News & Notes
Over on cable, Animal Planet has a The Man Who Injects Venom special, FX has the series premiere of Justified, History has a Samurai and the second season finale of Life After People, and Oxygen has a The Bad Girls Club reunion special.
In later night, HGTV has the series premiere of Marriage Under Construction and Oxygen has the series premiere of Love Games.
Prime Picks
NCIS (CBS): New. A Navy diver going after sunken treasure is murdered and the team works with investigators from the Coast Guard Investigative Service to solve the case.
Lost (ABC): New. Fake Locke gives Sawyer a mission. Last week’s episode, “Dr. Linus,” replays right before.
Justified (FX): Series Premiere. U.S. Marshal Raylen Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant (Damages, Deadwood), is sent to his home state of Kentucky after an incident in Miami. There he takes on a case involving an old childhood friend that is now the leader of a violent white supremacist group. This episode also stars Natalie Zea (Dirty Sexy Money) as Raylen’s ex-wife and Walton Goggins (The Shield) as the old friend. Plays twice and again later. The show is based on an Elmore Leonard character from his short story “Fire in the Hole,” which this first episode follows quite closely. I’ve seen the first two episodes of the series and it instantly went from one of my most anticipated new shows to must watch. Olyphant is perfectly cast as the lead. He is a quick draw no nonsense lawman, much like his character in Deadwood, but set in present day Kentucky. Tonight’s episode is outstanding, as it introduces the character and his new surroundings very well. You can’t ask much more from an introductory episode to a series. First episodes are hard to pull off well, but this is one of the best I’ve seen recently. While I really like NBC’s Parenthood, ABC’s The Good Wife, and the soon to return ABC’s V and USA’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and some of Southland, this is the show I’d watch, if I could only watch one show from this time period, which as you can see is quite crowded. FX has another winner on its hands.
Solid Selections
90210 (The CW): New. Naomi goes on a hike with Ivy and Liam. Annie attempts an ultimatum with Jasper.
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS): New. The team thinks that the younger brother of a recently murdered Marine may also be a target.
Parenthood (NBC): New. Max gets booted from school. Sarah ends things with Jim. Crosby and Jabbar have fun together. Julia doesn’t want to miss out on things in her daughter’s life.
Other Options
- FlashForward (ABC): New. A recap clip show to get you ready for the return of new episodes this Thursday.
- The Good Wife (CBS): New. Will and Alicia are taking on an insurance company that is denying coverage for emergency in-utero surgery.
- Southland (TNT): New. Ben takes his first solo shift. A task force is setup to arrest an ex-banger. Chickie is attempting to work harder. Plays again later.
Sports Notes
- ESPN has women’s college basketball tournament selection show followed by the play-in game of the NCAA tournament followed by an NIT Tournament game.
- ESPN2 has tripleheader NIT Tournament action.
- NBA TV has the San Antonio Spurs at the Miami Heat.
- Versus has NHL action.
Late Night
- Damages (FX): Repeat. Last night’s episode, “I Look Like Frankenstein,” replays.
- Psych (USA): Repeat. Last Wednesday’s season finale episode, “Mr. Yin Presents…,” replays.
TV Marathons
Bravo has five episodes of The Millionaire Matchmaker tonight.
Discovery Channel has eight episodes of Dirty Jobs.
Oxygen has 15 episodes of The Bad Girls Club.
Spike TV has six episodes of CSI: NY.
Syfy has nine episodes of Destination Truth early.
USA has 17 episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
WE has five episodes of Bridezillas early and later has five episodes of Little Miss Perfect tonight.
