub-crawl. Both play twice.
• Reaper (The CW): Repeat. The “Pilot” episode from Tuesday night replays.

Sports Notes

• ESPN has Thursday Night College Football with Southern Mississippi at Boise State. Got to love that blue field turf.
• ESPN2 has soccer action with the second semifinal match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

TV Marathons

Bravo has 10 episodes of Top Chef.
Nickelodeon has 12 episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air late.
Sci Fi has seven episodes of The Outer Limits early and then tonight plays three TV movies about earthquakes.

Today in 14 U.S. cities Showtime will be turning fountains red to promote the new season of Dexter that begins Sunday, September 30th. Unfortunately, none of these cities is the home of the TVaholic, but if you live in or around:

• New York: Fence Island, Times Square
• Los Angeles: Hollywood & Highland
• Philadelphia: Love Park Fountain
• Chicago: Buckingham Fountain, Grant Park
• Washington DC: Union Station
• Boston: Faneuil Hall
• Houston: Smith & Clay Streets, Downtown
• Miami: Shops @ Sunset Place
• Denver: Denver Pavilions
• St. Louis: Keiner Plaza
• Pittsburgh: PPG Place, Downtown
• Las Vegas: Paris Hotel
• Indianapolis: Capital Commons
• Phoenix: Desert Ridge Marketplace

You will be able to see them and also pick up a copy of the season two premiere episode on DVD. If you would like to watch the show before it hits Showtime this weekend, here’s your chance. It is a very good start to the new season. Read more about it or post pictures to a group Flickr account.

Update 10.28.2007: TVaholic is doing our first ever giveaway. Find out how you can get your hands on a Dexter Season One DVD Prize Pack. You have until November 4th, 2007 to enter.