Top draws on broadcast and cable and in sports
By Louisa Ada Seltzer 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.
