News & Notes
Over on cable, A&E has the series premiere of Storage Wars Texas, Animal Planet has a On Thin Ice: Into the Artic special, Bravo has the first season finales of Mad Fashion and Fashion Hunters, Discovery Channel has the series premiere of Moonshiners, FX has the fourth season finale of Sons of Anarchy, MTV has the second season premiere of Teen Mom 2, Syfy has new holiday episodes of Eureka, Warehouse 13 and Haven, TNT has the TV movie premiere of Hide, Travel Channel has the series premiere of Hidden City, and USA Network has the second season finale of Covert Affairs.
Check out these 7 fun Christmas gift ideas for the TV fan on your list.
Prime Picks
Eureka (Syfy): New. A strange wave of color washes over the town and everything ends up animated during the holiday season. Plays again later. I loved this episode, even though the screener I watched left a lot to the imagination. While you may be able to place this episode into the middle of the past season, it is basically meant to be a standalone holiday episode. The story is solid and the many different styles of animation used, including a few that just flashes by, are great. I can’t wait to watch it again, so I can see it in it’s finished form. Video interview with Colin Ferguson, Emily Rose and Eddie McClintock about Syfy’s 2011 Holiday Specials.
Warehouse 13 (Syfy): New. Pete accidentally touches and artifact in the warehouse that puts him in a world where he never existed. He has to get his former team together to reverse what happened and get things back to normal. Plays again later. Very good job doing their take on It’s a Wonderful Life. Very much enjoyed this episode and how it harkens back to what we loved about the show in the beginning. Pete is the only one that remembers the world that included him, so we get to see them all meet for the first time again. Again, you could probably insert this into the middle of this past season, but mostly it is meant to be a standalone holiday episode.
Sons of Anarchy (FX): Season Finale. Jax attempts to keep the gun deal from going bad between the Irish and the cartel. Runs 61 minutes. Plays twice and again later. The final scene of this season is fantastic, as is much of the episode. I have to say that I didn’t see this coming. After all the build up this season from episode to episode, this finale almost feels like a little of a letdown, but they really couldn’t go any other way and still have a show. I can’t wait to find out how other enjoyed this episode and what it sets up for season five.
Solid Selections
Last Man Standing (ABC): New. The father of Kristen’s baby shows up at Christmas and Mike is none to happy. Mandy gets hired at the store as an elf, but then tries to unionize her co-workers. Runs 30 minutes.
New Girl (FOX): New. Jess over thinks things when she decides to take things to the next level with Paul. Schmidt gets invited to his boss’ baby shower. Justin Long is back in this mostly solid episode.
Raising Hope (FOX): New. Burt thinks Jimmy should be more of a daredevil. Jimmy and Frank go after an old high school nemesis.
Covert Affairs (USA Network): Season Finale. Annie goes on vacation with her sister and puts her in danger on what should have been a routine exchange. Plays again later. Last week’s episode replays earlier in this morning.
Other Options
- Body of Proof (ABC): New. An investigation finds many suspects into the murder of a lottery winner.
- Flashpoint (ION): New. Spike ends up being held at gunpoint when the team responds to a shots fired call. Plays again later.
- Haven (Syfy): New. Everyone but Audrey thinks that it is Christmas, which is weird to her since it’s the middle of July. She must figure out what is going on, as people are beginning to disappear from town. Plays again later. While this is my third favorite Syfy Holiday special on tonight, I love the premise of Christmas in July. While this too is a standalone episode, it probably could be most easily inserted into the middle of season two.
- Hide (TNT): Premiere. Carla Gugino (Californication) stars as a Boston Police Detective investigating after six mummified bodies are found in an underground chamber at an abandoned mental hospital that have been missing for years. Also stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Franklin & Bash), Kevin Alejandro (Southland) and Bridget Regan (Legend of the Seeker). Based on the novel by Lisa Gardner
. Runs two hours. Plays again later. Great cast and a decent story that somewhat works, but like the previous two TNT Mystery Night Movies, it come off a bit too slowly paced. It’s the best of the three movies in this series thus far or I may be biased by the presence of Gugino and Regan. With the quality of many of TNT’s shows, so far I’ve been underwhelmed with their original movie offerings.
Sports Notes
- ESPN has doubleheader college basketball action with Missouri vs. Villanova followed by Marquette vs. Washington.
- ESPN2 has women’s college basketball action Texas A&M at Connecticut followed by men’s action with Memphis at Miami.
- Versus has NHL action.
Late Night
- Psych (USA Network): Repeat. Last Wednesday’s episode, “In For a Penny…,” replays.
- Rizzoli & Isles (TNT): Repeat. Last night’s episode, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” replays.
TV Marathons
A&E has 29 episodes of Storage Wars.
Bravo has 10 episodes of The Millionaire Matchmaker.
Discovery Channel has 12 episodes of American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior.
Oxygen has 20 episodes of Roseanne followed by seven episodes of Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.
Spike TV has six episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation followed by 10 episodes of Auction Hunters.
Syfy is playing the two-part Alice miniseries.
USA Network has 14 episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
