SUNDAY, NOV. 9
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
9 P.M. | ABC
More dirt turns up on the best new character of the season, Edie Britt's smug sociopath of a husband (Neal McDonough).
THE UNIT
10 P.M. | CBS
The first hour of a two-part episode: It's off to Iraq after the daughter of Jonas Blane (Dennis Haysbert, most stalwart of stars) is kidnapped.
MONDAY, NOV. 10
SAMANTHA WHO?
9:32 P.M. | ABC
Samantha (Christina Applegate) plays good Samaritan to a wayward soul (Mary-Kate Olsen, right) who may not really be worth her compassion.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12
CMA AWARDS
8 P.M. | ABC
The Country Music Association's big show, hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood (left). They'll sing too.
THURSDAY, NOV. 13
ER
10 P.M. | NBC
Anthony Edwards (right) makes a return appearance as Mark Greene. No, the good doctor is still dead—it's a flashback.
FRIDAY, NOV. 14
SUPERMANNY
9 P.M. | ABC
An hour-long special that extends the Supernanny franchise, with American therapist Mike Ruggles instead of Jo Frost.
CRUSOE
9 P.M. | NBC
Cannibals arrive, bringing captives who'll make a nice brunch. Should Crusoe steal their boat or save the prisoners?
ABC, Wednesdays, 9 p.m. ET ]
DRAMA
The Grey's Anatomy spin-off started out as a misfire when it premiered last year: Kate Walsh's lovelorn Addison Forbes Montgomery didn't seem like the strongest pick to anchor an ensemble, although it was nice to think how the Los Angeles sun would highlight her gorgeous auburn hair. A month into Season 2, things haven't changed much—Walsh is charming and guardedly cute, like Jennifer Aniston fortified by medical training, but she's constantly upstaged by Audra McDonald. McDonald, huffing and puffing her way through conflicts with the staff at the Oceanside Wellness Center, is a fireworks display unto herself. Who can compete with her? (Maybe the show could borrow powerhouse Brooke Smith, Dr. Hahn on Grey's.)
The medical cases, at least, pose ingeniously thorny ethical puzzles, made more urgent by the fact that the practice is financially broke. Whether the show will ever be healthy enough to stand on its own feet is a tougher question.
HBO, Nov. 9, 10:30 p.m. ET
NEW SERIES!
COMEDY
In this terrific Australian import, Chris Lilley plays three characters in a public high school: Ja'mie, a rich transfer student who floats about as if she were Miley Cyrus lording it over a frowsy fan club; Jonah, a troublemaking (and realistically troubled) kid from Tonga; and drama teacher Mr. G, who wants to stage a musical about a student's fatal overdose but, hampered by her parents' objections, retools the script to make it more about himself and his dog Celine. He and Ja'mie are unrepentant narcissists—hilarious, wonderful, oblivious monsters.
Style, Nov. 9, 8 p.m. ET |
NEW SERIES!
REALITY
At 477 lbs., Ruby Gettinger is morbidly obese, with complications including diabetes, but she's trying to fight her way to a healthy weight. The lifestyle remake she attempts on this show is arduous, yet she's sweetly gracious company, with a Savannah drawl and easy humor. Whatever her final loss—at one point in her life she hit 700 lbs.—she wins over the viewer.
The 53-year-old actress, famous as Captain Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager, has landed in a Broadway hit, Equus, starring that Harry Potter kid.
EVER WANT TO GIVE DANIEL MOTHERLY ADVICE?
Dan strikes me as one of the most focused people I have ever seen. He's a smart guy—he knows you can't stay a young wizard all your life.
YOU MUST BE GETTING AN UNUSUAL AUDIENCE FOR A BROADWAY PLAY.
The mix of Trekkies and Potters and sophisticated New York theatergoers is a very interesting and rather rich stew.
• The 34-year-old star of the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother is a single, not-so-hopeless romantic.
ARE YOU SEEING ANYONE?
I am rounding a corner now in the relationship department. I'm in the beginning of something new.
DO YOU HAVE YOUR OWN ART OF SEDUCTION?
I'm not theatrically romantic. I'm low-key. I try to be sincere, but half the time I'm just winging it.
WILL YOU IMPRESS A DATE BY TAKING HER TO THE NEWEST HOTSPOT?
I never enjoyed going to clubs. You can't hear anything and you can't talk. What's the point of being with people?
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SOLITARY ACTIVITY?
I meditate. I have been meditating for the past four years twice a day. It's just the best form of clearing the mind.
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!
