News & Notes
Over on cable, A&E has the 10th season premiere of The First 48 and the second season premiere of Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force, Food Network has the eighth season premiere of Ace of Cakes, FX has the series premiere of Archer, GSN has the series premieres of Carne Wilson: Unstapled and Hidden Agenda, and Lifetime has an seventh season premiere Project Runway
In late night, Bravo has the second season premiere of Watch What Happenes and Lifetime has the second season premiere of Models of the Runway.
Shows premiering or returning with new episodes next Thursday are ABC’s new The Deep End, The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural on The CW, The Office on NBC, and Burn Notice on USA.
Prime Picks
Bones (FOX): New. Brennan and Booth are off to Mexico to investigate remains that seem to have extraterrestrial features.
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): New. Addison returns to Seattle Grace to operate on Mark’s pregnant daughter. Cristina gets to take the lead on a complicated surgery. Runs 61 minutes. The last episode of the fall, “Holidaze,” replays right before.
Private Practice (ABC): New. Mark follows Addison back to California. Naomi and Dell are living in the same house while attempting to raise their kids. Starts a minute after the hour and runs 59 minutes.
Prime Picks
Community (NBC): New. Jack Black guest-stars as a new student to the study group.
Parks & Recreation (NBC): New. Leslie is setup on a blind date by Ann. Will Arnett (Arrested Development) guests as the date in question.
30 Rock (NBC): New. Jack made a mistake on New Year’s Eve that he tries to fix. Jenna is having a fake relationship with guest star James Franco.
30 Rock (NBC): New. Tracy is expanding his entourage and Jenna is auditioning for a Gossip Girl role.
The Mentalist (CBS): New. Rigby is undercover at a high school reunion to find out if a couple of murders are associated with an old prank.
Other Options
- Ace of Cakes (Food Network): Season Premiere. Duff gets a new basement from the guys of DIY’s Man Caves. A repeat episode follows. Both play again later.
- Archer (FX): Series Premiere. A new adult animated spy comedy series. Two episodes play tonight. In the first, “Training Day,” Archer is tasked with training a recently promoted agent. Runs 31 minutes. In the second, “Mole Hunt,” Archer is attempting to reconcile his expenses by covering them up. Runs 31 minutes. Both play again later. The voice talent includes Aisha Tyler (Ghost Whisperer), Judy Greer (Glenn Martin DDS), Chris Parnell (Saturday Night Live), and Jessica Walter (Arrested Development). I’ve seen both of these episodes and a third one, but on the screener they were reversed and “Mole Hunt” was the first episode of the series. It was also the only one of the three that I found funny. Yet, it might be more accurately described as disturbingly funny. In an, I can’t believe they just did that, even on cable, kind of way. If you find animated nudity, sex with food, masturbation at work, or things of that nature to be funny, then this might just be the show for you. The best I can explain, is it’s like they took the likes of Family Guy, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and South Park and tried to push things even further. It’s like if Californication‘s Hank Moody was a secret agent instead of an author, but even worse. Mostly it made me wonder not only who thinks this stuff up, but what kind of a depraved mind would want to draw this stuff?
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS): New. The murder of two women at a hotel is investigated.
- Fringe (FOX): New. Disfigured people in a small town upstate attempt to hide themselves, the team investigates the town.
- The Vampire Diaries (The CW): Repeat. Episode 10, “The Turning Point,” the last episode of the fall replays to get you ready for the return of new episodes next week.
Sports Notes
- ESPN has doubleheader college basketball action.
- ESPN2 has tripleheader college basketball action.
- TNT has doubleheader NBA action with the Chicago Bulls at the Boston Celtics followed by the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Utah Jazz.
TV Marathons
Bravo has five episodes of Shear Genius followed by eight episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Discovery Channel has six episodes of A Haunting….
Oxygen has 18 episodes of Snapped.
Spike has nine hours of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Syfy has eight episodes of Early Edition early.
WE has 10 episodes of Platinum Weddings early.
