Monday TV: BCS Championship, Switched at Birth S.2 Premiere, Bunheads, Castle & More

News & Notes

Tonight, ABC has the 17th season premiere of The Bachelor, FOX has the first season finale of The Mob Doctor, NBC has the series premiere of Deception, and PBS has the 17th season premiere of Antiques Roadshow.

Over on cable, ABC Family has the second season premiere of Switched at Birth and the first winter season premiere of Bunheads, Bravo has the series premiere of Vanderpump Rules, Sundance has the series premiere of The Staircase, and TLC has the fifth season finale of Cake Boss.

Prime Picks

Switched at Birth (ABC Family): Season Premiere. Angelo is spending his money. John and Kathryn are thinking about what they are going to do next. Bay gets accused of cheating at school. Plays again later. The previous nine episodes replay right before. Everyone is in transition and some new information about Angelo causes new problems. This show is such a little gem and makes a really good return for its new season.

Bunheads (ABC Family): Midseason Premiere. Michelle is back in Vegas, well close, working as a magician’s assistant. Sasha is doing whatever she can to delay returning home after getting back from Joffrey. Plays again later. Great return for the show that has lots of fun with how the first half of the season ended.

Castle (ABC): New. A divorce attorney that only represented women is murdered and a bunch of angry ex-husbands are suspected. Alexis gets sick and Castle’s ex moves in to take care of her. Starts a minute after the hour and runs 59 minutes.

Other Options

• Deception (NBC): Series Premiere. A police detective begins investigating the death of her childhood best friend that was part of a large wealthy family. She was the daughter of the live-in housekeeper and the family doesn’t know she has become a cop. She moves back in with the family to find out what happened. This first episode sets up an interesting mystery and a large group of potential suspects. It feels a lot like Revenge given its setting. I’m looking forward to checking out more. Yet, it’s another show that feels like it would make a really good miniseries. How long can you investigate this case?
• Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives (Food Network): New. Guy visits some places with “Matches Made in Heaven.” Runs 30 minutes. Plays again later. Eight repeat episodes play right before and one right after.

Sports Notes

• ESPN has college football action with the BCS Championship Game with Notre Dame vs. Alabama.
• ESPN2 has college basketball action with Notre Dame at Cincinnati today.

Monday TV Marathons

Being Human (Syfy): Has 13 episodes.
Criminal Minds (ION): Nine episodes tonight.
Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives (Food Network): Has 10 episodes tonight.
House (Oxygen): Eight episodes early.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (Oxygen): Five episodes tonight.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (USA Network): Has 11 episodes early.
Martin (TV One): Has 12 episodes early.
The Mentalist (TNT): Seven episodes tonight.
NCIS (USA Network): Five episodes tonight.
Roseanne (WE tv): Has 18 episodes tonight.
Switched at Birth (ABC Family): Has 10 episodes.

What will you watch on Monday TV?