new and noteworthy tv: 5/14-5/20

Schedules and cancellations rolling out, time to prune my season pass list…

Monday

  • America’s Got Talent (NBC, 8pm) Season Premiere – Howard Stern joins.
  • The Bachelorette (ABC, 9:30pm) Season Premiere – Dates, roses, whatever.
  • Outlaw Empires (Disc, 10pm) Series Premiere – Kurt Sutter supplements Sons of Anarchy with a look at real life criminal organizations.

Tuesday

  • Pregnant in Heels (Brav, 10pm) Season Premiere – Maternity concierge is pregnant herself.

Wednesday

  • ANTM (CW, 8/9pm) – Maybe it’s time to check back in on the British invasion.

Thursday

  • American Idol (Fox, 8pm) – Aren’t we done with this yet?

Friday

  • Tron: Uprising, Beck’s Beginning (Dis, 9:30pm) Series Premiere – There’s more story to tell about Tron.

Saturday

  • Hard Parts (Speed, 11pm) Series Premiere – Haven’t you always wanted to watch someone track down hard to find auto parts?

Sunday

  • AMGEN Tour of California (NBC, 10am) – The cable coverage wraps up on NBC as the guys head into Los Angeles.
  • Billboard Music Awards (ABC, 8pm) – Performances, awards.
  • Keeping Up with the Kardashians (E!, 9pm) Season Premiere – Whatever.
  • Jessie Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (CBS, 9pm) – Tom Selleck returns to the role that is much better than that Blue Bloods thing he does.
  • Mrs Eastwood and Company (E!, 10pm) Series Premiere – Managing a South African singing group.
  • Mystery Diners (Food, 10:30pm) Series Premiere – Can a hidden camera catch a thief?

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

Continue Reading

new and noteworthy tv: 5/7-5/13

Do I finally just delete my Glee backlog…

Monday

  • World’s Wildest Police Videos/Undercover Stings (Spike, 8/9pm) Season/Series Premiere – Needs no explanation.
  • House Crashers (DIY, 11pm) Season Premiere – Kitchen remodel.
  • Tanisha Gets Married (Oxy, 11pm) Series Premiere – Reality people do reality.

Tuesday

  • The Devil’s Ride (Disc, 10pm) Series Premiere – Motorcycling dudes.
  • United States of America (Hist, 10pm) Series Premiere – Comedic facts about America.

Wednesday

  • Around the World in 80 Plates (Brav, 10pm) Series Premiere – Curtis Stone and food and some sort of challenges.
  • White Heat (BBCA, 10pm) Series Premiere – Drama returns when reconnecting with college friends.

Thursday

  • Indoors Out (DIY, 9pm) Season Premiere – Outdoor decor.

Friday

  • Common Law (USA, 10pm) Series Premiere – The latest of the fluffy USA slight gimmick procedurals, buddy cops in therapy.
  • The Half Hour (Com, 11pm) Series Premiere – Comic Rory Scovel.

Saturday

  • Mom Caves (HGTV, 8:30pm) Series Premiere – A ladylike spin on Man Caves.
  • Fish Tank Kings (Nat Geo, 10pm) Series Premiere – Tankable?

Sunday

  • Desperate Housewives (ABC, 9pm) Series Finale – And the ladies sign off.
  • The Next Food Network Star (Food, 9pm) Season Premiere – The next crop of competitors arrive.
  • Sister Wives (TLC, 9pm) Season Premiere – Apartment living.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

Continue Reading

new and noteworthy tv: 4/30-5/6

Dabbling in a little more of On Demand recently added to TiVo, early learnings, don’t try shows like Idol that depend on serious fast forwarding…

Monday

  • The Pitch (AMC, 9pm) Series Premiere – After the preview the ad agencies return.
  • Ridiculousness/Money From Strangers (MTV, 10/10:30pm) Season/Series Premiere – Beiber visits and then on the street pranks.
  • Bath Crashers (DIY, 10:30pm) Season Premiere – Bath it up.

Tuesday

  • Hip Hop & the LA Riots (VH1, 9pm) – Reflections twenty years later.

Wednesday

  • The LA Complex (CW, 8pm) – In case you haven’t caught this fluffy new Canadian take on LA wannabes, I’ll definitely be checking out another episode.

Thursday

  • 65 Red Roses (OWN, 9pm) – Oprah’s latest heartfelt doc shares a woman’s support awaiting a transplant.

Friday

  • Goldfathers (NGC, 10pm) Series Premiere – Gold panning.
  • In Plain Sight (USA, 10pm) Series Finale – Say goodbye to Mary and Marshall Marshall.

Saturday

  • Treasure Island (Syfy, 7pm) Mini-series Premiere – Treasure map.
  • The High Low Project/HGTV’s Great Rooms (HGTV, 8/9pm) Season Premieres – Decorate it up.

Sunday

  • Giro d’Italia (NBC, 11am) – Let the racing begin.
  • Sherlock (PBS, 9pm) Season Premiere – More mysteries.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

Continue Reading

new and noteworthy tv: 4/23-4/29

Do I care enough to catch up on American Idol and The Voice…

Monday

  • Top Gear (BBCA, 8:30pm) Season Premiere – Italian supercar shootout.

Tuesday

  • Celebrities at Home/Million Dollar Rooms/White Room Challenge (HGTV, 8/8:30/9pm) Season/Series Premieres – Homes, rooms, decor.
  • The L.A. Complex (CW, 9pm) Series Premiere – I think this is a Canadian take on Melrose Place.
  • Yardcore (DIY, 9pm) Series Premiere – Outdoor restyling.

Wednesday

  • American Guns/Auction Kings (Disc, 9/10pm) Season Premieres – Following firearms and auctions.
  • Total Blackout (Syfy, 10pm) Series Premiere – Contestants face their fears in the dark.

Thursday

  • Don’t Be Tardy for the Wedding (Brav, 9pm) Series Premiere – RealĀ  Housewife gets married.
  • 7 Days of Sex/The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet (Life, 10/11pm) Series Premieres – Couples try to rekindle with sex and then Amanda chats with celebrities.

Friday

  • Whale Wars: Operation Bluefin (AnPl, 8pm) Series Premiere – More whale wars.

Saturday

  • Flipped Off (A&E, 10pm) Series Premiere – Flipping houses in Houston.
  • Cloudstreet (Ova, 10pm) Mini-series Premiere – Another visit to another time.
  • The Graham Norton Show/The Thick of It/Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show (BBCA, 8/9/9:40pm) Season Premieres – Interviews and comedies.

Sunday

  • My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding (TLC, 10pm) Series Premiere – Gypsy and traveler community celebrations.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

Continue Reading

new and noteworthy tv: 4/16-4/22

Spring has sprung I guess we can go outside…

Monday

  • Eureka (Syfy, 9pm) Season Premiere – Another alt reality?
  • Eden’s World (Logo, 10pm) Series Premiere – Another sign of the apocalypse, seven year old former pageanteer coaches others.
  • Top Gear India/Richard Hammond’s Crash Course (BBCA, 8/10pm) Season/Series Premiere – Britsh cars, big vehicles.

Tuesday

  • Mysteries at the Museum/Off Limits (Trav, 9/10pm) Season Premieres – Museum mysteries and Alcatraz fun.

Wednesday

  • Park Secrets (Trav, 8pm) Series Premiere – Off the beaten park path.
  • Coast Guard Alaska (Weath, 9pm) Season Premiere – Rescues return.

Thursday

  • The Great American Manhunt (NGC, 9pm) Series Premiere – Forensic experts track down targets.
  • Not Safe for Work (Tru, 9pm) Series Premiere – Clips.
  • Kathy (Brav, 10pm) Series Premiere – Kathy Griffin talker.

Friday

  • The Singing Bee/Jennie Garth: Little Bit Country/Melissa & Tye (CMT, 8/9/9:30pm) Season/Series Premieres – Sing it karaoke style, Jennie hits the country, and then we watch more reality people on reality shows.
  • The Ricky Gervais Show (HBO, 9pm) Season Premiere – They’re back with Karl.
  • The Dead Files (Trav, 10pm) Season Premiere – Lizzie Borden’s house.

Saturday

  • Cats 101 (AnPl, 8pm) Season Premiere – Meow.

Sunday

  • Fox’s 25th Anniversary Special (Fox, 8pm) – A look at some shows.
  • The Real Housewives of New Jersey (Brav, 10pm) Season Premiere – Whatevs.
  • Veep (HBO, 10pm) Season Premiere – Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays the latest vice president and we get a look at her personal and professional life.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

Continue Reading

new and noteworthy tv: 4/9-4/15

A little more reality, a little more…

Monday

  • Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations/Hotel Impossible (Trav, 9/10pm) Season/Series Premiere – King cobras and then Kitchen Nightmares for hotels.
  • Mama’s Boys of the Bronx (TLC, 10pm) Series Premiere – The reality of grown mean living with a parent.
  • Meat Men (Food, 11pm) Series Premiere – The reality of meat purveyors.

Tuesday

  • Deadliest Catch (Disc, 9pm) Season Premiere – Where to fish?
  • Big Easy Justice (Spike, 10pm) Series Premiere – Bounty hunters in New Orleans.
  • Dream Machines (Syfy, 10pm) Series Premiere – Making a fancy car.
  • Love for Sail (Life, 10pm) Series Premiere – Women look for love on a cruise liner.
  • Shannen Says (WE, 10pm) Series Premiere – Sadly she’s not quite the bad girl she once was, but for a look into the life of Shannen Doherty…

Wednesday

  • Ghost Hunters (Syfy, 9pm) Season Premiere – Do fraternity houses have ghosts?
  • Man v Food/Baggage Battles (Trav, 9/10pm) Season/Series Premiere – Eating 25 pulled pork sliders and bidding on left luggage?
  • Sold! (Hist, 9pm) Series Premiere – The reality of auctioning in the Ozarks.
  • Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 (ABC, 9:30pm) Series Premiere – Supposedly an amusing take on a bitch (that’s what the b—- stands for) and with James Van Der Beek playing himself worth tuning in.

Thursday

  • Sins and Secrets (ID, 10pm) Season Premiere – Murder for hire.

Friday

  • Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids (TLC, 9pm) Season Premiere – Bad cuts, bad colors.

Saturday

  • Titanic (ABC, 8pm) Miniseries Premiere – We all know what happened but here’s another look.
  • Tanked (AnPl, 9pm) Season Premiere – Shark tank installation.
  • 24/7 (HBO, 9:45pm) Season Premiere – Mayweather/Cotto.
  • Last Chance Driving School (A&E, 10pm) Series Premiere – The reality of bad driving students.

Sunday

  • Tough Love (vh1, 9pm) Season Premiere – The tough love hits New Orleans.
  • NYC 22 (CBS, 10pm) Series Premiere – A new batch of rookie cops, do I yet again start to like a show with Adam Goldberg.
  • Girls (HBO, 10:30pm) Series Premiere – The latest half hour dramedy these twenty-somethings might be worth a look.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

Continue Reading

new and noteworthy tv: 4/2-4/8

A few more midseason options to come…

Monday

  • Undercover Boss: Abroad (TLC, 8pm) Series Premiere – Because all the US bosses are getting recognized?
  • Yard Crashers (DIY, 9pm) Season Premiere – Yard transformations.

Tuesday

  • Foodography Cook, 6pm) Season Premiere – More about food.
  • Edge of War (Mil, 7pm) Series Premiere – A look at Hitler’s justifications.
  • No Kitchen Required (BBCA, 7pm) Series Premiere – Chef’s dropped into exotic locations.
  • Giuliana & Bill (Style, 8pm) Season Premiere – We’ve hear about the breast cancer, if you want to see them go through it…
  • Dance Moms: Miami (Life, 10:30pm) Series Premiere – Because we need another one of these.
  • Savage U (MTV, 11pm) Series Premiere – Dan Savage travels to colleges across the country to talk about sex.

Wednesday

  • One Tree Hill (CW, 8pm) Series Finale – Is this show still on?
  • Best Friends Forever (NBC, 8:30pm) Series Premiere – What’s a newly divorced gal to do but move in with her bestie and her bf, let the laughs begin (hopefully).

Thursday

  • Truck Stop USA/Sand Masters (Trav, 8/9pm) Season Premieres – Racecourses and sand sculptors.
  • Cold Blood (ID, 6pm) Season Premiere – Murder investigations.
  • Scandal (ABC, 10pm) Series Premiere – Crisis management Shondra Rhimes style which means we can assume some soapy drama, worth a look.

Friday

  • Motives & Murders (ID, 7pm) Series Premiere – Murder investigations.
  • Python Hunters (NatGeo, 10pm) Season Premiere – Python hunting?

Saturday

  • Shark Men (NGC, 8pm) Season Premiere – A new science team.
  • Dear Genevieve (HGTV, 8:30pm) Season Premiere – Redesign.

Sunday

  • Sunday Night Football (ESPN, 8pm) Season Premiere – Are you ready for some Football.
  • Nurse Jackie/The Big C/The Borgias (Show, 9/9:30/10pm) Season Premiere – These are back.
  • Wilson Phillips: Still Holding On (TVG, 9pm) Series Premiere – Weight loss and touring.
  • The Client List (Life, 10pm) Series Premiere – Jennifer Love Hewitt gets a job at a day spa with happy endings, I have to watch just one.
  • The Pitch (AMC, 11pm) Series Premiere – A reality series about ad agencies competing.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

Continue Reading

midseason fun

Well the shows keep coming and I am trying to keep up.

  • Alcatraz (Fox) – Neither the weirdness of the past prisoners disappearing nor the catching of them when they reappear in present day quite caught my attention.
  • Are You There, Chelsea (NBC) – A stretch to make a half hour series based on Chelsea Handlers exploits, and not quite pushing it enough or just being generic funny enough to be entertaining.
  • Awake (NBC) – Whether both of his experiences are waking or not I’m still slightly intrigued by the cop who uses his two post car crash realities that he passes between, one with his wife and one with his son, to solve crimes and patch up his personal life.
  • Bent (NBC) – So far amused enough by the Amanda Peete and dude’s interactions, flirtations, and random friend hangouts… I need a contractor, and a house.
  • Best Friends Forever* (NBC) – Gal pals try to find the funny, I will check it out.
  • The Client List* (Life) – Jennifer Love Hewitt takes a scandalous (hooker?) job to support her family, it’ll be bad, bad right?
  • Don’t Trust the B— in Apartment 23* (ABC) – See a bitchy gal (Jessie’s gfriend from Breaking Bad) and her new roomie, previews look dumb but who knows.
  • The Fades (BBCA) – I had trouble quite getting a handle on the tone for this kid-discovers-he-can-see-people-who-are-dead-but-haven’t-quite-passed show, but once he used his special powers to fight the corporeal forms of them as well as fight the people who are fighting them I was hooked.
  • The Finder (Fox) – This Bones ‘spinoff’ is innocuous but mildly entertaining as a paranoid brain damaged dude and his random sidekick pals find things.
  • The Firm (NBC) – Based on the original flick and book, we revisit the family x years later, and I didn’t make it past the first ep’s conspiracy ridiculousness.
  • GCB (ABC) – Pretending to be a replacement for Desperate Housewives this campy soap isn’t quite good but I have yet to turn away.
  • House of Lies (Show) – I don’t get Showtime but would check it out for the presence of former Veronica Mars’ Kristen Bell alone.
  • I Just Want My Pants Back (MTV) – A new generation of slacker hipster somewhat comedic meanderings.
  • Jane by Design (ABCFam) – High school student gets mistaken for a real job applicant and now must navigate school and ruthless fashionistas, I almost stuck around to see if the love interest was going to sleep with jail bait.
  • Lost Girl (Syfy) – I was originally concerned this might be bad, bad instead of good, bad but this tale of a sexual succubus that finds a world of otherworldly peeps and becomes a PI working both the light and the dark ‘fae’ with her fantasticly amusing sidekick is my favorite first pick on TiVo.
  • Luck (HBO) – Another channel I don’t get, for a show that didn’t make it past the first season… too many dead horses or too few viewers?
  • Magic City* (Starz) – Does anybody get this channel? 1950s Florida luxury hotel shenanigans.
  • Missing (ABC) – I could barely make it through the first ep of this overly dramatic Ashley Judd chasing, fighting, and screaming that she is a mother as she looks for her son.
  • Napoleon Dynamite (Fox) – The movie might have been amusing but a half hour animated series?
  • NYC 22* (CBS) – Adam Goldberg joins the latest rookie cop show, hasn’t he been a cop before?
  • The River (ABC) – This show packed a wallop of every sci fi and horror trick in the book and I don’t think the parts where I laughed out loud were supposed to be funny.
  • Rob (CBS) – Rob Schneider’s character married a Hispanic woman and made offensive jokes, if you’re going to be offensive at least be funny.
  • Scandal* (ABC) – Shondra Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy) brings another show to the roster and this one is about a ‘fixer’.
  • Smash (NBC) – The making of a musical somehow didn’t make me care about the any of the participants.
  • Touch (Fox) – Kiefer Sutherland’s kid can see the relation of everything through numbers and when things go amiss he sends dad to do something, of course without talking, meh.
  • True Justice* (Reelz) – Steven Seagal as a cop might be worth checking for bad, bad or good, bad.
  • Unsupervised (Fx) – I always want to like these alt animated series but never seem to stick around.
  • Veep* (HBO) – Julia Louis Dreyfus returns to the small screen to play the vice president.
  • Work It (ABC) – Think Bosom Buddies updated but badly.

* Still to come, stay tuned to ‘next week’s for premieres.

Continue Reading

new and noteworthy tv: 3/26-4/1

So if I add Idol back into the mix I have fewer slot avails…

Monday

  • Oprah’s Lifeclass (OWN, 8pm) Season Premiere – Iyanla joins Oprah for some chats.
  • Secret Life of the American Teenager/Make it or Break it (ABCFam, 8/9pm) Season Premiere – More teen drama.
  • Brooklyn 11223 (Oxy, 11pm) Series Debut – Join some 20 somethings for a little Brooklyn reality.

Tuesday

  • Caught in the Act (Nat Geo, 8pm) Series Premiere – Animal voyeurism.
  • Best Ink (Oxy, 10pm) Series Debut – Tattoo competitions, but who are the volunteer recipients?
  • 16 and Pregnant (MTV, 10pm) Season Premiere – Pregnant cheerleader.

Wednesday

  • Auction Hunters (Spike, 9pm) Season Premiere – Getting stuff.
  • Whitechapel (BBCA, 10pm) Season Premiere – Murder in the workshop, BBC has been making me want to check out their series.

Thursday

  • The Decrypters (NGC, 8pm) Series Premiere – Forensic scientists investigate.
  • Mary Mary (WE, 10pm) Series Premiere – Following real life gospel duo.
  • Punk’d/Pauly D Project (MTV, 10/10:30pm) Season Premiere – Can’t make me watch prank shows or Jersey Shore’s Pauly D.
  • My Mom is Obsessed (Disc, 10pm) Series Premiere – Plastic surgery much?

Friday

  • True Justice (Reelz, 9pm) Series Premiere – Steven Seagal goes undercover in Seattle, his character of course.
  • Magic City (Starz, 11pm) Series Premiere – Drama in a Miami Beach luxury hotel in the 50s.

Saturday

  • Sony Ericsson Open (CBS, 9:30am/Sun 10am) – Men’s and women’s final, tennis.
  • Beverly’s Full House (OWN, 7pm) Series Premiere – Beverly Sims opens her house to family.
  • Escape Routes (NBC, 8pm) Series Premiere – Another road trip challenge show.
  • Kid’s Choice Awards (Nick, 8pm) – Will Smith hosts.
  • Wild Scene Investigation (Nat Geo, 10pm) Series Premiere – Aren’t there animal culprits?
  • Southern Nights (CMT, 10:30pm) Series Premiere – Cast members from “Sweet Home Alabama” (which was maybe a dating series?) live together in a house.

Sunday

  • Annual Academy of Country Music Awards (CBS, 8pm) – Blake and Reba host.
  • Great Expectations (PBS, 8pm) Miniseries Premiere – A look at Pip.
  • The Killing (AMC, 8pm) Season Premiere – Who killed Rosie Larsen, and will I regret another season?
  • Game of Thrones (HBO, 9pm) Season Premiere – I don’t actually know what this show is about but people like it.
  • Snapped (Oxy, 9pm) Season Premiere – A look at some crimes.
  • I Survived… Beyond and Back (Bio, 10pm) Season Premiere – These people actually flat lined.
  • Wicked Tuna (NatGeo, 10pm) Series Debut – Tuna crews.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

Continue Reading

new and noteworthy tv: 3/19-3/25

Perhaps some good movies will start opening to keep me entertained…

Monday

  • Dancing with the Stars (ABC, 8pm) Season Premiere – Who goes home first the old person or the awkward athlete?
  • La La’s Full Court Life/Styled by June (VH1, 9/9:30pm) Season /Series Premieres – Family drama and celebrity stylists.
  • Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory (MTV, 10pm) Season Premiere – Kick flip it.

Tuesday

  • Hardcore Pawn (Tru, 9:30pm) Season Premiere – Trade it.
  • The Little Couple (TLC, 10pm) Season Premiere – Adoption?

Wednesday

  • Bent (NBC, 9pm) Series Premiere – Will Amanda Peet’s type A gal fall for her crazy contractor in this latest sitcom?
  • Duck Dynasty (A&E, 10pm) Series Premiere – A look at a family and their duck hunting gear business.
  • House of Consignment (VH1, 10pm) Series Premiere – How to pick new staff.
  • Real Vice (ID, 10pm) Series Premiere – Reenactments of Miami crimes.

Thursday

  • Project Runway All Stars (Life, 9pm) Season Finale – I’m about six behind and am sure I will hear or read who wins.

Friday

  • My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding (TLC, 10pm) Season Premiere – Beauty pageants and wedding gowns.

Saturday

  • Ball Boys (ABC, 3pm) Series Premiere – Think sports memorabilia.

Sunday

  • Long Island Medium/Leave it to Niecy (TLC, 9/10pm) Season/Series Premieres – What happens when your medium mom meets your boyfriend and getting your kids to know your new hubbie.
  • Luck (HBO, 9pm) Series Finale – One horse too many went down.
  • Mad Men (AMC, 9pm) Season Premiere – It’s back, though I have yet to begin this series.
  • Mythbusters (Disc, 9pm) Season Premiere – Duct tape survival gets put to the test.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

 

Continue Reading