News & Notes
Over on cable, ABC Family has the TV movie premiere of Another Cinderella Story, HBO has a We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, the third season premiere of Big Love and the second season premiere of Flight of the Conchords, Lifetime Movie Network has the TV movie premiere of What Color Is Love?, Science Channel has a Young Scientist Challenged 2008 special, Showtime has the fifth and final season premiere of The L Word, the series premiere of United States of Tara and the second season premiere of Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Travel Channel has a Untouched America special, and WE has Platinum Weddings back with new episodes.
Prime Picks
AFC Championship (CBS): Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers. Two of the best defenses in the NFL go at each other. They met twice during the regular season with the Steelers coming out on top both times. Broadcast starts at 7:30 p.m. ET and runs until finished.
The Mentalist (CBS): New. Starts directly following the AFC Championship game. The team is investigating the theft of a $50 million painting and the death of the owner’s son-in-law that happened nearby.
Solid Selection
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC): New. A family that helps special needs people gets a new home.
Desperate Housewives (ABC): New. This is the show’s 100th episode and guest stars Beau Bridges (My Name Is Earl, Stargate SG-1) as the Wisteria Lane handyman. When he passes, the residents of the lane realize just how much he affected their lives. Runs 61 minutes.
Brothers & Sisters (ABC): New. According to the ads, the ladies host a few individual couples only slumber parties with very little slumbering.
Cable Choices
Food Network Challenge (Food Network): New. It’s a “Birthday Bombshell” competition, as four cake decorators are to create the perfect birthday cake for a set of triplets that are about to turn 18. Plays again later.
Ultimate Recipe Showdown (Food Network): New. This episode covers “Cakes,” as four home bakers battle it out for a $25,000 prize. Guy Fieri hosts. Plays again later.
United States of Tara (Showtime): Series Premiere. Toni Colette (Little Miss Sunshine stars as a mother and wife who suffers from disassociate identity disorder. They range from her actual self, to a slutty teenager, to a dude, to a 50’s homemaker. The series is interesting, as I got a chance to see the first episode already, but it didn’t leave me clamoring for more. But, as per usual, it was good enough to give it a couple more episodes to see how it develops. Yet, Colette is outstanding as she changes between her “alters.” Diablo Cody (Juno) created the series. Plays again later.
Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Showtime): Season Premiere. I thought this series had potential in its first season, but never lived up to it. This season starts off the same way and looks like it has the potential to be worth checking out again. But, will it not live up to the promise again, guess I’ll have to watch a couple more episodes to find out. It looks like they are going to do more with how someone in this profession keeps it a secret from the people in her life. This is the thing I thought they were going to delve into in season one, but never really did. Plays again later.
Other Option
- Flight of the Conchords (HBO): Season Premiere. Bret and Jemaine decide to manage themselves and have some success doing so.
Sports Notes
- CBS has the AFC Championship with the Baltimore Ravens at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- ESPN2 has tennis action with Day 1 coverage of the Australian Open.
- FOX has the NFC Championship with the Philadelphia Eagles at the Arizona Cardinals.
- Golf Channel has the Final Round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.
- NBA TV has the Miami Heat at the team that shall not be named.
- NBC has NHL action with the New York Rangers at the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Late Night
- The Beast (A&E): Repeat. Last Thursday’s series premiere episode replays. Plays again later.
- Damages (FX): Repeat. Last Wednesday’s episode, “Burn It, Shred It, I Don’t Care,” replays. Runs 62 minutes.
- nip/tuck (FX): Repeat. Last Tuesday’s episode, “Gene Shelly,” replays. Runs 61 minutes.
- Psych (USA): Repeat. Last Friday’s episode, “Lassie Did a Bad Bad Thing,” replays.
TV Marathons
A&E has five episodes of CSI: Miami.
Animal Planet has five episodes of Dogs 101.
Cartoon Network has 14 episodes of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.
Discovery Channel has 12 episodes of Dirty Jobs.
Oxygen has 14 hours of America’s Next Top Model episodes.
Spike has 11 hours of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes.
TLC has six episodes of Untold Stories of the E.R..
