News & Notes
Over on cable, Cartoon Network has the first season finales of Bobb’e Says and Dude, What Would Happen, Discovery Channel has the fourth season finale of Man vs. Wild, MTV has a The True Adventures of True Life special, and SOAPnet has the first season finale of Holidate.
Premiering next week, ABC has new shows Hank and The Middle.
On Episode 45, “CBS Fall Preview 2009,” of the TV times Three podcast, Amrie, Rae and I talk about what’s coming this Fall on CBS, along with some news items, and our discussion of the previous week in primetime. Find out what we think of CBS’ new shows like Accidentally On Purpose, The Good Wife, and NCIS: Los Angeles and the rest of their Fall lineup.
Prime Picks
The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS): Season Premiere. It looks like Barb is having immigration problems again, so Christine and Matthew head for the Bahamas to try and fix the problem.
Gary Unmarried (CBS): Season Premiere. Gary tries to inspire his son by going after his childhood dream of being a radio sportscaster.
Glee (FOX): New. Kurt tries out for the football team as the kicker. Two member of the glee club get life changing news. I’ve heard from some that are big fans of the show and have seen this episode that it is really, really good, possibly even the best of the series thus far. Can’t wait to find out if they’re right. FOX announced yesterday that the show has been picked up for the entire season.
CSI: NY (CBS): Season Premiere. A member of the team’s life changes dramatically after a shooting.
Solid Selections
So You Think You Can Dance (FOX): New. More of the audition process is shown.
Modern Family (ABC): Series Premiere. The story of an older man with children that has married a younger woman with a young son, a gay couple that recently adopted a child, and couple in their 30s with children. This is a very funny show and is put together quite well. This is the best of the new comedies debuting this fall. I hope future episodes hold up to the “Pilot.”
Cougar Town (ABC): Series Premiere. Courtney Cox-Arquette (Friends) as a 40-something divorced mother of a teenage boy that is trying to get back out into the dating scene. This show has a very good cast and I really liked this episode. It was my third favorite new comedy behind NBC’s Community and the show that is follows mentioned above. This looks to be quite the funny hour.
Eastwick (ABC): Series Premiere. Three women come to find they have some interesting talents they never knew they had before after a mysterious man moves into town. I liked this show, but my TV crush on Lindsay Price could be clouding my judgment. I mean I watched every episode of Lipstick Jungle. I’ve never read the book and can’t even remember if I’ve seen the movie that was based on it, so can’t really compare this to them. But, I do really like the cast and there was enough here to warrant giving it the customary three episodes before passing final judgment.
Other Options
- Criminal Minds (CBS): Season Premiere. Hotch has gone missing. The team is searching for a killer that is targeting a doctor.
- Leverage (TNT): Repeat. The second season begins replaying with the premiere episode, “The Beantown Bailout Job,” tonight. Plays again later.
- Mercy (NBC): Series Premiere. The story revolves around three nurses, one recently back from Iraq, one looking for the perfect man, and the third is just out of nursing school. This is by far NBC’s worst of their new offerings for the fall and more than that, one of the worst new entries for fall period. A nurse back from Iraq is an interesting premise that is slightly different than what we would normally see, but this is such a poor execution. This is a pale version of
HBOShowtime’s Nurse Jackie, which I didn’t really care for, but at least the acting and writing were good on that one. I’d even rather watch TNT’s Hawthorne, which I didn’t like either, than this show. But, I’ll probably tune in next week just to confirm how bad it is. - Throwdown With Bobby Flay (Food Network): New. Bobby competes in a “BBQ Chicken” battle. A repeat episode follows. Both play again later.
Sports Notes
- ESPN has doubleheader Wednesday Night Baseball with the Philadelphia Phillies at the Florida Marlins followed by San Francisco Giants at the Arizona Diamondbacks.
- ESPN2 has doubleheader WNBA playoff games.
Late Night
- Dark Blue (TNT): Repeat. The first season begins replaying with the premiere episode, “Pilot,” tonight. Plays again later.
TV Marathons
Bravo has six episodes of Top Chef: Las Vegas.
Discovery Channel has six episodes of Overhaulin’.
Oxygen has 18 episodes of Living Single followed by a replay of the Community “Pilot” and then three more episodes of Living Single.
Spike has nine hours of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes.
USA has six episodes of NCIS tonight.
You must have realy hated “HBO’s Nurse Jackie” to have gotten HBO and Showtime mixed up!
Brent, Thanks, I fixed it.