News & Notes
Tonight, ABC has Desperate Housewives back with new episodes and Eli Stone on a special night.
Over on cable, Comedy Central has the Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education special, FX has the second season finale of Dirt, TLC has the first season finale of I Can Make You Thin With Paul McKenna and VH1 has the second season finale of Rock of Love With Bret Michaels and the series premiere of Viva Hollywood!
In returning show news, ABC will have Brothers & Sisters back with new episodes next week.
Prime Picks
The Simpsons (FOX): New. Lisa goes through the town’s books and finds out why they are having a money shortfall.
King of the Hill (FOX): New. Dale’s son has become the star quarterback at Landry High and then he wants him to play for a private school that is offering a cash contract.
Desperate Housewives (ABC): New. Katherine is finding it hard to keep all her secrets hidden, while a surprise wedding reveals a few secrets of its own.
Eli Stone (ABC): New. Eli has another vision of an earthquake that does damage to the Golden Gate Bridge and sues the city to shutdown it down to try and keep people safe, but his last vision of an earthquake has yet to come true. Really hoping this timeslot will give the show a shot in the ratings that will carry over to Thursday’s season finale. Otherwise, this isn’t likely to make it to a second season, which would be too bad.
Solid Selections
Monk (NBC): Repeat. Monk seems to have a new rival, played by Jason Alexander (Seinfeld), as he seems to have all the answers in Monk’s latest case, in this episode from season four.
Cold Case (CBS): New. New evidence has been found in the murder of an ex-con and the team reopens the case. Runs 61 minutes.
Dexter (CBS): Repeat. In episode nine, “Father Knows Best,” Dexter finds out that his biological father has died.
Cable Choices
Challenge (Food Network): Repeat. The “Gilroy Garlic Cook-Off” competition is held. Plays again later.
John Adams (HBO): New. Part six of seven, “Unnecessary War,” has President Adams trying to keep the country out of war and later not being reelected to a second term. Runs 90 minutes and plays multiple times throughout the week. Am about to watch last week’s episode after I finish this post. For some reason, Comcast didn’t have the HD version available via On Demand until Wednesday and I haven’t gotten a chance to watch it yet. Have you been watching, what do you think of this miniseries?
Other Options
- Army Wives (Lifetime): Repeat. Episode six, “Who We Are,” replays, where Claudia Joy and Michael worry about their daughter’s new relationship. Plays again later.
- Breaking Bad (AMC): Repeat. Episode five, “Grey Matter,” replays, where Walter and Skyler are off to a party for a former colleague and Jessie is trying to go straight. Plays twice and again later.
- Dirt (FX): Season Finale. An overweight sitcom star is trying to stay out of Lucy’s magazine and will do almost anything to do so. Plays twice and again later.
- The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (Lifetime): Released 2008. Based on the by Kim Edwards. It stars Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friends Wedding), Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves) and Gretchen Mol (The Notorious Life of Betty Paige). It is the story of Dr. David Henry, played by Mulroney, who has to deliver his own baby and it turns out they have twins. It is 1964 and when a second baby is born, he notices that it is different and has what we become known as Down syndrome. He decides right there to have the nurse, played by Watson, take the baby to an institution and tells his wife, played by Mol, that the baby died at birth. Over time, this secret tears his family apart, but off in another town, the nurse decided to take the daughter and raise her as her own and finds much love and joy in doing so. This is a great movie, as the acting and the flow of the story are outstanding and a cut above your standard made-for-TV movie. I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this touching story. It plays twice this evening and again tomorrow night.
- Psych (NBC): Repeat. In this episode from season one, “9 Lives,” Shawn thinks that a death ruled a suicide was actually murder and tries to keep himself on the case.
- Throwdown With Bobby Flay (Food Network): New. It is a “Grilled Cheese” throwdown. A repeat episode follows. Both play again later.
- Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union (Showtime): New. Tracey Ullman does impersonations and skewers pop culture. Plays twice.
- The Tudors (Showtime): New. Henry strips Katherine of her title and privileges and marries Anne in secret. Plays again later.
Sports Notes
- ABC has a NBA doubleheader with the Toronto Raptor at the Detroit Pistons followed by the San Antonio Spurs at the Los Angeles Lakers.
- CBS has the final round of the Masters golf tournament.
- ESPN has Sunday Night Baseball with the New York Yankees at the Boston Red Sox.
- NBA TV has the Orlando Magic at the Chicago Bulls.
- NBC has NHL playoff action.
- TBS has MLB action early with the Chicago Cubs at the Philadelphia Phillies.
- Versus has doubleheader NHL playoff action.
Late Night
- Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi): Repeat. Last Friday’s episode, “Six of One,” replays. How awesome was that opening scene?
- Mad Men (AMC): Repeat. Episode 13, the season finale, “The Wheel,” replays, where work is getting in the way of Don’s home life.
- The Riches (FX): Repeat. Last Tuesday’s episode, “Slums of Bayou Hills,” replays, where Dahlia finds living honestly much harder than anticipated.
TV Marathons
Bravo has five episodes of Top Chef.
Cartoon Network has 18 episodes of Ben 10.
Discovery Channel has 18 hours of Deadliest Catch episodes.
Food Network has five episodes of Chefography that include the four new ones from last week.
MTV has 12 episodes of America’s Next Top Model.
Sci Fi has the three-part six-hour Dinotopia miniseries.
TLC has nine episodes of What Not to Wear.
TV Land has 18 episodes of Leave It to Beaver.
