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Best tube bets
this weekend


Top draws on broadcast and cable and in sports

Oct 23, 2009

FRIDAY

Best bet on broadcast
: NBC, “The Jay Leno Show,” 10 p.m. First Lady Michelle Obama makes an appearance.

Best bet on cable: Disney Channel, “Suite Life on Deck,” 8:30 p.m. Zack, Cody and Marcus try to write a song for Jordin Sparks.

Top sporting event: MyNetworkTV, “Friday Night Smackdown,” 8 p.m. CM Punk takes on the Undertaker in WWE’s first-ever World Heavyweight Championship submission match.

SATURDAY

Best bet on broadcast: CBS, “48 Hours Mystery,” 10 p.m. Investigating a 2002 murder in Topeka, Kan.

Best bet on cable: HBO, “Milk,” 8 p.m. Sean Penn’s Oscar-winning performance as politician Harvey Milk.

Top sporting event: ABC, “College Football,” 3:30 p.m. An important Big Ten game between Penn State and Michigan.

SUNDAY

Best bet on broadcast: CBS, “The Amazing Race,” 8 p.m. The teams head to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the next leg of the race.

Best bet on cable: MTV, “P. Diddy’s StarMaker,” 10 p.m. Season finale. The final three have a last rehearsal before Diddy picks the winner.

Top sporting event: NBC, “Sunday Night Football,” 8:15 p.m. The Giants try to bounce back from last week's first loss of the season against the Cardinals.

 

A look at this week’s top TV draws

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

Time

Network

Program

Description

7 a.m.

NBC

“Today” (N)

Country star Tim McGraw performs.

8 p.m.

CBS

“Ghost Whisperer” (D)

Melinda helps a man who thinks his sister is haunting him.

8 p.m.

CW

“Smallville” (D)

Oliver is kidnapped and later he’s jailed for murder.

8 p.m.

Disney Channel

“Wizards of Waverly Place” (K)

Justin tries to complete wizard training by becoming a monster hunter.

9 p.m.

CBS

“Medium” (D)

Joe thinks Allison is overly concerned with a kidnapped boy.

10 p.m.

USA

“White Collar” (D)

Series premiere. A con man helps solve white collar crimes in order to avoid jail time.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24

Time

Network

Program

Description

3:30 p.m.

NBC

“College Football” (S)

Notre Dame tries to beat Boston College for the first time since 2000.

7:30 p.m.

ESPN

“College Football” (S)

SEC game between Florida and Mississippi State.

7:30 p.m.

Versus

“College Football” (S)

A game between two good-but-overlooked teams: BYU and TCU.

8 p.m.

Fox

“Cops” (R)

Cops in Vegas try to chase down a stolen car.

9 p.m.

CBS

“48 Hours Mystery” (N)

The first of back-to-back episodes.

10:15 p.m.

HBO

“Pacquiao/Cotto 24/7” (S)

First episode in the buildup to the big Pacquiao/Cotto fight.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25

Time

Network

Program

Description

1:30 p.m.

ABC

“NASCAR Racing” (S)

A Sprint Cup race from Martinsville, Va.

8:15 p.m.

NBC

“Sunday Night Football” (S)

The Cardinals travel to the Big Apple to take on the Giants.

9 p.m.

ABC

“Desperate Housewives” (D)

Gaby does whatever she can do to prove that she’s a good mother.

9 p.m.

HBO

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (C)

Larry and Jerry kick around ideas for the “Seinfeld” reunion.

9 p.m.

Showtime

“Dexter” (D)

Dexter tries to solve the Trinity Killer case by himself.

10 p.m.

AMC

“Mad Men” (D)

A key client returns to Sterling Cooper.

10 p.m.

VH1

“My Antonio” (R)

Season (and hopefully series) finale. Antonio selects his winner.

A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.

 

 




Louisa Ada Seltzer is a staff writer for Media Life.




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