SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1
Pasadena (SoapNet, 7 p.m. ET) Premiere. This quirky, envelope-pushing serial debuted on Fox shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and disappeared after only four episodes were telecast. Had it been held until midseason, or had it debuted the following fall, it might have caught on -- and Dana Delany might have nabbed an Emmy nomination for her fabulous portrayal of predatory, furniture-smashing Catherine McAllister, one of the most neurotic rich women ever seen on television. Fox' loss is SoapNet's gain -- thirteen episodes were produced, and producer Mike White knew the series was coming to a premature end, so he wrapped up the story by the final installment, nimbly transforming an odd open-ended soap opera into a tantalizing close-ended miniseries. Watch for numerous now-familiar faces in the cast, including Mark Valley of Boston Legal, Balthazar Getty of Alias and Nathan Fillion of Firefly and its feature film spin-off, Serenity.
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Steve Carell, star of the roundly rejected NBC sitcom The Office and the hit NBC Universal feature film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, hosts the 31st season premiere of this unstoppable show. Even more excitingly, tonight's musical guest is Kanye West, whose last live appearance on NBC, during the network's Katrina Relief telethon, was punctuated by his spontaneous tirade against President Bush.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC, 9 p.m. ET) This season Criminal Intent will on alternate weeks present episodes with Chris Noth as Det. Mike Logan (the character he portrayed on Law & Order a decade ago) and Annabella Sciorra (the late, great, meat-tossing Gloria Trillo on The Sopranos) as Det. Carolyn Barek. (The Noth/Sciorra episodes will alternate with those starring Criminal Intent regulars Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe.) Tonight's show -- the first of the Logan/Barek stories -- has the detectives tracking down a man who murders jewelry storeowners while robbing them.
Desperate Housewives (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) Where is Zach? Where is Paul? Who's in Betty's basement? These and other questions may or may not be answered in this episode, but we do know that Susan's arrogant ex-husband will begin dating Edie (Nicollette Sheridan). That can't be good!
Dave Atell's Insomniac Tour Presents… (Comedy Central, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Dave Atell and fellow comedians Sean Rouse, Greg Giraldo and Dane Cook recently completed a 35-city tour with two shows at The House of Blues in Las Vegas that were taped for this feature-length concert movie, the first such film ever produced by Comedy Central.
Crossing Jordan (NBC, 10 p.m. ET) It worked so well last season that NBC is doing it again -- a two-part crossover mystery that spans Crossing Jordan and Las Vegas. The story begins with a Las Vegas showgirl with an ID from the Montecito Casino walking into a Boston morgue, setting fire to a corpse and then leaping through a window to her death. Jordan (Jill Hennessy) calls Montecito security director Danny McCoy (Josh Duhamel) to Beantown to investigate. Meanwhile Woody (Jerry O'Connell) jets to Vegas to further investigate and is understandably distracted by Sam (the understandably distracting Vanessa Marcil).
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO, 10:30 p.m. ET) African Americans, lesbians and others are offended by Larry and his dog in an episode guest-starring Wanda Sykes and Rosie O'Donnell.
Sunday Pants (Cartoon Network, 9:30 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Original and acquired animated shorts are showcased in this weekly 30-minute series. The approximately twelve shorts included in each show will have a common theme. Might a fantastic future franchise be hidden among these brief bits? Remember, The Simpsons began animated life as a recurring short feature in Tracey Ullman's early Fox series.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3
Las Vegas (NBC, 9 p.m. ET) The two-part, two-city mystery that began on the Boston-based Crossing Jordan Monday night concludes with Danny (Josh Duhamel) and Ed (James Caan) teaming with Jordan (Jill Hennessy of Crossing Jordan) to stop a kidnapper. Jerry O'Connell also guests.
Prison Break (Fox, 9 p.m. ET) The riot escalates, Michael faces a difficult decision and Veronica and Nick track a lead to Washington, D.C. Prison Break -- one of the 2005-06 season's first hits -- will be pre-empted for baseball coverage on October 10 and 17 and is scheduled to return on October 24.
Haunting Sarah (Lifetime, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Kim Raver -- Jack Bauer's most recent traumatized female companion on the Fox hit 24 -- portrays both Erica and Heather Rose, twin sisters dealing with a trauma of their own -- the death of Heather's beloved six-year-old son David. But David's death is only the beginning of their nightmare -- the boy is haunting Erica's six-year-old daughter Sarah and forcing her to do his bidding.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4
Close to Home (CBS, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Three-time Emmy Award winner Jennifer Finnigan (The Bold & the Beautiful) stars in the latest procedural crime drama from genre-master Jerry Bruckheimer. Finnigan portrays Annabeth Chase, a successful prosecutor in suburban Indianapolis who is returning to work after the birth of her first child, determined to keep her family and community safe. Chase is unafraid to tackle the most heinous domestic crimes -- the creep in this season opener is one for the books -- but she's finding it hard to leave her baby at home as she resumes her career. Christian Kane (Angel) co-stars as her supportive husband.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC, 10 p.m. ET) Mariska Hargitay delivers a riveting performance as Det. Olivia Benson in this gripping episode about a prolonged 911 call from an endangered child that seems more like a hoax with each passing moment to everyone at the precinct except Benson.
Boston Legal (ABC, 10 p.m. ET) The strange case of the Black Widow intensifies, keeping guest star Heather Locklear in the spotlight. But it's Betty White as abrasive secretary Catherine Piper who gives this episode its real punch. White first appeared as Piper in an episode of The Practice and received an Emmy nomination for the role.
Nip/Tuck (FX, 10 p.m. ET) We haven't seen this episode, but we know that Christian is called upon to perform some sort of emergency surgery at a fraternity house that comes as a result of a hazing ritual gone horribly wrong. Given this series' inclination toward the outrageous we can't imagine what this surgery might entail. Meantime, the newly crazed and freshly bald Matt continues to spiral out of control in the wake of his realization that the first true love of his life -- a woman with whom he enjoyed scorching hot sex -- used to be a man. There are also further developments in Christian's relationships with bi-sexual babes Kimber and Kit.
The Adam Carolla Project (TLC, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Before he became known for his work on Comedy Central's The Man Show and Too Late with Adam Carolla and the call-in radio show Loveline, Carolla earned his living as a carpenter. In this 13-episode series he buys his rundown boyhood home and, with the help of his friends, sets out to fix it up and sell it for a tidy profit. Why do a home improvement show? "When I was a kid I used to watch The Brady Bunch and I'd see them have their little Brady meetings and their family outings… and then I'd look at my mom and my loser dad and I'd look at our crappy rust colored shag carpet and I'd want to kill myself because it was nothing like what was on TV," Carolla told journalists at the July 2005 Television Critics Association tour. "I think a lot of people have their own home improvement nightmares. And then they turn on the TV and they see everything going great. I think it makes them depressed. You're going to watch this show and feel great about your personal home improvement nightmare!"
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox, 8 p.m. ET) Season Finale. It's down to the final four: Jamile, Nick, Ashle and Melody. Tonight, one will dance his or her way to the top prize -- a cool $100,000 and a New York City apartment.
Lost (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) Hmmm. Last week's episode didn't do much to advance the plot, did it? The story of Jack, Locke and Kate's adventure down the hatch backpedaled, ultimately bringing us right back to the point where the season premiere ended. Meanwhile, it took the entire hour for Sawyer, Michael and Jin to make it back to shore -- but not before an unbelievably hokey shark scare for two of the guys. Still, the final scene was one of true horror: The Others, armed with clubs with spikes in them, racing across the beach to attack our exhausted heroes.
Related (The WB, 9 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Four sisters navigate the ups and downs of their personal and professional lives in this comedy drama from executive producer Marta Kaufman (Friends). There is nothing particularly special about this show, nor the four actresses who portray the siblings, but mediavillage.com readers may be interested to note that Callum Blue of Showtime's late, lamented Dead Like Me is featured in the cast.
Teen Angels (BBC America, 10 p.m. ET) U.S. Series Premiere. Clinical psychologists work with families reeling from the bad behavior of their in-house adolescents in this emotional reality series. The terrible teens in this debut episode are 15-year-old twins Johnny and Luke Gibson, who disrespect their mother and show no interest in anything other than their music.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6
Four Minutes (ESPN2, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Having marked its 12th anniversary on October 1, ESPN2 hits another milestone tonight with its first-ever premiere of an ESPN Original Entertainment movie. This is a biographical drama about Sir Roger Bannister, the young medical student who on May 6, 1954 became the first man to run the mile in less than four minutes. Jamie Maclachlan stars as Bannister, with Christopher Plummer as his coach, Archie Mason, a former running star who was confined to a wheelchair after World War II.
Everwood (The WB, 9 p.m. ET) Fresh from his soul-searching trek through Europe, bratty Ephram does what he does best -- makes life miserable for his father and various other residents of the title town. Meanwhile, Nina opens her new restaurant, to a decidedly under-whelming response from the townspeople, and the charming love story of Bright and Hannah continues to develop.
America Undercover: Methadonia (HBO, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. The pros and cons of using methadone as a treatment for recovering heroin addicts are examined in this documentary, which focuses on eight addicts in differing stages of recovery and relapse who attend the New York Center for addiction Treatment Services.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7
Hot Properties (ABC, 9:30 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Four women endlessly talk above love and sex while running an upscale Manhattan real estate office in this comedy from Suzanne Martin, one of the producers of Frasier. Gail O'Grady, Nicole Sullivan, Sofia Vergara, Audra Blaser and Evan Handler (Sex and the City) star.
The James Woods Gang vs. the Unabombers in Poker Royale (GSN, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Teams comprised of players personally chosen by actor James Woods and professional poker player Phil "The Unabomber" Laak compete in no holds barred No Limit Texas Hold 'Em for a final pot of $75,000.