“The Essentials” Saturday 8pm, TCM If you don’t get enough Alec Baldwin in your life via “30 Rock” (and really, who could ever get enough Alec Baldwin?), the gravel-voiced actor also hosts this series of classic films along with Turner Classic Movies fixture Robert Osborne. This weekend marks Baldwin’s third season in the co-pilot seat, […]
“Hall of Game Awards” Friday 7pm, Cartoon Network The title for this new awards show is somewhat deceiving. I initially thought it celebrated video or board games, but no, it’s a kid-oriented celebration of sports. The show might further glorify people who are paid ridiculous amounts of money to play games and sell Americans high-priced […]
“Jeopardy” Tuesday–Wednesday 7:30pm, NBC29 The eggheads at IBM decided to build a computer that can answer questions with the speed, accuracy and confidence of a human. Because they’ve apparently never seen 2001: A Space Odyssey. To test said machine, dubbed Watson, they’re pitting it against two of “Jeopardy”’s biggest champions: Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings. […]
“Mixed Signals” Tuesday 9:30pm, Fox Another international export, this new comedy is an American translation of the Israeli series “Ramzor.” (Doesn’t the original title make you think of some badass He-Man sidekick?) For such an exotic start the concept is rather mundane: Three lifelong friends cope with the different relationships in their lives. Mike (David […]
“Who Do You Think You Are?” Friday 8pm, NBC I very much enjoyed the first season of this genealogy-based documentary show in which celebrities learn about their ancestors. Did you know Sarah Jessica Parker’s great-great-something-or-other was one of the accused during the Salem Witch Trials? Well, you do now. This season we get to follow […]
“RuPaul’s Drag Race 3” Tuesday 9pm, VH1 Even if you’re currently Logo-less you can still enjoy the most awesomely ridiculous reality competition ever to sashay across a television set. VH1 will rebroadcast new episodes of the drag-queen series the night after they originally air on the aforementioned gay cable net. The new season starts this […]
“American Idol” Wednesday-Thursday 9pm, FOX Simon is gone. Last season was a disaster. A slew of new singing competitions are set to launch in the next 12 months. “Idol” needed change big time, and that looks like what it got. Ellen and Kara are out; unfortunately some idiot signed Randy to a multi-year contract, so […]
“Off the Map” Wednesday 10pm, ABC Shonda Rhimes, the producer behind “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice,” goes for a hat trick with another drama about sexy doctors having sex with each other. “Off the Map” at least has a novel twist: It’s set in a remote South American village, so expect some unexpected medical cases […]
“Live to Dance” Tuesday-Wednesday 8pm, CBS I’m all for the resurgence of dance in pop culture, but I wonder if we haven’t hit the saturation point with televised dance competitions. I guess we’ll find out. CBS tries its hand at the genre with this new show, headed up by Paula Abdul, who acts as both […]
“Kennedy Center Honors” Tuesday 9pm, CBS The year is nearly over, and a new one is on the way (unless the mad serpent god Quetzalcoatl devours us all first, but that’s not scheduled to happen until 2012). That means that awards-show season is almost upon us. To get yourself warmed up for the red-carpet back-slapping, […]