Tonight on the Tube: Back to You, Criminal Minds, Law & Order, Boston Legal & CSI: NY

by Jason the TVaholic @ 5:54 am. Filed under Tonight on the Tube

News & Notes

Tonight, ABC has Boston Legal on its new night, CBS has the return of The Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular, and The CW has the series premiere of Farmer Wants a Wife.

Over on cable, Comedy Central has the first season finale of Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil and Sci Fi has the spring finale of Ghost Hunters.

Bold Italic Items signify what shows the TVaholic is watching, or recording, or watching on demand, etc., tonight. Let me know what you will be watching tonight in the comments. Let’s find out if you watch more or less than the TVaholic? Since this is the first week in a while that everything is new, I thought it would be fun to add this to this week’s posts.

Prime Picks

‘Til Death (FOX): New. Eddie is getting in touch with his sensitive side after he realizes that he gets more emotional over sporting events than when remembering big moments in his life.
Back to You (FOX): New. Gracie is trying to deal with her newfound knowledge that Chuck is her dad. Chuck and Kelly are remembering that fateful night their daughter was conceived.

Criminal Minds (CBS): New. The team heads to Miami in search of a serial killer with a conflicted sexual identity.

CSI: NY (CBS): New. The death of a high school guidance counselor is investigated, while the “Taxi Cab Killer” is still on the loose.

Solid Selections

The Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular (CBS): New. The classic game show with new host Drew Carey gives contestants a chance to win a million dollars at some point during the show.

Farmer Wants a Wife (The CW): Series Premiere. You can read my full review, but basically this is The Bachelor on a farm with the added fish-out-of water scenario of city girls on a farm. Given the competition in this time period, this is the second best option. As stated in my review, just because I would rather watch this than Supernanny, Deal or No Deal, or the American Idol results show, doesn’t mean I will be. Will you?

Law & Order (NBC): New. This is the first episode with Anthony Anderson (K-Ville) as the new detective in the squad, after being introduced last week during Jesse L. Martin’s final episode.

Cable Choices

Good Eats (Food Network): Repeats. Find out how to make the perfect yellow cake and then some tasty butter cream frosting. Both episodes play again later.

MI-5 (BBC America): New. Episode eight from the third season, “Outsiders” plays. These episodes are new to BBC America, but you may have seen them on A&E at some point. The show is known as Spooks in the UK and the few episodes I have seen of the first couple of seasons were really good.

Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (TBS): Repeats. The second two of four repeat episodes replay tonight in this timeslot.

Other Options

Boston Legal (ABC): New. Denny gets hired by a cattle rancher to sue the FDA, as the show moves into its new night and time. ABC has given Women’s Murder Club its former Tuesday night slot for the next few weeks.
John Ratzenberger’s Made in America (Travel Channel): New. John visits Marathon Petroleum and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. A repeat episode follows. Both play again later.
MythBusters (Discovery Channel): Repeat. The “MacGyver Myths” episode replays. Plays again later.

Sports Notes

ESPN has Wednesday Night Baseball with the Milwaukee Brewers at the Chicago Cubs.
ESPN2 has Wednesday Night Fights with a light middleweight bout scheduled for 10 rounds.
TNT has doubleheader NBA playoff action with the Washington Wizards at the Cleveland Cavaliers followed by the Atlanta Hawks at the Boston Celtics.
Versus has doubleheader NHL playoff action with the Montreal Canadiens at the Philadelphia Flyers followed by the San Jose Sharks at the Dallas Stars.

TV Marathons

A&E has five episodes of CSI: Miami tonight.
Bravo has eight episodes of Top Chef.
Oxygen has 11 episodes of Living Single.
Sci Fi has eight episodes of Flash Gordon early.

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How Did the Top 5 Do on American Idol Season 7?

by Jason the TVaholic @ 4:46 am. Filed under Rankings, Top Lists

Time to watch the performances from the Top 5 on American Idol season seven, here at 3:50 a.m. Wednesday morning via the old DVR.

Tonight, the contestants are singing Neil Diamond songs. Hopefully, it will be better than last week. While Andrew Lloyd Weber may have been the best mentor in quite some time on the show, he actually offered an opinion and advice, the performances were not all that good.

Each contestant will be singing two songs tonight, so this is either going to be twice as good or suck twice as bad. They will be judged after their second performance.

How Did the Performances of the Top 5 on American Idol Season 7 Rank?

David Cook - He is coming out on stage second and is going with “I’m Alive” for his first song. This was a pretty good rock version of the song with him playing the electric guitar. For his second song he went with “All I Really Need Is You.” He is playing guitar. Much better than the first song, this is really good. Randy thought he “rocked the house” with his second song. Paula thinks she is “already looking at the American Idol.” Simon thought the first one was “okay,” but the second one was “brilliant.”
David Archuleta - He is fourth to come out and sing and has chosen “Sweet Caroline” for his first performance. I think he has become really good at choosing songs. This is the best so far tonight. It is upbeat and the fan girls are going to love it. For his second song he went with “America.” This one is not sounding as good as the first to me at the beginning. It is picking it up in the second half of the song. Randy thinks he is “in the zone.” Paula thinks it was “the perfect song” for him to sing. Simon thought the second song was a great choice.
Brooke White - She is third out on stage and has picked “I’m A Believer” for her first song. She is playing the guitar for this one. Not bad, but so far things aren’t all that great to me. Maybe they are rushing through to fast. For her second song she is singing “I Am I Said” while playing the piano. Better than the first song. She sounded pretty good. Randy thought it was a “nice job.” Paula liked this one better than the first. Simon “really, really hated the first song,” but the second one was a “million times better than the first one.”
Syesha Mercado - She is last tonight and is going with “Hello Again” for her first song. It is a very sweet performance. It is weird not to hear the judges’ thoughts right after they sing, but we are getting a quick consolidation of their thoughts before the singers take the stage for the second time, even thought Paula thinks they have already sung twice. For her second song, and to close out the night, she went with “Thank The Lord For The Night Time.” Pretty good, at least she is having fun with it. Randy likes her in the second song. Paula liked her vulnerable side in the first song. Simon thinks she may be “in trouble tonight.”
Jason Castro - He is taking the stage first and has chosen “Forever In Blue Jeans” for his first performance. It is just an average boring performance with him playing the guitar. For his second song he went with “September Morn.” This guy is just boring. I don’t understand why he is still in this competition. Randy thinks it was “just okay.” Paula thinks he played it “safe.” Simon thought both songs were “forgettable.”

Based solely on this week’s performances, I think Jason Castro should be exiting the show. Based on the contest up to now, I think Castro should be gone. But, it could be either of the ladies, with Syesha Mercado more likely, as Simon said. I thought Brooke White would be leaving last week, yet I just can’t see anyone else really going home after Castro having two bad weeks in a row.

What do you think? Who should go home after the Top 5 performed on American Idol Season 7? Who do you think will be going home?

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April 29, 2008

Tonight on the Tube: NCIS, American Idol, Shark, Women’s Murder Club & The Riches

by Jason the TVaholic @ 5:55 am. Filed under Tonight on the Tube

News & Notes

Tonight, ABC has the post-strike return of Women’s Murder Club and CBS has the post-strike return of Shark. Both of these shows sit squarely on the bubble and need some decent numbers to be brought back for another season.

Over on cable, FX has the second season finale of The Riches and History Channel has the second season finale of The Universe.

In where did Boston Legal go news, ABC has moved it to Wednesday nights, starting tomorrow. They are trying to give Women’s Murder Club a shot in the post Dancing With the Stars: Results Show slot, hoping it can hang on to a decent amount of Dancings viewers.

Prime Picks

NCIS (CBS): New. Two members of the team go to Iraq to investigate a murder.

Shark (CBS): New. Stark is helping to put together a covert case against a big underworld kingpin and it could lead to his not being disbarred. Paula Marshall (Nip/Tuck, Out of Practice) joins the cast as a temporary replacement for Jeri Ryan, who is on maternity leave.

Women’s Murder Club (ABC): New. Lindsay’s estranged father, played by Gerald McRaney (Jericho) comes for a visit, while she is in the middle of investigating who killed a cop.

Solid Selections

American Idol (FOX): New. Neil Diamond is the mentor this week, as the final five sing one of his songs.

Reaper (The CW): New. Sam is freaking out after Andi sees him kill a demon. She is threatening to go to the cops.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC): New. Robin Williams (Mork & Mindy) guest stars as an engineer whose life goes out of control.

Cable Choices

Food Network Challenge (Food Network): Repeat. Some “Ultimate Wedding Cakes” are decorated in an attempt to win $10,000. Plays again later.

Big Break: Ka’anapali (Golf Channel): New. Eliminations occur after some unexpected match-ups.

The Riches (FX): Season Finale. Dahlia and Wayne try to deal with the ever-widening gap between them. The Bayou Hills deal could go down after foul play at the construction site. Runs 62 minutes and plays twice and again later.

Other Options

The Office (TBS): Repeats. Everyone is up for a “Performance Review” and then they find out that they are under “E-Mail Surveillance.”
Saturday Night Live (NBC): Repeat. The “Best of Alec Baldwin” episode replays, which includes many classic sketches. Runs 90 minutes.

Sports Notes

NBA TV has doubleheader playoff action with the Philadelphia 76ers at the Detroit Pistons followed by the Utah Jazz at the Houston Rockets.
TNT has doubleheader NBA playoff action with the Dallas Mavericks at the New Orleans Hornets followed by the Phoenix Suns at the San Antonio Spurs.
Versus has doubleheader NHL playoff action with the Pittsburgh Penguins at the New York Ranges followed by the Detroit Red Wings at the Colorado Avalanche.

Late Night

Greek (ABC Family): Repeat. Monday night’s episode, “Move On.Cartwrights,” replays. Plays again next Monday before a new episode.

TV Marathons

Bravo has eight episodes of Work Out.
MTV has five episodes of Sweet 16 Blingest Bash Countdown.
Oxygen has 21 episodes of The Bad Girls Club.
Sci Fi has 16 episodes of Tales From the Darkside early.

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New TV on DVD Sets: Beverly Hill, 90210, Cheers, Joey & More

by Jason the TVaholic @ 4:36 am. Filed under New On Tuesday, TV Shows on DVD

There are 25 new TV on DVD sets making there way onto store shelves this week. They include the second season of the disappointing Friends spin-off Joey available in Canada, the fourth season of Beverly Hills, 90210 and the ninth season of Cheers. Other interesting releases are the three seasons of Roswell in new packaging and volume three of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. They are both shows that I have heard were good, but never watched when they originally aired.