SUNDAY, MARCH 22
BIG LOVE
9 P.M. | HBO
Finale to a dense, terrific season. Conflicted Sarah (Amanda Seyfried, right) makes a decision that stuns the family.
MONDAY, MARCH 23
CHUCK
8 P.M. | NBC
Chuck (Zachary Levi) may finally have found the scientist who can erase all that computer information from his addled mind.
ROOMMATES
9 P.M. | ABC FAMILY
New series about a bunch of young friends sharing an apartment—and relationships—in big ol' Manhattan.
GOSSIP GIRL
8 P.M. | CW
Suffering from an intense bout of moral self-loathing, Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester, left) behaves badly, even for her.
THURSDAY, MARCH 26
SAMANTHA WHO?
8:30 P.M. | ABC
The sweet sitcom with Christina Applegate (right) returns. Sam assists Andrea (Jennifer Esposito) in the date department.
SATURDAY, MARCH 28
THE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR
9:30 P.M. | NICKELODEON
Series spun off from the hit cartoon movie about zoo animals with a yen for adventure.
CBS, Thursdays, 9 p.m. ET |
THE NEW STAR
DRAMA
It must have seemed like a good idea at the time, bringing in Laurence Fishburne to join CSI while William Petersen headed out, taking his gray whiskers with him. Six months later a good idea was clearly an inspired one. Fishburne has taken his place in the ensemble with firm authority. He's Raymond Langston, a doctor and specialist in the psychology of murder, recruited from academia. Langston is still learning the ropes, just as Fishburne has said he's exploring the character. Which isn't to say he's a puppy chasing balls. Over the years Fishburne has become heavier, with an imposing head and frame, yet his delivery is drily pleasant, sometimes delicate. A recent episode's high ratings owed a lot to having Taylor Swift in a guest role, but Fishburne owned the hour: At the end he summed up a tough night of crime-solving with a small, simple speech rooted in tired compassion.
ABC Family, March 23, 9:30 p.m. ET/PT |
NEW SERIES
DRAMA
Something of a programming gambit for the channel, this sitcom is an awkward little thing, possibly too grown-up for kids, not really sophisticated enough for adults. Natalie Brown plays Sophie Parker, a talent agent who uncovers her long-term boyfriend's infidelity—with a client!—just as their baby is due. Brown's performance, at least initially, is cluttered up with all the farcical business of establishing Sophie's predicament. She's like Mary Louise Parker without the restraining weight of bitterness. Maybe the baby, arriving at the end of the first half hour, will soften and deepen the comedy.
Starz, Fridays, 10:30 p.m. ET |
NEW SERIES
COMEDY
Party Down—and why not? This new series comes from Rob Thomas, creator of the late, great Veronica Mars, and it stars an excellent cast of highly recognizable second bananas whose names you may not know, including Ken Marino and Jane Lynch. Party is a loose, silly comedy about an L.A. catering company staffed by people with the sensitive egos that come of marginal show-business careers (one guy lives in dread of being recognized from his one success, a beer commercial). They also conspicuously lack any sense of boundaries—or any sense, period. Marino, as the head of the group, asks a hostess to fill out the customer-satisfaction survey hours before the party. The show is like a milder Reno 911!, with crudités instead of cops.
>• Fillion, 38, turns a cop into his muse as thriller writer Rick Castle on the new crime series.
WHY THIS ROLE? I got Desperate Housewives, a great job with great people, but I realized in my real life I was doing the same thing I was doing on TV: sitting around the living room talking! What I want to do in my job is more adventure, more high jinks, more getting away with stuff.
DO YOU READ THRILLERS? I grabbed [some] of James Patterson's books beforehand, but I read a lot of fantasy.
YOU HAVE FANS FROM SOAP OPERAS TO SCI-FI. But I find that all my fans have one thing in common: excellent taste!
>• The Curb Your Enthusiasm star, 43, and mom of Catherine, 5, heads to ABC's In the Motherhood on March 26.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT MOTHERHOOD? You think that the spit-up and the poop are going to be the hardest things, and it doesn't even scratch the surface.
WHAT'S THE HARD STUFF? Sleep deprivation. I had no idea how lucky I was to sleep in until 10:30. Those days are long gone.
WHO WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE BABYSIT: LARRY DAVID OR YOUR NEW COSTAR MEGAN MULLALLY? They would have to do it together. I would have a nanny cam at all times, with a live stream to my BlackBerry!
>The actor, 26, gets nasty twice this week: first as a power-hungry soldier-prince on NBC's Kings, then as a bad boy alongside girlfriend Leighton Meester on The CW's Gossip Girl.
HOW DID YOU PREPARE TO PLAY ROYALTY? I researched Prince Harry, the pressures of living up to expectations. Michael Douglas in Wall Street put me in the right head space.
IS IT FUN TO PRETEND-FIGHT IN A WAR? Fantastic. I got knocked out with a bazooka. I was screaming for dear life. They ended up keeping it in.
WHAT ABOUT REPORTS THAT YOU AND LEIGHTON ARE ENGAGED? I don't pay attention. My friends trust my word above anything else they hear.
>FIRST LOOK
• Move over, Sopranos: Bravo's reality series is Jersey-bound! Meet the cast of the new show, debuting May 12:
JACQUELINE LAURITA (Far left) The stay-at-home mom has two kids and an insatiable need to maintain her looks. And look out: the Manzos (below) are her sisters-in-law.
TERESA GIUDICE When not taking care of a husband and three girls, she loves to shop, spa and tan at—where else?—the Jersey Shore.
DANIELLE STAUB This housewife has a history of celebrity hookups, but she's just as proud of being one of the first females in New Jersey to get a Black American Express card.
DINA MANZO The busy new cast member juggles a kid and two careers—event planner and interior designer—along with her own charity for children with cancer.
CAROLINE MANZO Refusing to be outdone by her younger sister, Caroline brings three kids, two businesses (a real-estate firm and a children's accessory line) and a fierce mouth to the show.
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!
