TV
What’s new this week
01:00 AM EST on Sunday, January 7, 2007
NFL Football: The final two wildcard playoff games are scheduled for today on CBS (Ch. 4, 12) and FOX (Ch. 25, 64), check the TV page in the Arts section for an update on teams and exact starting times.
Just Jordan: Teenage comedian and actor Lil’ JJ (Beauty Shop, Yours, Mine & Ours) stars in this new Nickelodeon series premiering tonight with back-to-back episodes. The sitcom focuses on outspoken, ultra-confident ninth grader Jordan Lewis navigating life in Los Angeles after a move with his mother (Shania Accius) from Little Rock. Beau Billingslea plays his curmudgeonly grandpa; Justin Chon is his new friend Tony; Raven Goodwin plays his cousin Tangie with Kristen Combs as his little sister Monica. Chelsea Harris portrays the girl of his dreams. The series will air regularly in this 7:30 p.m. timeslot. NICK
Grease, You’re the One That I Want: Billy Bush of Access Hollywood and British TV personality Denise Van Outen are the hosts of NBC’s newest talent competition — a search for the leads, Sandy and Danny, in a new Broadway production of Grease. Jim Jacobs, creator of Grease; theatrical producer David Ian and choreographer/director Kathleen Marshall are the judges. (7) (10)
The Apprentice: The Donald, Trump that is, pulls up stakes in the Big Apple and moves to sunny California for the latest edition of his series. Tonight’s premiere runs 90-minutes, then the show takes up regular residence on Sunday nights at 9. See Andy Smith’s cover story. (7) (10)
Living With Ed: Ed Begley and wife Rachelle Carson star in a new “reality” series documenting life with quirky eco-obsessed Ed and the more conventional Rachelle. HGTV
The L Word: Cybill Shepherd, Marlee Matlin, Janina Gavankar and Rose Rollins join the cast as this drama series set in the trendy lesbian world of West Hollywood begins a fourth season. Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey, Laurel Holloman, Mia Kitshner, Katherine Moennig, Dallas Roberts, Daniela Sea, Rachel Shelley and Pam Grier star. SHO
Antiques Roadshow: Host Mark L. Walberg and appraiser David Bonsey visit the Kamaka ukulele factory as the second hour of Roadshow’s Hawaiian visit begins. Meanwhile, the appraisers uncover an archive of correspondence signed by Queen Victoria, her son Albert, King Kamehameha and Princess Kailani; an 18-karat gold Victorian cuff bracelet, acquired by the owner’s mother when she traveled the world on an expedition for world peace; and a very rare painting of Hilo Harbor by lawyer, legislator and amateur painter Joseph Nawahi, the first Hawaiian-born artist to paint in a Western style. It carries an auction estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. (2)
BCS Championship: The final game of the college football season features Ohio State and Florida in a battle for Number 1, live from Phoenix, Ariz. (25) (64)
Nova: Underwater Dream Machine spotlights one man’s lifelong dream — to build his own submarine. Engineer Peter Robbins has dreamed of submarines all his life, and over the course of four years, staked all he owned to build his own vessel, the Alicia, in a bid to explore the sunken wrecks of German U-boats. (36)
Gay, Straight or Taken: The traditional dating game show gets a different twist in a new Lifetime entry. The premise has a woman meeting and dating three guys — one of whom is gay, the other straight and the third, already taken. LIF
To Be Fat Like Me: Kaley Cuoco stars in this original Lifetime movie based on the real-life experiences of Aly Schmidt, a New York teenager who experienced the prejudices and heartbreak faced by overweight teens when she attended class in a “fat suit” as part of a ABC News special on obesity. Caroline Rhea co-stars as her mother Madelyn, with Brandon Olds as her brother Adam. LIF
Nova ScienceNOW: Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson returns to host the season’s third installment of this occasional science newsmagazine. (2) Also Wednesday, 9 p.m. (44)
People’s Choice Awards: It’s a new year and the awards shows honoring the old begin in earnest tonight. Queen Latifah is the host for the 33rd annual awards honoring fan favorites in television, movies and music. (4) (12)
Armed and Famous: Erik Estrada, LaToya Jackson, Jack Osbourne, skateboarder Jason “Wee-Man” Acuña and former WWE wrestler Trish Stratus star in this new CBS reality series that turns celebrities into crime fighters on the streets of Muncie, Ind., after a stint in the local police academy. (4) (12)
China from the Inside: PBS takes a four-hour, two-part look at the awakening Asian power and its people. Tonight’s first hour focuses on how the Communist Party maintains control over the 1.3 billion Chinese, the problems the country faces and the ways forward. The second hour looks at the status of Chinese women who have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Parts three and four air next Wednesday, same time and channel. (2)
The Sopranos: Tony Soprano and his “family” join the A&E Wednesday night schedule as the acclaimed HBO series begins a syndicated run on the basic cable network. You can bet there will be alternate versions of many scenes and scrubbed dialogue when the first two episodes of the first season air back-to-back tonight. A&E
TV Land Myths and Legends: This six-part series promises to look for the truth behind some of the entertainment world’s favorite “stories.” The Ghost and Mrs. Gabor leads off with a look at the tale of a ghost in the window of scene from Three Men and a Baby and what really happened during a Zsa Zsa Gabor visit to The Tonight Show. TV LAND
Nashville Star: Country music’s version of American Idol returns for a fifth season with Jewel and Cowboy Troy as the hosts. Record industry executive Anastasia Brown, country star Blake Shelton and Randy Owen sit at the judges table as the search for the next country music superstar begins. USA
Jump In!: Corbin Bleu of High School Musical and Keke Palmer (Akeelah and the Bee) star in a new original Disney movie about Izzy, a teenage boxing protégé (Bleu) who decides to take up competition double Dutch. Bleu’s real-life father, actor David Reivers is featured as Izzy’s dad, along with Laivan Greene, Micah Williams and Patrick Johnson. DIS
Generation Next: Speak Up, Be Heard: There are 42 million young people in the U.S. aged 16 to 25, a huge group born after the Cold War, weaned on technology and shaped by 9/11. Judy Woodruff travels cross-country in an RV to meet some of them, explore their attitudes and culture and look ahead to the world they’ll shape. (2)
NFL Football: Two conference playoff games are on tap, but no word on teams or exact start times as yet. Check the Sports pages in today’s Journal.
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