Program Planner: Aug. 3-9
Sunday’s Oklahoman, which includes TV Week, hits the newsstands in the Oklahoma City area on Saturday afternoon. And it arrives at the doorstep (or hopefully nearby) early Sunday morning.
But for those who can’t wait to begin planning the upcoming week around the best TV has to offer, here is a sneak peek at programs worth watching the week of Aug. 3:
SUNDAY AUGUST 3, 2008
◊“Cold Case” (9 p.m. on CBS): Country music singer Tim McGraw’s songs are prominently featured in the episode “The Red and the Blue,” which originally aired in December 2006.
◊“Factory” (9 p.m. on SPIKE): This painfully funny look at life as a factory employee ends its first season.
◊“The Fastest Man on No Legs” (9 p.m. on BBC America): This new documentary chronicles the story of Olympic hopeful Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee from South Africa.
◊“The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s” (12:20 a.m. on OETA-13): This 2004 documentary examines the disease that robs people of their memories. Actor David Hyde Pierce (“Frasier”) moderates a new half-hour panel discussion after the film.
◊“HGTV Design Star” (8 p.m. on HGTV): Viewer votes decide the third-season winner, who will get his or her own HGTV show.
◊NFL Preseason Football (7 p.m. on NBC): The Hall of Fame Game features the Washington Redkins taking on the Indianapolis Colts.
◊“Pam: Girl on the Loose” (9 p.m. on E!): Actress Pam Anderson (“V.I.P.”) gives viewers an inside look at her life in this new observational series.
◊“Studio DC: Almost Live” (7 p.m. on Disney): Disney Channel stars, including Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers and Ashley Tisdale, share the stage with the Muppets in this sketch comedy special.
◊“Summer Showdown” (9 p.m. on HGTV): This four-episode series pits HGTV designers and carpenters against each other in a design duel, with a panel of celebrity judges picking the winner. The premiere episode features “Design Star judges Vern Yip and Cynthia Rowley going head-to-head. Judges include Keenen Ivory Wayans (“In Living Color”), Kim Fields (“The Facts of Life”) and Emily Procter (“CSI: Miami”).
◊TCM’s Summer Under the Stars — Gregory Peck: Among his 12 films airing in the festival today are 1947′s “The Paradine Case” (7 a.m.), 1946′s “The Yearling” (4:45 p.m.) and 1954′s “Man With a Million” (9:15 p.m.).
◊“Sunset Tan” (9:30 p.m. on E!): Back for a second season is the reality series that follows the staff at an upscale Los Angeles tanning salon. Erin, one of the staff members is from Oklahoma.
MONDAY AUGUST 4, 2008
◊“American Gladiators” (7 p.m. on NBC): The champions are crowned on the two-hour season finale.
◊“Baghdad High” (8 p.m. on HBO): This new documentary follows four Iraqi teenagers through their senior year of high school as they juggle their studies, friendships and family lives.
◊“The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World” (8 p.m. on Sundance): This four-part documentary series profiles The West Lake, a massive five-star restaurant located in the capital of the Hunan provice in China.
◊“I Want to Work for Diddy” (8 p.m. on VH1): This new series follows 13 applicants as they compete to land a job as Diddy’s personal assistant.
◊“Luke’s Parental Advisory” (9:30 p.m. on VH1): This new series provides an inside look at the life of hip-hop’s original bad boy and former member of 2 Live Crew, Luther “Luke” Campbell.
◊“Nashville Star” (9 p.m. on NBC): Find out who wins the Warner Bros. Nashville recording contract and a trip to China to perform at the Beijing Olympics in the show’s sixth-season finale.
◊“New York Goes to Hollywood” (9 p.m. on VH1): Tiffany “New York” Pollard looked for love for two seasons on “I Love New York.” This new series follows her as she tried to make it big in Hollywood.
◊“Reel Comedy: Pineapple Express” (11 p.m. on Comedy Central): Comedian Paul F. Tompkins vists the set of ◊“Pineapple Express” to talk to the film’s stars, Seth Rogen and James Franco, about reinventing the buddy comedy genre. The movie opens Friday in theaters.
◊“Saving Grace” (9 p.m. on TNT): A teenage girl and her stoner boyfriend become suspects in the disappearance of the girl’s mother in the new episode “It’s a Fierce, White-Hot, Mighty Love.”
◊TCM’s Summer Under the Stars — Marie Dressler: Among her 15 films airing in the festival today are 1929′s “The Divine Lady” (8:30 a.m.), 1931′s “Reducing” (2:45 p.m.) and 1930′s “Min and Bill” (9 p.m.).
◊“Teen Choice 2008″ (7 p.m. on Fox): Miley Cyrus (“Hannah Montana”) hosts the 10th annual event that honors teenagers’ favorite movies, TV shows, music, performers and athletes. She’s also nominated for four of them for her singing and her TV show. Nominees with Oklahoma ties are “American Idol” winners Carrie Underwood (for choice red carpet fashion icon female) and David Cook (for choice TV male reality/variety star).
TUESDAY AUGUST 5, 2008
◊“Celebrity Family Feud” (7 p.m. on NBC): Competing for $50,000 for their charity are the casts from “My Name Is Earl” and “The Office.”
◊“Guiding Light” (2 p.m. on CBS): Emmy Award-winning talk show host Montel Williams guest stars as Clayton Boudreau, a dean at the fictional Springfield University.
◊“How To Look Good Naked” (9 p.m. on Lifetime): The reality series returns for a second season, with host Carson Kressley (“Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”) advising women on how to bring out their beauty without plastic surgery or extreme dieting.
◊“Million Dollar Listing” (10 p.m. on Bravo): Big money and high drama return for a second season in this docuseries. It follows Hollywood’s top real estate agents who, despite the softened market, will stop at nothing to close seven-figure deals.
◊“Smash Lab” (9 p.m. on Discovery): Ben Bailey (“Cash Cab”) will narrate the second season of :Smash Lab,” which combines science and technology to develop new and improved solutions for real-world problems.
◊TCM’s Summer Under the Stars — Claude Rains: Among his 12 films airing in the festival today are 1938′s “Four Daughters” (8:45 a.m.), 1942′s “Kings Row” (3 p.m.) and 1944′s “Mr. Skeffington” (9 p.m.).
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 6, 2008
◊“The Baby Borrowers: Town Hall Special” (8 p.m. on NBC): This special reunites the cast and producers for a town hall discussion. Viewers can send in questions via nbc.com.
◊“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (9 a.m. on KOCO-5): In this rebroadcast from January, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett talks to Ellen about his initiatives to help Oklahoma City residents lose weight. Also appearing on the show are Neill and Amanda Harmer from Bethany, who were contestants on the fifth season of “The Biggest Loser.”
◊“Hard Knocks ’08: Training Camp With the Dallas Cowboys” (9 p.m. on HBO): The Dallas Cowboys team up with HBO Sports and NFL Films for an all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League. This marks the fourth season of the sports-based reality series and the second time that the cameras have focused on the Cowboys’ training camp.
◊“Man vs. Wild” (9 p.m. on Discovery): In the third-season premiere, Bear Grylls tries to survive the challenges of the desert in Baja, Mexico.
◊“Mythbusters” (8 p.m. on Discovery): In the summer premiere, the team investigates the tall tale of the moon landing hoax.
◊“Primetime: Inside Out” (9 p.m. on ABC): ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff, who speaks Mandarin Chinese, reports on the global transformation that is taking place in the country that is home to more than 1.3 billion people. In just 30 years, more than 600 million people have been lifted out of poverty in China.
◊“Real Vice Cops Uncut” (9 p.m. on SPIKE): This new series chronicles the exploits of real vice squads all across the United States.
◊“Saving General Motors” (8 p.m. on CNBC): This special goes inside America’s largest car company to show how it is fighting for survival against low-cost and high-quality foreign competition.
◊TCM’s Summer Under the Stars — Anne Bancroft: Among her 13 films airing in the festival today are 1955′s “The Last Frontier” (5 a.m.), 1972′s “Young Winston” (1 p.m.) and 1985′s “Agnes of God” (1 a.m.).
◊“Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” (9 p.m. on TBS): In this 2-part summer finale, which marks the show’s 100th episode, Calvin and Miranda are about to get married.
THURSDAY AUGUST 7, 2008
◊“Dragons’ Den” (8 p.m. on BBC America): Five multi-millionaires are ready to back the best new ideas and innovations in this reality series. Items being pitched this episode include a new plant watering system and innovative jewelry designs.
◊“Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone” (8 p.m. on IFC): This new documentary offers an intimate glimpse into the personal life of Larry Flynt, the controversial publisher of Hustler magazine.
◊“Last Comic Standing” (7 p.m. on NBC): Jon Lovitz (“Saturday Night Live”) and Jon Reep (last season’s winner) will perform stand-up comedy routines on the show’s sixth-season finale. Also, the “Last Comic Standing” will be revealed and win an exclusive talent deal with NBC, a new Honda Pilot and a starring appearance in Jubilee! at Bally’s Las Vegas.
◊“Live From Abbey Road” (9 p.m. on Sundance): The music series taped at London’s Abbey Road Studios features performances by Alanis Morisette and Elbow.
◊“My Boys” (9 p.m. on TBS): Marilu Henner (“Taxi”) and Mimi Rogers (“Penny Dreadful”) guest star in the show’s summer finale, in which Bobby’s wedding hits a snag.
◊TCM’s Summer Under the Stars — Greta Garbo: Among her 14 films airing in the festival today are 1926′s “The Temptress” (5 a.m.), 1933′s “Queen Christina” (2 p.m.) and 1932′s “Grand Hotel” (11 p.m.).
FRIDAY AUGUST 8, 2008
◊Olympic Summer Games 2008 (7 p.m. on NBC): The XXIX Olympiad begins with the opening ceremonies live from Beijing.
◊“Puppy Games” (5 p.m. on Animal Planet): This three-hour program will feature dozens of adorable pups taking part in a series of competitive games and events, including swimming, gymnastics and soccer.
◊TCM’s Summer Under the Stars — James Garner: Among his 12 films airing in the festival today are 1959′s “Alias Jesse James” (5 a.m.), 1967′s “Hour of the Gun” (5:15 p.m.) and 1964′s “The Americanization of Emily” (2 a.m.).
◊“Today” (7 a.m. on NBC): Singer Celine Dion performs live from Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.
SATURDAY AUGUST 9, 2008
◊“Primeval” (8 p.m. on BBC America): Making its U.S. premiere is this British science-fiction thriller. It stars Douglas Henshall (“It’s All About Love”) as a zoologist who discovers prehistoric creatures in the present day.
◊TCM’s Summer Under the Stars — Fred MacMurray: Among his 14 films airing in the festival today are 1935′s “Grand Old Girl” (5 a.m.), 1958′s “Good Day for a Hanging” (4 p.m.) and 1941′s “Dive Bomber” (12:45 a.m.).
◊“True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet” (8 p.m. on Lifetime): This original Lifetime movie stars recording artist JoJo as a troubled teenage actress. After a stint in rehab, she is sent to live incognito with her aunt (played by Valerie Bertinelli) in Indiana.
–Penny TV
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I am so glad they got the thunder in OKC