SUNDAY, OCT. 21
NATURE OF THE BEAST
8 P.M. | ABC FAMILY
What's even scarier than a bridezilla? A groom (Eddie Kaye Thomas) who's also a werewolf. But Autumn Reeser (The O.C.) is determined not to let her fiancé's body-hair issues keep them from the altar in this comic movie.
MONDAY, OCT. 22
MATTERS OF LIFE & DATING
9 P.M. | LIFETIME
Break out your pink ribbons for this uplifting film about a breast cancer survivor (Ricki Lake, far right) who gingerly dives back into the Boston dating pool after having a mastectomy. She gets by with help from her support group friend Holly Robinson Peete.
TUESDAY, OCT. 23
SEASON FINALE!
DAMAGES
10 P.M. | FX
Is barracuda lawyer Glenn Close a murderer? Just one of the many questions that will hopefully be resolved as the legal drama wraps its twisty freshman season.
SEASON FINALE!
TORI & DEAN INN LOVE
10 P.M. | OXYGEN
Should they stay or should they go? The two ponder buying their B&B, Chateau La Rue, and hit the L.A. County Fair to debut their gourmet fry business.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24
NEW SERIES!
PHENOMENON
8 P.M. | NBC
Illusionist Criss Angel and psychic Uri Geller team up to find the "next great mentalist." Remember: It's mind over matter.
THURSDAY, OCT. 25
SEASON PREMIERE!
SCRUBS
9:31 P.M. | NBC
The sitcom's seventh and final season kicks off as J.D. (Zach Braff) and Elliot (Sarah Chalke) debate rekindling their romance.
SATURDAY, OCT. 27
HEADLESS HORSEMAN
9 P.M. | SCI FI
Talk about bad timing: In this film teens stumble onto a small town where the locals seek a sacrifice for the nogginless rider.
CBS, Mondays, 8:30 p.m. ET |
COMEDY
Nerds rule everywhere you look on TV this fall, with the exception of this wedgie-worthy sitcom about what happens when clichés collide. Two dorky physicist roomies (Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons) awkwardly befriend their new next-door neighbor, a chipper blonde waitress named Penny (Kaley Cuoco). Galecki's pining for her is supposed to evoke sweet memories of Friends' Ross and Rachel, but he lost me recently when the dorky duo broke into Penny's messy apartment one night to clean it up while she slept. That's creepy, not geeky.
NBC, Wednesdays, 10 p.m. ET
DRAMA
Life tries to shake up the crime procedural; instead it's just business as usual. An L.A. cop (Damian Lewis), exonerated after serving 12 years for murder, returns to the force to solve crimes (his secret to success: tilt head and stage-whisper dramatically) and hunt down the real killer. Hugh Laurie clone Lewis (Band of Brothers) is oddly compelling, but the most recent episodes have shifted focus to his dull caseload, which is anything but.
• Playing catty assistants Marc and Amanda or creating their own private gossip code, the real-life friends have a gift for gab
WAS THERE AN INSTANT PLATONIC ATTRACTION?
NEWTON: We had a very similar sense of humor early on. I looked at him and started laughing.
URIE: I had a prosthetic eyebrow [for a Botox scene].
NEWTON: He had me at the eyebrow.
NOW YOU'RE INSEPARABLE.
URIE: We share a brain.
NEWTON: We do share a brain!
URIE: We get the giggles sometimes.
NEWTON: But I get in trouble because he can control the laughter and I can't. He'll say something really funny, and they say, "Action," and I cannot hold it together.
BECKI, HOW DOES YOUR HUSBAND FEEL ABOUT YOUR FRIENDSHIP WITH MICHAEL, WHO'S SINGLE?
NEWTON: He's so happy that I found someone at work I can be silly with.
URIE: Make out with ...
NEWTON: No!
BECKI, DO YOU SET MICHAEL UP ON DATES?
NEWTON: I've protected him. I say, "You don't deserve him!"
WHAT DO YOU DO TOGETHER?
NEWTON: There's a lot of "bring it" [their code for gossip]. "Vault it" is code for "don't tell anyone."
URIE: We'll text: "Vault it. Bring it. Find me now."
• Last season they saved the cheerleader and the world. Now the Heroes gang must rescue their own show, mired in a serious sophomore slump. Victory can be theirs with these simple steps:
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS The heroes work best as a team, yet they've been redistributed around the globe. Let's get the band back together, pronto!
ADIOS, MAYA AND ALEJANDRO! The show's deadweight new additions spend each week stumbling around Mexico, getting caught and then escaping as Maya uncorks her runny-mascara superpower and offs their captors. Sic Sylar on 'em.
STOP LIVING IN THE PAST Hiro (Masi Oka) teleported to 1671 Japan ... and right into a cringeworthy Harlequin flirtation with Yaeko (Eriko Tamura). Bring him home, along with the Han Solo-like reluctant warrior Takezo Kensei (Alias' David Anders). His roguish charm should reenergize this morose supergroup.
THE SOPRANOS: SEASON SIX, PART II After eight glorious years, Tony and his two families take their final bows. Don't expect insight about the controversial whacked-or-not? finale: Creator David Chase is MIA from the meager bonus features.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
