News & Notes
Over on cable, Discovery Channel has the first season finale of Raging Planet, E! has the first season finales of Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami and Reality Hell, Food Network has the second season premiere of The Next Iron Chef, HBO has the sixth season finale of Entourage, History has an I Know What I Saw special, Oxygen has the return of Snapped with new episodes, Style has the sixth season finale of How Do I Look?, TLC has a Hoarders special and a My Monkey Baby special, and the third season premiere of Californication, and WE has the second season premiere of My Fair Wedding.
Prime Picks
The Simpsons (FOX): New. Mrs. Krabappel takes away all the students’ cell phones, so Bart gets the rest of the class to help teach her a lesson. Runs 30 minutes.
Dexter (Showtime): New. Dexter, still sleep deprived, misplaces some evidence while investigating the slaying with Lundy, which could end up exposing him. Plays again later.
Mad Men (AMC): New. Don and Betty head out on a business trip. Runs 62 minutes. Plays twice and again later.
Solid Selections
Food Network Challenge (Food Network): New. Teams have to design and build a city using chocolate, sugar and cereal. Plays again later.
Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime): New. Jane is beside herself when she takes on Deb’s favorite model as a client. Grayson and Kim are working a pro bono case. Plays again later two times.
Brothers & Sisters (ABC): New. Robert wonders what would happen if news of his heart attack leaked to the public. Kitty is dealing with the bad news she received. Starts a minute after the hour and runs 59 minutes.
Other Options
- Army Wives (Lifetime): New. Denise gets overly competitive during a golf tournament. Michael finds out that a four star general is coming. Viola can sing, to everyone’s surprise. Plays again later.
- Californication (Showtime): New. Hank decides to become a writing professor, but things aren’t going that well for him. Plays again later.
- Cold Case (CBS): New. The case of a skateboarding teen found dead in 1995 is reopened.
- Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO): New. Larry thinks that doing a Seinfeld reunion could help him get Cheryl back. The whole Seinfeld cast appears, as this begins what looks to be a very funny story arc. Plays again later. I loved this first episode of the reunion arc, as it is really funny. If you are a Curb or Seinfeld fan, then you’ve got to watch this.
- Desperate Housewives (ABC): New. Lynette is keeping things from Susan. Gaby is giving Ana tips on how to get a guy’s attention. Bree wonders how her sleeping with Karl will affect things with Susan. Runs 61 minutes.
- Entourage (HBO): Season Finale. Eric takes another shot at getting back with Sloan. Ari attempts to convince his wife that buying out Terrence isn’t personal. Plays after a replay of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which follows Bored to Death. Plays again later.
- The Next Iron Chef (Food Network): Season Premiere. Ten chefs are brought to Los Angeles for their first two cooking tests that will determine abilities and their “Feerlessness.” Runs 90 minutes. Plays four times. Food Network does a really good job of doing these types of competition shows and this is no exception. Wait until you see what some of the ingredients they have to use are, as they are pretty funky. I have a couple of favorites and one that I just don’t like. Seen everything but the reveal of who was sent home first, so will have to tune in for that.
- Three Rivers (CBS): Series Premiere. A young pregnant woman that recently had a heart attack needs a transplant or she won’t survive long enough to give birth to her baby. It stars Alex O’Loughlin (Moonlight). CBS picked up this show, but then decided to recast and film a new “Pilot,” which is not unheard of, but is never a good sign. After having seen the original “Pilot,” I can see why they wanted a do over, as it was terrible. So, after filming the new “Pilot” episode, CBS then decided that it shouldn’t be the first one you see and that the episode originally set to air second should be the first one. I’ve seen that episode, which is now the series premiere and it isn’t good either. On the drama side of things, this is the worst new show of the season. It has a great premise, but is poorly executed. I mean, I like the idea of taking a look at the transplant from the perspective of the doctors, the patients and the donors’ families, but this is painful to watch. The only reason I will be watching next week is to see how bad the re-shot “Pilot” is in comparison to the original.
Sports Notes
- ABC has NASCAR racing with the Sprint Cup: Price Chopper 400.
- CBS has NFL action followed.
- ESPN2 has WNBA playoff games.
- FOX has NFL action.
- NBC has Sunday Night Football with the San Diego Chargers at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- TBS has MLB action early with the Colorado Rockies at the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Late Night
- Breaking Bad (AMC): Repeat. The season two episode, “Better Call Saul,” replays.
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX): Repeat. Last Thursday’s episode, “The Great Recession,” replays.
- Sons of Anarchy (FX): Repeat. Last Tuesday’s episode, “Eureka,” replays. Runs 61 minutes.
TV Marathons
History has seven episodes of UFO Hunters early.
MTV has six episodes of Made.
Oxygen has 19 episodes of Snapped.
Spike has 11 hours of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes.
Travel Channel has 11 episodes of Food Paradise.
