News & Notes
Tonight, ABC has the fourth season finale of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and NBC has the first season finale of Merlin and the the 2009 Miss Universe Pageant.
Over on cable, History has the third season finale of Ice Road Truckers.
On Episode 40, “Cable TV Fall Preview 2009,” of the TV times Three podcast, Amrie, Rae and I talk about what’s coming this fall to a cable outlet near you, along with some news items, and our discussion of the week in primetime.
Prime Picks
Merlin (NBC): Season Finale. This is the second of two episodes tonight. In the first, Merlin finds out something shocking. In this finale episode, Arthur has to battle a giant monster that has a lion’s body and the head of a serpent.
Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime): New. Jane takes on the case of a woman whose daughter has gotten sick after trying a popular diet guru’s diet plan. A former assistant is suing Kim for sexual harassment. Plays again later.
Mad Men (AMC): New. Betty gets a visit from her father. Roger is planning his wedding. Peggy finds a campaign personally affecting. Runs 62 minutes. Plays twice and again later.
Solid Selections
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (ABC): Season Finale. Contestants try to answer trivia questions for a shot at a million dollars.
Iron Chef America (Food Network): New. Chef Brad Farmerie battles Iron Chef Cat Cora in Kitchen Stadium. Plays again later.
Defying Gravity (ABC): New. The team is about to cross the point of no return, where going home no longer becomes an option.
Other Options
- Army Wives (Lifetime): New. Claudia Joy and Denise get in a car accident. Finn likes his new school. Plays again later.
- Dead Like Me: Life After Death (Syfy): Released 2009. The direct-to-DVD follow up to the critically acclaimed Showtime series plays tonight. See how the old gang deals with getting a new boss. Runs two hours.
- Entourage (HBO): New. After a break-in, Turtle and Vince think about arming themselves. Eric has problem on his first day at the new job. Drama is trying to keep his present job. Plays again later.
- Hung (HBO): New. Ray needs some relationship advice and turns to Tanya. Plays again later.
Sports Notes
- ESPN has Sunday Night Baseball with the New York Yankees at the Boston Red Sox.
- Golf Channel has Day 3 coverage of the Solheim Cup.
- TBS has MLB action early with the Texas Rangers at the Tampa Bay Rays.
Late Night
- Breaking Bad (AMC): Repeat. The season two episode, “Grilled,” replays.
- Rescue Me (FX): Repeat. Last Tuesday’s episode, “Zippo,” replays. Runs 61 minutes.
- Royal Pains (USA): Repeat. This past Thursday’s episode, “Nobody’s Perfect,” replays.
- Warehouse 13 (USA): Repeat. The two hour series premiere episode, “Pilot,” replays on Syfy’s sister cable outlet.
TV Marathons
Cartoon Network has five animated Scooby-Doo movies.
Discovery Channel has seven episodes of Man vs. Wild.
History has 13 episodes of Ice Road Truckers.
Oxygen has six hours of America’s Got Talent episodes.
Spike has eight episodes of UFC Unleashed.
TLC has five episodes of Dateline: Real Life Mysteries.
Travel Channel has 16 hours of Extreme … episodes.
USA has 11 episodes of NCIS.