News & Notes

Tonight, The CW has the series premieres of Valentine and Easy Money.

Over on cable, BBC America has the first season finale of Skins, Biography has the series premiere of Female Forces, Discovery Health has a Treeman: Search for the Cure special, E! has the fifth season premiere of The Girls Next Door, Nickelodeon has a First Annual Worldwide Fido Awards special, and VH1 has the first season finales of I Love Money and Brooke Knows Best.

Leading up to primetime, CBS has the 19th season premiere of America’s Funniest Home Videos and The CW has the series premieres of 4real and In Harm’s Way, each followed by another new episode.

Prime Pick

The Simpsons (FOX): New. Bart gets a job at a golf course so he can make enough money to get a cell phone.
King of the Hill (FOX): The local paper is about to break a story about Strickland Propane and them dumping old tanks in the river, so Hank suggests they should go green.

Desperate Housewives (ABC): New. Gaby is downplaying her social stature demise. Mike meets Susan’s new guy. Bree is feeling the pressure of her career. Lynette sees a softer side of one of her sons. I liked the five-year jump ahead. What did you think about it?

Brothers & Sisters (ABC): New. Kitty starts writing a book that tells just about every behind the scenes secret of her husband’s run for the presidency and the rest of the Walkers. Which I’m sure doesn’t go over well when the family finds out about it.

Solid Selections

Valentine (The CW): Series Premiere. A family of Greek gods lives in Los Angeles and tries to help soul mates find each other. This isn’t actually that good, but I don’t really do reality shows. So, watching The Amazing Race or Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is probably a better choice for those that do. Read my review.

Cold Case (CBS): New. A teacher was killed during what was thought to be a carjacking gone wrong, but when a student finds his keys in an old desk, the team reopens the case.

The Unit (CBS): New. The team is on the trail of a scientist who may have been targeted by the same terrorist group that targeted the president.

Cable Choices

Food Network Challenge (Food Network): New. Four young chefs attempt to win the title of “The Next Great Chef.” Plays again later.

Dexter (Showtime): New. The cops are on the trail of the person they believe killed the ADA’s brother. Dexter and Rita are making some decisions about the future. Plays again later.

Mad Men (AMC): New. Betty goes to see her father. Paul’s girlfriend wants him to adjust his priorities. Pete and Trudy have an idea that his mother doesn’t like. Plays twice and again later.

Other Options

• Army Wives (Lifetime): New. Denise tries out a few more unexpected things. Roland’s mom comes for an unexpected visit. Claudia Joy isn’t getting along with someone. The last new episode, “Payback,” replays right before. Both play again later.
• Californication (Showtime): New. Hank meets a record producer in jail and starts to think about writing his biography. Meanwhile, Charlie loses his job. Plays twice.
• Easy Money (The CW): Series Premiere. A family that runs a storefront loan business deals with the problems that arise when running such a business. Read my review and find out why you might want to take a look at this one.
• Entourage (HBO): New. The gang goes on a cleansing trip into the desert.
• Iron Chef America (Food Network): New. Iron Chef Michael Symon takes on his old culinary school roommate chef David Adjey. Plays again later.
• Skins (BBC America): Season Finale. Anwar tries to fix his relationship with Maxxie. Sid wants to tell Cassie he loves her. Last week’s episode, “Effy,” replays right before. Both play again later.

Sports Notes

• ABC has NASCAR racing with the Sprint Cup: Amp Energy 500.
• CBS has NFL action.
• ESPN2 has Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.
• FOX has NFL action.
• NBC has the final round of Samsung World Championship LPGA golf tournament and later Sunday Night Football with the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Jacksonville Jaguars.
• TBS has doubleheader MLB Divisional Playoff action.

Late Night

• Breaking Bad (AMC): Repeat. Episode four, “Cancer Man,” replays.
• The Cleaner (A&E): Repeat. Last Tuesday’s episode, “Back to One,” replays.
• Sanctuary (FX): Repeat. Last Friday’s two-hour series premiere, “Sanctuary for All, Part 1 & 2,” replays. Read my review.
• The Shield (FX): Repeat. Last Tuesday’s episode, “Game Face,” replays.
• Sons of Anarchy (FX): Repeat. Last Wednesday’s episode, “Giving Back,” replays.

TV Marathons

A&E has six episodes of The Cleaner today followed by five episodes of CSI: Miami tonight.
BBC America has seven episodes of Life on Mars.
Cartoon Network has seven hours of Goosebumps episodes.
E! has five hours of Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane episodes.
MTV2 has 11 episodes of From G’s to Gents.
truTV has seven episodes of World’s Wildest.
USA has all six hours of The Starter Wife miniseries and later five episodes of House tonight.
VH1 has seven episodes of I Love Money.