News & Notes
Over on cable, AMC has the first season finale of The Killing, HBO has the first season finale of Game of Thrones, Lifetime has the third season premiere of Drop Dead Diva, Spike TV has the first season finale of Coal, and TV Land has a AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Morgan Freeman special.
Prime Picks
Challenge (Food Network): Repeat. Science fiction scenes are created out of sugar. Plays again later.
Game of Thrones (HBO): Season Finale. Bran and Rickon share a dream. Robb’s destiny is altered. Tyrion heads south. Arya takes on a new identity. Jon has to choose between the Night’s Watch and his family. Plays again later.
The Killing (AMC): Season Finale. The police find more evidence connecting Rosie and the campaign car. Runs 62 minutes. Plays twice and again later. I think I know who it is going to end up being and not whom they make you think it is at the end of last week’s episode. The previous six episodes replay over on Sundance Channel leading up to tonight’s season finale. Also, AMC has picked the show up for a second season.
Solid Selections
The Simpsons (FOX): Repeat. The “Lisa Simpson, This Isn’t Your Life” episode from this past season replays, where Lisa vows not to keep from being distracted and to focus on school. Runs 30 minutes.
Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime): Season Premiere. Everyone is waiting for Grayson to wake from his coma. Jane represents and actor accused of a hit and run that killed someone. Kim takes a case and has to go up against Parker. Plays again later. Very much enjoyed this episode, as this show is just fun and Brooke Elliott is great as Jane.
The Glades (A&E): New. When a slumber party turns into a crime scene, Jim investigates. A baby goes missing. Callie takes a new job. Plays twice and again later twice.
Other Options
- Falling Skies (TNT): Series Premiere. Months after an alien invasion the survivors band together to try and fight back. Runs two hours. Plays twice. This is a really good show that is much better than the recent V incarnation. There are a couple of things I really like about Falling Skies. One, they don’t bother with showing us the invasion. That really is overdone on TV and in the movies. Two, the viewers and the characters are in much the same place. They know that an attack that wiped out much of the planet has taken place, but don’t know why the aliens are here. We get to learn along with the characters. I like not being either ahead or behind the people we are following. Noah Wyle (ER) is very good as a former history professor that has been thrust into a military leadership role. Also, Moon Bloodgood (Journeyman) is very good as a pediatrician that has to attend to all sorts of injuries and wounds. This first two hours moves a little bit slowly, but things pick up in subsequent episodes. Each episode gives you a mission of the week, but the story also builds over the course of the season. They do a good job of doling out the twists and turns, as they learn more and more about their alien enemy. The special effects are very good as well, but the show is really about the people and how they are dealing with this. The survivalist nature of the show plays similar to The Walking Dead. The best thing I can say is that after watching tonight’s two-hour premiere is that I wanted to see more and proceeded to watch the next five. They delve into some interesting ideas about how you maintain a society after it has been destroyed. Too bad it is premiering on the same night as the first season finales of Game of Thrones and The Killing. It will play following the new season of Leverage as of next week.
- Food Network Star (Food Network): New. Contestants must turn a Hershey’s product into dinner. Duff Goldman and Michael Symon appear. Runs 90 minutes. Plays again later.
- In Plain Sight (USA Network): New. A father finds out he has a terminal disease and wants to fix his relationship with his children. Plays again later.
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent (USA Network): New. The detectives investigate when an actor dies during a stunt on stage. This is the ripped from the Spider-Man on Broadway headlines. Plays again later.
- The Protector (Lifetime): New. The death of a fashion titan is investigated. Plays twice. I really hope this show gets better.
- Teen Wolf (MTV): Repeat. Last Monday’s episode, “Pack Mentality,” replays
- Treme (HBO): New. Davis is being outshined by his protégé, Albert is annoying Delmond, and Antoine finds band leading and Teaching to be different. Plays again later.
Sports Notes
- ESPN has Sunday Night Baseball MLB action with the New York Yankees at the Chicago Cubs.
- NBC has final round coverage of the U.S. Open golf tournament.
- TBS has early MLB action with the Milwaukee Brewers at the Boston Red Sox.
- TNT has NASCAR racing action with the Sprint Cup: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400.
Late Night
- Men of a Certain Age (TNT): Repeat. Last Wednesday’s episode, “A League of Their Owen,” replays
- White Collar (TNT): Repeat. Last Tuesday’s episode, “Where There’s a Will,” replays
TV Marathons
A&E has five episodes of Criminal Minds tonight.
Bravo has seven episodes of The Real Housewives of…
Lifetime has five Nora Roberts inspired TV movies.
Syfy has 11 episodes of Eureka.
USA Network has six episodes of Burn Notice.
Sundance has Ep.7-12 of AMC’s The Killing.
I dunno about Falling Skies. You seem to have seen more than the first two episodes so I’ll take your word for it, but so far I have no attachment to any of the characters. It’s no Jericho.. I can say that so far.
Seth, I have seen the first seven of the 10 episodes of Falling Skies. I think it gets better as it goes.
must be nice ;)