Two Tivos To Paradise 11.11.11: Howard Stern, Hannibal Lecter, Regis Philbin, Game of Thrones, More

Posted by Al Norton on 11.11.2011

News & thoughts on Game of Thrones, Supernatural and other shows garnering People's Choice Awards nominations, Howard Stern joining America's Got Talent, Hannibal Lector headed toward NBC and more!



Hello friends. Cold was the word of the week in the Norton household, not because of temperature but rather because we all had one, mine hitting Monday afternoon and making it difficult to breathe for four days (and counting). Mrs. Tivo got hit pretty hard as well but thankfully the twins issues amounted to a decent amount of sneezing but that was all.

Here's a look at the upcoming A&E mini-series Bag of Bones…





This has nothing to do with TV but I've been listening to it all week. I love Willie Nelson as much as any singer I've ever heard and his vocal imperfections never sounded so moving…





I get sent stuff from companies looking for plugs on a somewhat regular basis and I am very appreciative of this; I follow the formula that I heard Howard Stern articulate so well on his show – if I like it I talk about it, and if I don't I keep my mouth shut because I am happy just to be thought of as someone who may have even the slightest bit of influence on his readership. I bring this up because the folks over at Calgon sent me a big bottle of their Foaming Bubble Bath, Morning Glory scent, and it is fantastic. Those of you looking for a great stocking stuffer for those in your lives who are bath lovers would score yourselves a lot of points by adding this to your shopping list.

Today is Veterans Day and I want to take a moment and recognize all those who have served in are Armed Forces. As Tom Brokaw said in a recent Daily Show appearance, those in the military really are the true 1% in our country, protecting the freedom for the rest of us 99ers. Thank you for your service.

I always turn the news around.

I Have A Heart, I Swear I Do, But Just Not Baby, When It Comes To You
NBC has ordered a pilot script for Hannibal, a drama series based on the Hannibal Lector character created by novelist Thomas Harris and turned into a pop culture touchstone by Anthony Hopkins, who won an Oscar for portraying him in Silence of the Lambs. The order is different than usual in that it skips an actual pilot; NBC option once they receive the script will be to pick up 13 episodes or pass altogether. Bryan Fuller, who created Heroes and Pushing Daisies, is writing and executive producing, and it's one of two high profile projects he has with the network; Fuller is also scripting The Munsters reboot.

Fuller is a talented writer and seems like a good choice for both of these projects, although I do wonder what sort of spin he can put on Hannibal to make it interesting. From the outset you've got to try and fill the big shoes of both Dexter AND people's affection for Hopkins' performance, so you almost need to go an entirely different way, maybe showing Lector in his life leading up to being a serial killer. And just as important as the writing will be the casting, since the show's success will hinge on, among other things, the audience buying a different actor in this part, and that aside from the idea that if your lead character is a serial killer, the actor playing him has to be damn good to not simply turn people off with the subject matter.

On a mostly unrelated note, this news makes it that much more obvious why comedies are so big right now; almost all of dramatic TV is ultra dark, so the audience needs a break sometimes. It's also a part of Once Upon a Time's success; it may be over the top but it's a traditional good vs. evil struggle that is familiar to the audience, and I mean that in a good way.

Took A Boat Over Lake Geneva, It Was Raining All Night Long
Regis Philbin ends his near 30 year run as co-host of Live! next week, with some big name guests lined up to help in the celebration. Monday finds Jimmy Fallon and legendary comedian Don Rickles stopping by, Tuesday welcomes Donald Trump, David Letterman sits down on Wednesday, and Philbin's former longtime co-host Kathie Lee Gifford helps send him off on Thursday. Musical guests for the week include Tony Bennett, Bret Michaels, and Josh Groban. Friday's episode will be a look back at Philbin's time with the show.

While Jerry Seinfeld has been named as the first guest co-host for the following week, a permanent co-host isn't expected to be named until February or May, which not coincidently are ratings sweeps periods. The show did take care of one contractual issue this week, signing Kelly Ripa to a five year extension.

You youngin's may not fully appreciate how much Philbin has seen through the years, with career ebbs and flows like you read about. He went from Tonight Show page in the 1950's to local talk show host to sidekick on a national late night show to local talk show host to game show host to local talk show host to national morning show host before he was paired with Gifford in 1985 and ratings took off. From there the show went national and was a major hit, which eventually led to Philbin getting the Who Wants to be a Millionaire Gig; at one point Philbin was host of the top rated syndicated morning show in the country as well as the top rated primetime series in the country. He was also the original host of America's Got Talent before heart surgery made him leave after the first season. Incidentally, AGT was the number one show of the summer, too.

Philbin may be leaving Live! but he is not retiring; his contract was up and he wanted a more flexible schedule (currently the show airs live Mon-Thu and then Friday's episode is taped Thursday mid-day, and it's rumored Philbin wanted to tape two episodes a week), so look for him to be the front runner for any game shows in development at the major networks. He has also expressed interest in doing a reality show. Either way, I am 100% sure he will be on your TV screen on a daily/weekly basis by the fall of 2012.

I loves me some Regis. I first saw him on the Lifetime series Lifestyles with Regis Philbin in the 80's and in 1993, when I left my job at a non-profit and took some time off to recover from the crazy hours, Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee became a central part of my morning routine, and while I haven't watched much lately, I am recording all of next week. Entertainment industry lifers like Philbin aren't that common and his gimmick-free longevity is as impressive as anyone's I can think of.

Here's the most random clip of Regis I could find...






I Can't Understand What Makes A Man Hate Another Man, Help Me Understand
Nominations for the 2012 People's Choice Awards were announced on Tuesday; the awards cover TV, movies, and music, and unlike the Emmys, Golden Globes, or SAG's, these winners are selected solely by the viewing audience. The winners will be announced live on January 20th in a special on CBS, hosted by Kaley Cuoco.

Here's a quick rundown of the TVcentric nominees…

Favorite Network TV Drama: The Good Wife (CBS), Grey's Anatomy (ABC), House (Fox), Supernatural (The CW), The Vampire Diaries (The CW)

Favorite TV Drama Actor: David Boreanaz (Bones, Fox), Hugh Laurie (House, Fox), Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries, The CW), Nathan Fillion (Castle, ABC), Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy, ABC)

Favorite TV Dramatic Actress: Blake Lively (Gossip Girl The CW), Ellen Pompeo (Grey's Anatomy), Emily Deschanel (Bones, Fox), Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives, ABC), Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries, The CW)

Favorite Cable TV Drama: Dexter (Showtime), Game of Thrones (HBO), Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family), True Blood (HBO), White Collar (USA)

Favorite Network TV Comedy: Glee (Fox), How I Met Your Mother(CBS), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Modern Family (ABC), Two and a Half Men (CBS)

Favorite TV Comedy Actor: Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory, CBS), Chris Colfer (Glee, Fox), Alec Baldwin (30 Rock, NBC), Neil Patrick Harris (HIMYM, CBS), Cory Monteith (Glee, Fox)

Favorite TV Comedy Actress: Courtney Cox (Cougar Town, ABC), Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory, CBS), Lea Michelle (Glee, Fox), Tina Fey (30 Rock, NBC), Jane Lynch (Glee, Fox)

Favorite Cable TV Comedy: Hot in Cleveland (TVLand), Royal Pains (USA), Nurse Jackie (Showtime), Weeds (Showtime), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Comedy Central)

Favorite TV Competition Show: The Voice (NBC), American Idol (Fox), America's Got Talent (NBC), Dancing with the Stars (ABC), So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)

Favorite TV Crime Drama: Bones (Fox), Castle (CBS), NCIS (CBS), Criminal Minds (CBS), CSI (CBS)

Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show: True Blood (HBO), Fringe (Fox), The Walking Dead (A&E), Supernatural (The CW), The Vampire Diaries (The CW)

Favorite Daytime TV Host: The Today Show Hosts, Ellen Degeneres, Anderson Cooper, Rachel Ray, Regis Philbin & Kelly Ripa

Favorite Late Nite TV Host: Jay Leno, Conan Obrien, Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon

Favorite Guest Star: Gwyneth Paltrow (Glee, Fox), Jim Carrey (The Office, NBC), Katy Perry (How I Met Your Mother, CBS), Kristen Chenoweth (Glee, Fox), Michael J Fox (The Good Wife, CBS)

Favorite TV Celebreality Star: Gene Simmons, Julianna Rancic, Kim Kardashian, Kathy Griffin, Tia & Tamara Mowry

I know that this is nothing other than a popularity contest, but really, nothing for Breaking Bad and its extraordinary cast? The best example of how this is simply about honoring those who are famous (as opposed to being good) is that Jim Carrey got nominated for his 30 seconds of screen time on The Office season finale but Ray Romano and James Spader, who did MUCH funnier work on the show, were ignored. Also, how did what was Curb's best season ever manage to be ignored? And since when is Desperate Housewives a drama? And don't get me started on Game of Thrones and not The Walking Dead being up for Best Cable Drama but The Walking Dead and not Game of Thrones being up for Best Sci-fi/Fantasy show. Regardless of which show you like better, it just doesn't make any sense.

The good news here is that shows with passionate fan bases that usually are not mentioned during awards season got some love, in particular Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, White Collar, and Fringe. You can to www.peopleschoice.com to cast your vote. Remember, if you don't vote, you can't complain about who wins!

Sunny Day, Sweepin' The Clouds Away, On My Way To Where The Air Is Sweet
The Sesame Street video of the week…





But You Were Up To Your Old Tricks In Chapters Four Five And Six
All you need to know about the Nielsen's for the past 7 days…

THURSDAY
A strong night for NBC, with big demo gains for Community (+22%), Parks and Recreation (+11%), and Prime Suspect (+10%)…The Big Bang Theory had its third largest audience ever and the best demos for the show in its Thursday at 8pm timeslot, which led to Rules of Engagement posting its best Thursday demos ever, too…The Vampire Diaries hit new season highs in demos and totals, the top numbers in the former since January and in the latter since December 2010…Bones benefitted from a strong X-Factor lead-in and was up 22% from last fall's season premiere to finish second in total viewers and demos at 9pm…Grey's Anatomy had the top drama demos of the night…Person of Interest won 9pm in total viewers but finished fourth in demos…Private Practice was up in totals and demos, finishing 2nd in both at 10pm…The Mentalist won 10pm in totals and demos as the most watched drama series of the night. The demos were the best since April…

FRIDAY
Not good news for Chuck, which dropped from its poor season premiere numbers to hit an all time demo low. The hour was down 10% in total viewers and 20% in demos from the previous week and this time around had no Game 7 of the World Series as competition…Grimm was down 14% from its strong debut but still won 9pm in demos…Fringe was up 8% after being away for two weeks…Kitchen Nightmares won 8pm in demos…Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was up 30%...Big week for Blue Bloods, which won the night in totals and demos, up 15% in the former and 24% in the latter. It was the show's best demo outing since the series premiere last September and its best all time in adults 25-54…

SUNDAY
The 4.4 million people who tuned into the Hell on Wheels premiere made it the second most watched series debut in AMC history…Once Upon a Time and The Simpsons tied for the top non-football demos of the night…Allen Gregory was down double digits from its less than stellar week one numbers, meaning its odds of seeing the end of the year are shrinking dramatically…The Amazing Race hit a fall cycle low…Homeland hit a series high for the fourth week in a row, a pretty amazing accomplishment…Bravo's Real Housewives of… franchise has a new season premiere high after the first hour of Atlanta's new season aired, up 20% in total viewers from last season and 10% in the demos…

MONDAY
Terra Nova was up in a big way, 16% in totals and 24% in demos. This is huge news considering how much on the bubble the show has been…All of the CBS lineup was up single digits in demos, including the second week in a row of gains for Two and a Half Men after a steady stream of drops…Hart of Dixie was down 30% in totals and 25% in demos from its last new episode. Interestingly, that new episode had been a season high…Dancing with the Stars was the nights most watched show with 18.8 million viewers…Castle won 10pm in total viewers while Hawaii 5-0 won in demos…ESPN's Monday Night Football had the top demos for all of TV on Monday night…

TUESDAY
NCIS became the first scripted program of the 2011-2012 season to draw over 20 million viewers, and its demos won the night as well…NCIS: LA benefitted from that strong lead-in and tied New Girl for the t demos at 9pm while easily winning total viewers…New Girl leveled off after the large drop in last week's return…Glee was up a smidge in the demos…Last Man Standing and Man Up each dropped to season/series lows…The Biggest Loser was up a bit from last week's strong showing…Unforgettable won 10pm in totals and demos…Raising Hope was down 15%...Ringer was down 12%...

WEDNESDAY
The CMA's dominated the night, winning in both total viewers and demos…SVU dropped 5% to hit a new all-time demo low…Survivor was down more than 10% while Criminal Minds lost 8% from the previous week…X-Factor had the best regular programming demos of the night but was down in that category as well as total audience…Harry's Law bucked the trend by jumping 18% to tie a season high in the demos…

All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Multiple outlets are reporting that Howard Stern is in talks to replace Piers Morgan as a judge on America's Got Talent, with some stories saying his salary could top $15 million per season. Morgan announced he was leaving the show on Wednesday. Stern's listeners know he is a big fan of the show and that he has good relationships with current judges Howie Mandel and Sharon Osbourne. Currently Stern's show airs on Sirius Mon-Wed, so either they'd have to film AGT in New York or he would end up going to reruns the majority of the summer…Less than 24 hours after Brett Ratnor was out as producer of The Oscars, Eddie Murphy announced he would no longer be hosting. Less than 24 hours after that Billy Crystal used Twitter to tell the world he would front the show for the 9th time…Showtime picked up a 13 episode eighth season of Weeds...USA has officially ordered a pilot for an untitled comedy starring Nathan Lane as an actor whose Broadway dreams are put on hold when he returns to his Texas hometown to take care of his ailing Father. The pilot is being written, directed, and executive produced by Oscar nominee Douglas McGrath and co-stars Ken Jenkins (Scrubs) and Cheyenne Jackson (Glee, 30 Rock)…John Schneider will play Chord Overstreet's Dad on Glee…Jenna Elfman will guest on the season two finale of Shameless…Emmy winning director Marc Buckland (My Name is Earl) has sold two pilots to NBC, RIP (a comedy about a jerk who dies and in order to get into heaven has to come back as a ghost and help his more simple minded brother fix other people's lives) and State of Mind (drama about a police psychologist losing his mind as he solves homicide cases by figuring out what was going on in the victim's lives and brains)…Jennie Garth will star in the ABC Family pilot Village People as a high powered business woman who adopts a baby as well as the baby's teenage birth mother…The Closer's Corey Reynolds has signed a development deal with NBC – perhaps to star in their upcoming Easy Rawlins series?!?! – which means he will not be reprising his role as Detective Gabriel on Major Crimes, the spinoff of the long running TNT drama that will premiere next summer…Brian K Vaughn, who wrote for Lost as well as a number of popular comic books (Ex Machina, Y: The Last Man, Runaways) has been hired to adapt Stephen King's Under the Dome into a series for Showtime…CBS has ordered a pilot for The Rifleman, a reboot of the classic 50's Western about a widower who takes his young son to the growing New Mexico territory in the 1880's. Lucas McCain, played by Chuck Connors in the original, is a very talented sharpshooter who teams up with the local Sheriff to help protect the town from outlaws. This new version, written by Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) & Patrick Lussier, with a pilot directed by Chris Columbus, is likely to put a larger focus on McCain's guilt over his decorated service in the Civil War…Miguel Ferrer has signed for multiple episodes of NCIS: LA…ABC has signed Vanessa Williams to a holding deal, meaning they plan on featuring her in the fall of 2012-2013, either on a new show or by adding her to the cast of an existing series…Tons of guest star news so let's give it to you in a quick & dirty format: David Anders (House), Geoffrey Wright (House), Emilie de Ravin (Once Upon a Time), Marla Gibbs (Southland), Torrey DeVitto (The Vampire Diaries), Jay Karnes (Criminal Minds), Sean Astin (Franklin & Bash), Nick Jonas (Last Man Standing), Carlos Bernard (24), Mimi Rogers (Two and a Half Men), Peter Weller (Franklin & Bash), Jane Seymour (Franklin & Bash), and Beau Bridges (Franklin & Bash)...A second season of Anderson was guaranteed when the stations in LA, Chicago , Las Vegas, San Diego, Phoenix, Jacksonville, and Boston renewed it. The show also will switch networks in NY, Tampa, and Minneapolis…The CW is working on an adaptation of Danny Hollywood, a popular Israeli series that is both time travel drama and musical. The story follows a documentary filmmaker from the future who travels back in time to save the life of her favorite 90's musical performer. The pilot is being written by Bert V Royal (Easy A) and has among its executive producers Mark Harmon. Let's see - time travel, musical, The CW, Mark Harmon - yup, that's almost exactly what a computer would spit out as the perfect formula to appeal to just about every demo…

Turns Out Not Where But Who You're With That Really Matters
(The Best of What's Around aka The Best Thing I've Watched In The Last Seven Days)…
In busy weeks I end up watching a whole week's worth of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in marathon form, racing through the episodes while I clean, iron, or take care of other household chores, and when it's as good as it was last week I find myself sitting down on the couch and letting things stay messy.

Fallon's interaction with sidekick Steve Higgins is not only the best currently on TV, it may be the best I've ever seen, with Fallon allowing him plenty of room to flex his comedic muscles, whether it's during desk pieces or even the monologue itself. They also make each other laugh, which goes a long way towards establishing the warm feeling the show projects; other late night shows may be funnier at times but none project the same level of, "thanks for stopping by, we're thrilled to have you at our party" that Late Night does.

While Fallon might not be the best interviewer, his chat with Eddie Murphy last Friday was easily the best the legendary comedian did on his two week media tour to hype Tower Heist. It may have been their shared SNL past but Murphy was laid back and at the same time engaged, relating some VERY funny anecdotes about James Brown and the famed Celebrity Hot Tub sketches. He also did a mean Nick Nolte impression.

The topper of the week may have been Air Supply's performance of All Out of Love; the combination of any talk show host letting the classic 80's ballad band do a song and the phenomenal backing of The Roots made for an expectations shattering segment.

I still fast forward through guests I have no interest in and many of the games they play but there is no question that when it comes to late night TV, the best stuff is happening after midnight.

People Say I'm Crazy Doing What I'm Doing. Well, They Give Me All Kinds Of Warnings To Save Me From Ruin
What's flashed before my eyes the last seven days…






As a Grey's Anatomy fan from the pilot, I very much enjoyed last week's episode and its references to the show's history. It reminded me of just how much a family that original group of 5 used to be and how, much like in life, things happen along the way that cause changes you never could have predicted…Suburgatory continues to stand out in its rookie season and the Cheryl Hines – Carly Chaiklin team as the Royce family mother-daughter combo is a huge reason why, usually totally stealing the scenes they are in. Chaiklin in particular has been a comedic revelation as Dalia; maintaining a single facial expression is not as easy as you might think and her line delivery is one-note perfect, and I mean that as a compliment…I love Happy Endings in a way I haven't loved a comedy in a long time; it's not so much based on the quality of the show – which is solid – as it is the way these actors have their characters down so well. What's particularly amazing about my strong enamoration for the show is how bad the pilot was; what should have been a build to the wedding being called off in the last scene, after we got to see know the characters a bit and saw how they got to this point was instead a wedding being called off in the opener, making us think the groom an idiot and the bride a bit of a meany. Every episode since has been quite good but it's a good thing ABC ran the two episodes in a block as I taped them both and stuck with it; if it had just been the one, I am not sure I would have kept watching…If there were an award given to the show with the best final scenes, there is no question The Walking Dead would win; every week it finds a new way to take my breath away...So I am supposed to think that Siobhan knew exactly what AA meeting Bridget would go to and had a guy planted there ready to win her confidence over? I am still watching Ringer, don't get me wrong, but one of the issues is how they show Siobhan so infrequently that it's almost like, "oh yeah, she's alive and doing something France but I really couldn't care less what it is"...I enjoy Once Upon a Time more each week, and think there are not many shows on TV with more strong female roles. Totally got sucked into the Prince Charming – Snow White stuff this past week, although the modern style of speech in the backstory flashbacks was a bit jarring…Best Actress in a Drama Series is not becoming any easier an Emmy category, what with the addition of Claire Danes and the return of Anna Gunn, but if Katey Segal is not recognized for her work on Sons of Anarchy by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, something is simply very wrong with the process. As tense and uncomfortable an hour of TV as I can remember, and that's high praise…Speaking of Danes, she is amazing on Homeland and you can never tell how much of what she is doing is part of her character's attempt to play the situation and how much of it is genuine. She, Damian Lewis, and Mandy Patinkin are doing some exemplary work for Showtime…Up All Night might not be generating a ton of buzz but it turns out high quality comedy week in, week out, and Will Arnett is really shining in his first major opportunity to play a real person (instead of the incredibly brilliant caricatures he has on his resume)…Last spring I was certain Community would top my year end list for Top Comedy. Then, after Louie's brilliance this past summer I thought there might be a change at the top. Modern Family's continued standard of excellence also had them a part of the conversation, but the last three weeks of Community have me back to where I started…James Spader is so good on The Office because of the intensity he brings to the littlest of things, like his incredulity at Andy having a favorite Iron Chef…Jere Burns proved he was no one episode wonder with his work on the return of Burn Notice. So happy that TV has rediscovered this talented character actor the last couple of years…Glee's The First Time was an incredibly well written and tasteful handling of virginity, or more specifically, the losing of one's virginity. The scene at the bar with Kurt and Karofsky was great. I know there has been some complaints that this season has featured too many Broadway songs and not enough current music, but the choices they've made with the numbers have matched the stories so well it's hard for me to get that worked up about it…Morgan becoming the intersect was a nice moment in last spring's Chuck season finale but so far it has not paid off storyline wise. Chuck is never any worse than mildly entertaining but so far this season has been much better than that, either…

TV Pick Of The Week
Heavy Metal music may have sold a lot of albums and tickets but it's never received its full due on any sort of artistic merit, which makes Metal Evolution that much more of an accomplishment. VH-1 Classic has put together an 11 hour documentary look at the history of the genre, with many of its biggest names talking about who influenced them and how they got to the level of success that they did.

Don't miss the premiere of part one of Metal Evolution, tonight at 10pm on VH-1 Classic.

Hope You Need My Love, Babe, Just Like I Need You
Other viewing options from the next seven days…

*Superhero fans looking for a fix will want to check out the series premiere of Green Lantern: The Animated Series tonight at 7pm on Cartoon Network.

*Disney Channel original movies usually draw huge audiences and I don't expect the premiere of Geek Charming (tonight, 8pm), starring Modern Family's Sarah Hyland, to be any different.

*The Last Play at Shea (tonight, 9:30pm, Showtime) is a documentary look at the famed stadium's final show, a Billy Joel concert.

*Tonight is the season finale of Real Time with Bill Maher (10pm, HBO); something tells me Herman Cain and Penn State will be conversation topics.

*Not sure what the record is for earliest premiere of a holiday movie but if Hallmark's Lucky Christmas – Elizabeth Berkley as a struggling waitress/single Mom – doesn't set the record when it airs Saturday at 8pm, it can't miss by much.

*Britney Spears Live: The Femme Fatale Tour (Saturday, 8pm, Epix) is a reminder that Ms. Spears has indeed come all the way back, a superstar again after her stint with craziness a couple of years back. Don't believe me? Her music is not only at the top of the charts but the reviews are quite strong, and her tour has been a massive success. Considering she is still a few week shy of her 30th birthday, there is no reason to think she's not going to be around for a long, long time.

*It's a big time AFC East showdown when the Jets host the Patriots on NBC's Sunday Night Football (8:15pm kickoff).

*TV Guide Network never met a countdown list they didn't love, and Sunday's 24 Most Memorable Infomercials Ever (9pm) is proof. John O'Hurley is the perfect host and there is no doubt this will be good for humorous trip down memory lane. Hello there, Susan Powter.

*Iron Chef America (Sunday, 10pm, Food) celebrate Thanksgiving by having four of their best do battle; it's Iron Chefs Flay and Symon against Iron Chefs Garces and Forgione (the two newest IC's) in a face off to create the best and most original turkey day meal.

*All American Muslim is a pretty interesting looking reality show that premieres on TLC this Sunday at 10pm...





*Gary Busey guests as a mental hospital patient (wow, going out on a limb there, huh?) on an episode of Two and a Half Men (Monday, 9pm, CBS) that finds Alan thinking he is Charlie.

*Season 5 of Hardcore Pawn premieres Tuesday at 9:30pm on TruTV.

*Last week's Sons of Anarchy (10pm, FX) was so intense they need 90 minutes on Tuesday to recover

*Norm McDonald is back to reprise his role as Uncle Rusty on an episode of The Middle that finds a couple of the Hecks starring in a production of The Wizard of Oz.

Two Tivos To Paradise
24 Hour Restaurant Battle, 30 Rock, After the Catch, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, Archer, Auction Hunters, The Big C, Boardwalk Empire, Being Human, Bones, Bored To Death, Breaking Bad, Burn Notice, Celebrity Apprentice, Cake Boss, Chopped, Chuck, The Closer, Community, Cougar Town, Crave, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, Entourage, Eureka, Fact or Faked, Falling Skies, Fairly Legal, Family Guy, Flipping Out, Food Feuds, Food Network Challenge, Food Network Star, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Lab, Glee, Gossip Girl, Great Food Truck Race, Grey's Anatomy, Happy Endings, Haunted Treasure, Hawaii 5-0, Hell on Wheels, Hollywood Treasure, House, How I Met Your Mother, How To Make It In America, Hung, If You Really Knew Me, Iron Chef America, Justified, The Killing, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Louie, Mad Men, Man v. Food Nation, The Middle, Mike and Molly, Modern Family, Necessary Roughness, New Girl, Next Iron Chef, The Office, One Tree Hill, Outside the Lines, Parks & Recreation, Private Practice, Project Accessory, Project Runway, Psych, Raising Hope, Real Time With Bill Maher, Restaurant Impossible, Revenge, Ringer, Rocco's Dinner Party, Royal Pains, Rules Of Engagement, Sanctuary, Saturday Night Live, The Secret Circle, Shear Genius, So You Think You Can Dance?, Sons of Anarchy, The Soup, Suits, Suburgatory, Supernatural, Table For 12, Terra Nova, Top Chef, Top Chef Just Desserts, Top Chef: Masters, Top Design, Torchwood, Tosh.0, True Blood, Up All Night, The Vampire Diaries, The Voice, The Walking Dead, Warehouse 13, Web Soup, Wilfred, Worst Cooks In America,

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another Two Tivos To Paradise.






We'll be back next week with all the latest news plus a guide to Thanksgiving viewing; yes, it really is less than two weeks away!!!

Sources for this week's column include Daily Variety, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and Hollywood Reporter (plus the web sites for those publications) as well as Aintit.cool.com, TVline.com & Deadline.com.