“Hookers: Saved on the Strip,” “Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2010,” “Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You”
“Hookers: Saved on the Strip” Wednesday 10pm, Investigation Discovery This new documentary series explores the realities of being a sex worker in Las Vegas. Annie Lobert worked The Strip for decades as a high-priced call girl. She got out of the business years ago, and now runs the organization Hookers for Jesus, which reaches out [...]
“Psych,” “Top Chef: All Stars,” “VH1 Divas Salute the Troops”
“Psych” is an amiable little procedural that has found its spot on the basic-cable line-up.
“Firebreather,” “Beyoncé, I Am…World Tour,” “Holiday Battle on the Block”
“Firebreather” Wednesday 7pm, Cartoon Network Comic-book adaptations: They’re not just for the big screen anymore. “Hulk” and “Cloak & Dagger” are currently being developed for series, “The Walking Dead” is bringing in boffo viewership for AMC, and big ratings suggest “Smallville”’s current “final” season might not be so final after all. A very minor comic [...]
“American Music Awards,” “Skating with the Stars,” “Futurama Holiday Spectacular”
“American Music Awards” Sunday 8pm, ABC You know who doesn’t get enough recognition? The pop stars, rockers, country crooners and rappers who make millions of dollars per year releasing chart-topping singles and albums. Well God bless Dick Clark for making sure these unsung heroes get yet more attention by creating this totally bullshit awards ceremony. [...]
“The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection,” “Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time,” “Sarah Palin’s Alaska”
"The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection" Tuesday 10pm, Bravo Bravo’s “Project Runway” knock-off had a lackluster first season, and required significant retooling for this second attempt. Big changes have been made, some good, some…interesting. The major issue with the first season was host/judge Kelly Rowland, who, while very fashionable, had zero business judging a fashion competition, [...]
“Kathy Griffin: Whores on Crutches,” “Matt Lauer Reports,” “Conan”
“Kathy Griffin: Whores on Crutches” Tuesday 10pm, Bravo I have argued in these very pages that comedian Kathy Griffin isn’t actually all that funny. What makes her awesome is that she’s a normal person who clawed her way into the bizarre bubble that is Hollywood, and she delights in reporting back to us with all [...]
“Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Fair Jobmother,” “The Walking Dead”
“Grey’s Anatomy” Thursday 9pm, ABC The doctors of Seattle Grace have spent the first few episodes of this seventh season dealing with the aftermath of last season’s shocking finale, when a gunman shot up a bunch of docs in the surgical wing. Tonight’s episode, shot in documentary style, is designed to bring closure to many [...]
“Raising Hope,” “Family Game Night,” “Dexter”
“Raising Hope” Tuesday 9pm, Fox Nobody paid much attention to this new comedy by the creator of “My Name is Earl,” but it has quietly emerged as one of the few bright spots in Fox’s fall schedule. Much of that has to do with the strong “Glee” lead-in, but the show has its own charms. [...]
“30 Rock,” “Fatal Attractions,” “Sanctuary”
“30 Rock” Thursday 8:30pm, NBC This should be fun. My favorite comedy is putting on a live episode, and who better to conquer live television than that UVA alum and former “Saturday Night Live” head Tina Fey? I have no doubt that Fey, co-star Alec Baldwin, and Broadway vet Jane Krakowski can pull off a [...]
“Project Runway,” “Sister Wives,” “The Making of Jackass 3D”
“Project Runway” Thursday 9pm, Lifetime We’re getting close to Fashion Week, and overall I think the Season 8 designers have acquitted themselves adequately. All of the remaining contestants have the potential to put together solid final collections, although I’m specifically pulling for hyper-creative Andy and goth pixie Mondo. I’m fairly certain the third spot will [...]
"No Ordinary Family," "The Tenth Inning," "Law & Order: Los Angeles"
“No Ordinary Family” Tuesday 8pm, ABC If you liked The Incredibles or The Fantastic Four (the comic series, not the crappy movies) you’ll probably dig this. The Powell family is the picture of modern American malaise. Father Jim (Michael Chiklis, “The Shield”) is having a borderline midlife crisis, mom Stephanie (Julie Benz, “Dexter”) is a [...]
“Glee,” “Running Wilde,” “Undercovers”
“Glee” Tuesday 8pm, Fox A pop-culture backlash is imminent, if not already here, and with good reason. While “Glee” has many wonderful qualities—great cast, novel idea, crack-addictive musical numbers—it has giant, glaring flaws. The characters are almost all caricatures, the plotting ranges from the maudlin to the nonsensical, and the showrunners have the narrative focus [...]
“Top Chef: Just Desserts,” “Fantasia For Real 2,” “Dancing with the Stars”
“Top Chef: Just Desserts” Wednesday 11pm, Bravo Anyone who watches “Top Chef” knows that desserts have routinely been the downfall of many a great chef on that show. We’ve been told over and over again that there is a huge difference between cooking and baking. Baking involves precise measurements and miracles of chemistry, and generally [...]
“Hellcats,” “Vampire Diaries,” “2010 MTV Video Music Awards”
“Hellcats” Wednesday, 9pm, CW The new fall season is here, and CW is first up with this new series set in the competitive world of collegiate cheerleading. The cast looks like the remainders of a discount Disney Channel talent bin, with Alyson Michalka (“Phil of the Future,” one half of the pop duo Aly & [...]
“Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam,” “The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time,” “I Married the Beltway Sniper”
“Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” Friday 8pm, Disney Channel It’s the sequel to the hit 2008 made-for-TV movie, which was itself a pale imitation of Disney’s wildly popular “High School Musical” franchise. Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers return as a bunch of musically gifted teens who geek out at band camp and get involved [...]
“She’s Got the Look,” “Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry,” “Weeds”
“She’s Got the Look” Wednesday, 10pm, TV Land TV Land’s modeling competition for women of a certain age (over 35, that is) returns for its third season. Original host Kim Alexis is out, replaced by omnipresent TV hostess Brooke Burns, whose pinched looks and irritating voice I’ve never appreciated. The judging panel’s biggest name, pioneering [...]
“Melissa & Joey,” “The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town,” “If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise”
“Melissa & Joey” Tuesday 8pm, ABC Family Holy Winona Ryder! Looks like the ’90s really are back. Take this new sitcom starring Melissa Joan Hart (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) and Joey Lawrence (“Blossom”) in an update of “Who’s the Boss?” with a dash of Raising Helen thrown in for good measure. Hart plays an aspiring [...]
“Hair Battle Spectacular,” “Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff,” “The Big C”
“Hair Battle Spectacular” Tuesday 10pm, Oxygen I’m not sure what else you need to know on this one. It’s a new reality show about hair battles, and apparently it’s spectacular. What’s a hair battle, you ask? It’s when people take hues and build them into completely outrageous follicular sculptures. Cynicism aside, a good hair battle is [...]
“The Real Housewives of D.C.,” “Rubicon,” “Bachelor Pad”
Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchise has already embarrassed the women of Southern California, New York City, Atlanta and New Jersey
“MasterChef,” “Jersey Shore,” “On the Road with Austin & Santino”
MasterChef Tuesday 9pm, Fox Between “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Kitchen Nightmares,” and this new show, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has become the ruddy, heavily creased face of the Fox Network. Logic dictates that we should be sick of him, and yet he’s undeniably charming when not screaming at incompetents and calling them “donkey.” His latest reality endeavor [...]
“The Fabulous Beekman Boys,” “Mad Men,” “Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County”
“The Fabulous Beekman Boys” Wednesday 9pm, Planet Green This charming documentary series follows two big-city homos (I’m a homo; I can say that) as they embark on turning their upstate New York farm into a down-home enterprise fit for Martha Stewart. The domestic goddess reference is quite intentional, as one of the guys—high-strung Brent—used to [...]
“Covert Affairs,” “The Glades,” “RuPaul’s Drag U”
“Covert Affairs” Tuesday 10pm, USA This unimaginatively titled new drama addition to USA’s summer procedural slate has been dismissed as “Alias Lite.” As a huge fan of the spy series that made J.J. Abrams, Jennifer Garner and Bradley Cooper household names, I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. “Covert” stars the very pretty Piper Perabo [...]
“Jeopardy,” “The Choir,” “Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated”
“Jeopardy” Wednesday 7:30pm, NBC29 I love Kids Week on “Jeopardy”; it’s the one time I can actually beat the contestants as I play along at home. I joke—those little buggers still beat me. The venerable quiz show will be dominated by the preteen set this week, as contestants aged 10 to 12 show off their [...]
“Top Chef: DC,” “Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular,” “No One Dies in Lily Dale”
“Top Chef: D.C.” Wednesday 9pm, Bravo The new season of Bravo’s popular cooking competition snuck up on me. But now that we’re a couple episodes in, two things are clear. First, there’s a lot of talent in this crop of chefs. Second, the show has the exact same problem it had last time around, specifically [...]
“Downfall,” “Memphis Beat,” “Futurama”
“Downfall” Tuesday 9pm, ABC Let me see if I can explain this one adequately: “Downfall” is a new game show in which contestants stand on the “largest conveyor belt ever seen on TV” (oh my land, doesn’t that sound fancy?) on top of a skyscraper in downtown L.A. On the end of the belt are [...]
“Hot in Cleveland,” “The Gates,” “The Real L Word”
“Hot in Cleveland” Wednesday 10pm, TV Land We are truly experiencing the Renaissance of Betty White. Although we just lost our beloved Rue McClanahan, the last Golden Girl standing is back—again—in a new sitcom featuring some other familiar faces from sitcoms past. “Hot in Cleveland” stars Jane Leeves (“Frasier”), Wendie Malick (“Just Shoot Me”), and [...]
“You’re Cut Off,” “Work of Art,” “True Blood”
“You’re Cut Off” Wednesday 9pm, VH1 Are you appalled by the behavior of the spoiled, entitled princesses that populate trashy TV shows like “My Super Sweet 16” or the “Real Housewives” franchises? Then grab your schadenfreude spoon and slurp up every second of this show as if it were sweet nectar for the soul. “You’re [...]