News & Notes
Over on cable, Food Network has the eighth season premiere of Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, ID has the series premiere of Disappeared Spike has a UFC Fight Night special, Travel Channel has the sixth season premiere of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and VH1 has the series premieres of Fantasia For Real and Let’s Talk About Pep.
In late night, Bravo has the first season finale of Chef Academy and Spike as a Blue Mountain State: It’s Called Hazing, Look It Up special.
Shows set to return with new episodes or premiere new seasons on Monday, January 25th are Greek on ABC Family, Damages on FX, and Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Tracy Ullman’s State of the Union on Showtime.
Prime Picks
Chuck (NBC): New. Chuck, Sarah and Casey are tasked with protecting a visiting dictator, guest star Armand Assante, from an assassination plot. But, circumstances require they do it without him knowing. Meanwhile, Devon gets entangled in the assignment, when he treats the dictator at the hospital and saves his life. How great was last night? Well, tonight keeps things rolling full steam ahead. Which includes getting to see two more skills Chuck can access.
Fringe (FOX): New. A teenage girl dies, but the awakens with the mind of a Russian soldier.
Castle (ABC): New. A bridesmaid is found murdered at a wedding. @Alyssa_Milano guest-stars as the bride and the one that got away for Castle. I really liked seeing Milano back on TV. Her role is this episode gives us an interesting look at the relationship between Beckett and Castle.
Solid Selections
How I Met Your Mother (CBS): New. Tonight is the 100th episode of the show. Barney is thinking about giving up suits to land the hot new bartender, guest star @StacyKeibler. Ted meets a new woman, guest star Rachel Bilson (The O.C.). Tim Gunn (Project Runway also guest stars. The episode makes great use of the guest stars. It also has Ted back in pursuit of meet the mother, which in an uneven season so far, has made for the better episodes. This is the case here. Lastly, the episode ends with @ActuallyNPH and the rest of the cast in a full on singing and dancing number that is a must see for any fan of the show. They really went all out for the 100th episodes milestone and in so doing have brought us the best episode of the season thus far.
Accidentally on Purpose (CBS): New. Abby and Nick are trying to keep Billie and Zack from learning about the surprise shower they are planning for them.
Two and a Half Men (CBS): New. Jake is trying to get back his ex by writing her love songs. Alan and Herb have become friends, but they are trying to keep Judith from finding out about it. Runs 31 minutes.
The Big Bang Theory (CBS): New. Sheldon and Koothrappali are attending a singles mixer at the university. Leonard learns of Penny’s belief in psychics. Starts a minute after the half hour and runs 29 minutes.
Men of a Certain Age (TNT): New. Joe goes out on his first date in 20 years with Terry’s dental hygienist. He then tells the story of what happened over breakfast. Plays again later. I didn’t care for the first two episodes of this show, but gave it a third episode. That one I really like, so I gave it a fourth episode. It reminded me too much of why I didn’t like the first couple, but was going to watch the fifth episode, except I forgot to set the DVR and missed it. Then I saw that I had the screener for tonight’s sixth episode and decided to watch it. I really liked the way the story unfolded, but that’s still only two out of five that I’ve liked, which isn’t really good. Yet, tonight’s episode had a moment in it that caused me to break out laughing so loud, I couldn’t believe it. This episode is like a well-told joke that slowly builds to its punch line. It was the first time that the slow pace of the show worked.
Other Options
- CSI: Miami (CBS): New. A pop music starlet bursts into flames on stage and the CSIs must determine how it happened and who was behind it.
- Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives (Food Network): Season Premiere. Guy checks out a place smoking fresh pork and a place making pizza sandwiches. A repeat episode follows. Both play again later.
- House (FOX): New. House and Wilson both fancy a new neighbor Chase, Thirteen and Taub play a practical joke. A drug dealer is the case of the week.
- Make It or Break It (ABC Family): New. The girls want to get Marty fired. Sasha wants to find a place for Payson at The Rock. Plays again later.
- The Secret Life of the American Teenager (ABC Family): New. A new boy attracts Amy’s eye, while Ben is thinking about the Italian girl from last summer that has come for a visit. Ricky talks to Amy about his legal rights to John. Plays again later.
- Unwrapped (Food Network): New. Get a look at some of your favorite “Fast Foods.” A repeat episode follows. Both play again later.
Sports Notes
- ESPN has doubleheader college basketball action.
- ESPN2 has women’s college basketball action.
- NBA TV has the Atlanta Hawks at the Boston Celtics.
- Versus has NHL action.
TV Marathons
ABC Family has nine episodes of Make It or Break It.
Bravo has six episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Discovery Channel has six episodes of Overhaulin’.
Oxygen has 18 episodes of Roseanne.
Spike has five-part UFC’s Ultimate 100 Greatest Fights.
Syfy has eight episodes of Jericho early.
USA has 12 episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent early.
WE has five episodes of Little Miss Perfect early and 14 episodes of The Golden Girls later on.
