News & Notes

Tonight, ABC has the season premiere of Lost followed by the series premiere of Eli Stone.

In renewals news, CBS has announced that Survivor will be around for at least two more years and NBC has announced another edition of Celebrity Apprentice will be back in January 2009.

Prime Picks

Smallville (The CW): New. Clark is frozen at the fortress and Bizarro is posing as him. Lana tells him about Braniac, played by James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and that they suspect him being behind some serial killings. Grant tells Lionel that he is a clone of Julian, which shocks Lex. Five episodes remain after tonight.

Lost (ABC): Season Premiere. Everyone is unsure what to make of Charlie’s warning, as it looks like they are about to be rescued. Runs 62 minutes. This is the first of eight episodes that were completed before the writers’ strike.

Eli Stone (ABC): Series Premiere. A corporate lawyer begins to question what he does after having visions that tell him he should be doing things differently. His friends, family and colleagues begin to question his sanity.

Solid Selections

My Name Is Earl (NBC): Repeat. Michael Rapaport (The War at Home) guest stars as a fellow inmate that Earl and Joy both new before jail in the episode, “The Frank Factor,” from this season.
The Office (NBC): Repeat. Part two of the “Dunder-Mifflin Infinity” episode replays, where Ryan is trying to bring the company into the digital age and Angela is still mad at Dwight about her cat. This is the second part of the second episode of this season, which originally played as a one-hour episode.

Supernatural (The CW): New. This show doesn’t usually make the picks or selections, but it is new tonight and it is not a reality show. Sam and Dean come across a coven of witches in Massachusetts that has been killing people and despite warnings, they confront them anyway. Check out a clip from tonight’s episode below, or for more clips and a behind the scenes chat with Jared and Jensen, click up The CW video player on the video players page. Three episodes remain after tonight.

Without a Trace (CBS): Repeat. Episode five from this season, “Run,” replays, where a woman goes missing after a shooting at her office and the investigation leads to a secret the woman had been keeping that may have lead to her going on the run.

Cable Choices

Friends (TBS): Repeats. The second and third episodes, “The One With the Breast Milk” and “The One Where Heckles Dies,” from season two replay.

American Chopper (TLC): New. The guys start work on a My Name Is Earl inspired bike. Plays again later.

Breaking Bad (AMC): Repeat. Sunday’s episode, “The Cat’s in the Bag…,” replays tonight after a showing of Top Gun. Replays again later. Watch a clip from the episode below.

Other Options

• Ace of Cakes (Food Network): New. The gang builds a volcano cake. Plays again later.
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS): Repeat. The “Cockroaches” episode from this season replays, where Warrick becomes a suspect in a stripper’s murder.
• Lost (ABC): Special. Clip show to help those that need a refresher before the new season kicks off tonight.

Sports Notes

• ESPN has a college basketball doubleheader with Boston College at North Carolina followed by Indiana at Wisconsin.
• ESPN2 has a college basketball doubleheader with Providence at Notre Dame followed by North Carolina State at Duke.
• TNT has a NBA doubleheader with the Dallas Mavericks at the Boston Celtics followed by the San Antonio Spurs at the Phoenix Suns.

Late Night

• Psych (USA): Repeat. Last Friday’s episode, “Lights, Camera … Homicidio,” replays.

TV Marathons

History Channel has five episodes of Human Weapon that play twice.
MTV has five episodes of Made tonight.
Sci Fi has eight episodes of The Twilight Zone early.

What will you be watching tonight?

News & Notes

Tonight, The CW has the season finale of Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants.

CBS has pulled Power of 10 and replaced it with reruns of The New Adventures of Old Christine, as of tonight. It will be back again at a later date.

Prime Picks

American Idol (FOX): New. More weirdoes and wackos take a shot at their 15 minutes with the occasional decent yellow ticket worthy voice shown. Runs 61 minutes.

Lost (ABC): Repeat. With the fourth season premiere tomorrow night, ABC is rerunning the two-hour season three finale, “Through the Looking Glass.” But, it is not just the episode. It will contain pop-ups, or something, with extra information about the episode, the making of the episode, etc. Could be interesting or could be annoying. Will you be checking it out tonight? Are you ready for the new season to begin tomorrow?

Solid Selections

The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS): Repeats. The last two episodes of season two, “Friends” and “Frasier,” replay. Season three begins next Monday night in the post Two and a Half Men timeslot.

Criminal Minds (CBS): Repeat. Episode four from this season, “Children of the Dark,” replays, where the team is in Denver investigating a string of home invasion murders.

Law & Order (NBC): New. Three bodies are found in an apartment and it looks like a murder-suicide, but that make not be the case.

Cable Choices

Good Eats (Food Network): Repeats, New. There reruns and a new episode play tonight. They will all help you in getting ready for the big game on Sunday. First up Alton makes some dips. In the second he works with tortillas. The third episode has making corndogs and burgers. In the forth and new episode, Alton cooks up some tasty Buffalo wings.

Head Case (Starz): New. Richard Kind (Spin City, Mad About You) and Lea Thompson (Caroline in the City) go in for a session with Dr. Goode.
Hollywood Residential (Starz): New. Tom Arnold’s (Roseanne) backyard is getting a makeover.

Other Options

• CSI: NY (CBS): Repeat. This season’s premiere episode, “Can You Hear Me Now?,” replays. The last remaining episode complete before the strike is schedule to air next week.
• Gossip Girl (The CW): Repeat. Episode two, “The Wild Bunch,” replays, where Serena takes Dan to Chuck’s brunch.
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC): Repeat. Why they are playing them in a different order on NBC than they originally played them in the fall on USA, I don’t know, as tonight’s episode is the 10th of this season, “Senseless,” where Logan and Falacci are investigating the killing of four college freshman.
• MythBusters (Discovery Channel): New. The guys test out some remote controlled airplanes. Plays again later.
• Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (TBS): New. Two new episodes play tonight. In the first, guest star Robin Givens (Head of the Class) catches CJ’s eye. In the second, Janine and CJ spend the night together and spend the next day getting grilled by the family. Two repeats play right before.

Sports Notes

• ESPN has college basketball with Virginia at Maryland followed by NBA action with the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Portland Trail Blazers.
• ESPN2 has a college basketball doubleheader with Cincinnati at West Virginia followed by Texas at Texas A&M.
• Versus has doubleheader NHL action.

TV Marathons

A&E has five episodes of CSI: Miami tonight.
Bravo has eight episodes of Project Runway.
Oxygen has 12 episodes of Roseanne early.
Sci Fi has eight episodes of The Outer Limits early.
Travel Channel has 10 episodes of Vacation Home Search.
VH1 has 1973-79 of I Love the ‘70s.

What will you be watching tonight?

News & Notes

Tonight, Bravo has a The Real Housewives Confess special episode.

With the strike still looming and new episodes quickly dwindling, we try to keep you up-to-date on how many episodes are remaining when we mention a show in the picks below. But, if you would like to get a look at where just about every show stands, take a look at this, updated as of yesterday, list of shows and their remaining episode counts over at TV Guide. Note how many of them have or will soon reach, “so there are zero left” status.

Prime Picks

NCIS (CBS): Repeat. Episode four from this season, “Identity Crisis,” replays, where a body mistakenly marked as a John Doe, is actually that of a career criminal with ties to master criminal.

House (FOX): New. A woman whose hands suddenly become paralyzed is brought in for testing. As her body starts to shutdown completely, the team tries to figure out what is causing all this. This is the first of the last three episodes that will all play over the next eight days. A new episode with guest star Mira Sorvino plays after the Super Bowl and the last completed episode before the strike airs next Tuesday night.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC): Repeat. Episode five from this season, “Harm,” replays, where the stabbing of a teacher may be connected to her volunteer work.

Solid Selections

American Idol (FOX): New. More auditions, more people that can’t sing. People laugh, scream and cry. Yellow tickets are handed out to a few. Zzzzz, somebody wake me when the competition really begins.

One Tree Hill (The CW): New. Well, they flashed forward four years. Now the show flashes back three, to show you what happened when Lucas went to visit Peyton in L.A. and Brooke’s clothing line was just starting to take off.

Boston Legal (ABC): Repeat. Episode four from this season, “Do Tell,” replays, where Alan starts talking gibberish. There are two new episodes left and they are presently scheduled for February 12th and 19th.

Cable Choices

Good Eats (Food Network): Repeats. First Alton dries some fruits then he cooks with some mushrooms. Both episode play again later.

Dirty Jobs (Discovery Channel): New. Mike cleans buoys with the Coast Guard and makes shingles in Oregon. Plays again later. Last week’s episode replays right before.

Nip/Tuck (FX): New. Christian is dealing with a death. Sean has a second agent looking at him, which makes Colleen nervous. Runs 63 minutes and plays twice.

Other Options

• Bones (TNT): Repeat. The “Pilot” episode replays, as TNT recently bought the cable-exclusive rights to replay the series and begins playing them tonight. Episode two, “The Man in the S.U.V.,” plays next Tuesday night.
• The Office (TBS): Repeats. Two episodes from season three, “Traveling Salesmen” and “The Return,” replay.
• The Unit (CBS): Repeat. The second part of the season premiere, “Pandemonium, Part Two,” replays, where Jonas tries to figure out who is behind the conspiracy that has shutdown the team and get Col. Ryan cleared and the team back together.

Sports Notes

• ESPN has a doubleheader college basketball.
• ESPN2 has college basketball.
• NBA TV has the Boston Celtics at the Miami Heat.
• Versus has a doubleheader NHL action.

Late Night

• 10 Items or Less (TBS): New. Leslie has a memorial service for his father, but then realizes that he doesn’t have anyone to leave the store to like his father did. Replays again later.
• Flash Gordon (Sci Fi): Repeat. Last Friday’s episode, “Cold Day in Hell,” replays.

TV Marathons

Bravo has seven episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Sci Fi has eight episodes from season one of Dark Angel early.

What will you be watching tonight?

This week there are 11 shows coming out on DVD and one them on Blu-ray, as well. The show coming out on both, Damages, is your prime pick of the week. Glenn Close, Ted Danson and the rest of the cast brought to life a very well crafted story. This is one show that will keep you guessing until the end and then some, as it has been picked up for two additional seasons.

The takes me back to my youth pick is Emergency! While the TVaholic wasn’t old enough to watch these when they originally aired back in the ‘70s, he does remember coming home after school to watch the syndicated reruns in the afternoons, back in the ‘80s. Good times. So, what new TV on DVD sets look good to you this week?

New on DVD

Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Vol. 5
Blue Murder: Set 2
Chancer: Series 2
Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Sixth Season
Damages: The Complete First Season
Emergency! - Season Four
Hannah Montana - One in a Million
JAG - The Fifth Season
Pioneers of Television
Spongebob SquarePants - To Love A Patty
This American Life (Exclusively at Borders)

New on Blu-ray

Damages: The Complete First Season