SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8
Pasadena (SoapNet, 7 p.m. ET) Catherine is forced to admit that she knew the man who c ommitted suicide in the McCallister house. Dana Delany and Alison Lohman star.
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m. ET) Live. Here's a can't-miss combo: Guest host Jon Heder, better known as cult hero Napoleon Dynamite, and musical guest Ashlee Simpson, bravely returning after being humiliated on this show last season when the wrong song began playing during one of her sets, revealing that she had been lip-syncing! At the time all Simpson could think to do was dance a jig for a few moments and then walk off the stage. As Napoleon might say, "What would you do in a situation like that? Gosh!"
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9
Little Einsteins (Disney Channel, 7 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Designed for preschoolers, this series seeks to expose its young viewers to nature, world cultures and enjoyment of the arts through exciting adventure stories that encourage at-home participation, such as humming, singing and clapping. In this episode, presented as a special prime time preview, Leo, one of the four musically inclined regular characters on the show, has his baton snatched by a bald eagle while conducting a sunrise symphony. Leo and his friends Annie, Quincy and June head off to retrieve the baton, a journey that takes them to Mount St. Helens and a remote peak in Alaska. Beginning October 10, Little Einsteins will move to its regular Monday-Friday 8 a.m. ET time period as a new addition to Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney programming block.
Cold Case (CBS, 8 p.m. ET) Lilly investigates the 1978 murder of a young man believed at the time of his death to have been killed by someone who was copying the slayings by mad Michael Myers in that year's memorable slasher flick Halloween (the movie that launched Jamie Lee Curtis' early career as Hollywood's "scream queen").
Desperate Housewives (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) The pregnant Gabrielle's boy toy returns. Is he really the father of her unborn child? Meanwhile, Rex's grieving mother continues her plan to ruin Bree.
The Surreal Life (VH1, 9 p.m. ET) Season Finale. The fifth season ends with an emotional, action packed episode featuring a climactic battle between reality television divas Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth and Janice Dickinson.
My Fair Brady (VH1, 9:30 p.m. ET) The lovebirds travel to Adrianne's hometown of Joliet, Illinois, where Chris meets his girlfriend's family.
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO, 10 p.m. ET) Larry buys his housekeeper a bra -- and then faces the wrath of her husband -- while also dealing with squeaky orthodics and offending the religious beliefs of Cheryl's father.
Breaking Bonaduce (VH1, 10 p.m. ET) America's most troubling celebrity reality show is even more disturbing than usual tonight, as hard-drinking Danny -- who flew into a rage last week upon learning that his wife was celebrating her 40th birthday at a party with male strippers and began menacing the Breaking Bonaduce production team -- suffers a breakdown and slashes his wrists, presumably off camera.
SOS: Coast Guard Rescue (Discovery Channel, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. This new documentary series about the men and women of the United States Coast Guard begins with an episode that honors the heroes who risked their lives to save victims of Hurricane Katrina. On October 11, SOS: Coast Guard Rescue will move to its regular Tuesday 10 p.m. ET time period.
Relentless (Oxygen, 10:30 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Oxygen's latest reality series looks at ordinary women impacted by crime who receive little if any help from authorities and take the pursuit of justice into their own hands. In the premiere, a woman searches for her missing, heroin-addicted stepdaughter in a dangerous Vancouver neighborhood and uncovers shocking details about a serial killer and his victims.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 10
Soap Talk (SoapNet, 11 a.m. ET, 11 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. The fourth season of SoapNet's perpetually Emmy-nominated talk series opens with shows taped in Hawaii. Among the stars featured this week: Nancy Lee Grahn and Ingo Rademacher of General Hospital, Michael Easton of One Life to Live, Drake Hogestyn of Days of Our Lives and Vincent Irizarry and Terri Ivens of All My Children.
Offstage (GAC, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Lorraine Crook interviews Trisha Yearwood, Sara Evans and Toby Keith.
Weeds (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET) Season Finale. The last image in this season finale of Showtime's thoroughly addictive adult comedy would have everyone talking -- if more people were watching. Weeds is Showtime's highest-rated original series at the moment, but it has been somewhat lost amid all the excitement of broadcast television's fall season and the recent season premieres of such high profile cable series as HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm and FX's Nip/Tuck. That's a shame, because Mary Louise Parker has been turning in an Emmy-worthy performance as Nancy Botwin, a suburban widow and mother of two sons who gets in way over her head after deciding to become a pot dealer to help make ends meet. She has also been patiently dealing with her eccentric friends and neighbors in the fictional town of Agrestic, California -- home of some of the most colorful suburban characters ever seen on television. Showtime will surely be repeating this series in the months ahead. If you haven't been doing so, make time for it, and enjoy some superb acting by Parker and her co-stars Elizabeth Perkins as Nancy's seriously superficial friend Celia Hodes, Justin Kirk as her ridiculously irresponsible brother-in-law Andy and Tonye Patano as her sassy dealer Heylia. Hunter Parish and Alexander Gould are also outstanding as Nancy's sons, Silas and Shane.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11
Einstein's Big Idea (PBS, check local listings) Premiere. One hundred years ago Albert Einstein concluded that mass and energy are one, as reflected in his formula E=mc Squared. Einstein -- at the time a 26-year-old family man who worked a thankless job in a Swiss patent office and pursued physics on his off time -- made several additional breakthroughs in 1905, including establishing proof that atoms exist and explaining the nature of light. Based on the best-selling book E=mc Squared by David Bodanis, this Nova special dramatizes the work that went into Einstein's breakthrough formula and that of several other men and women who further developed his concepts.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC, 10 p.m. ET) Last week Mariska Hargitay turned in a memorable performance in which her character, Detective Olivia Benson, was resolutely determined to help a little girl whose 911 call for help was regarded as a likely prank by Benson's colleagues. Tonight the narrative spotlight is on Christopher Meloni's Elliott Stabler as the overstressed detective seeks help for his growing rage issues.
Boston Legal (ABC, 10 p.m. ET) Will Catherine Piper go to jail for the murder of murderous Bernard Ferrion?
Nip/Tuck (FX, 10 p.m. ET) The Carver strikes again!
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12
Freddie (ABC, 8:30 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Freddie Prinze Jr. plays a super-successful Chicago chef whose fabulous lifestyle is compromised after he takes in four female relatives. Sadly, this is one of the worst new series of the 2005-06 season, but the appealing Prinze will likely move onto something bigger and better. Jacqueline Obradors (NYPD Blue) and Brian Green (Beverly Hills, 90210) co-star.
Lost (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) At this point, do you need a reason to tune in? This season, basic assumptions about Lost are continuously shattered with each passing episode. Check out the Forums section of MediaVillage.com and post your thoughts about this wild ride!
Related (The WB, 9 p.m. ET) Ginnie and Bob make a list of all the things they want to do in New York City before their baby is born, Ann faces her breakup with Danny, Marjee adjusts to life back home with her father and his new fiancée and Rose is attracted to her acting partner. Dan Futterman (Judging Amy) and Chris Carmack (The O.C.) guest star.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13
Celebrity Poker Showdown (Bravo, 9 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Actually, this is another tournament premiere, rather than an actual season premiere, and it's the seventh in the history of this franchise. It will consist of six two-hour editions hosted by actor Dave Foley and poker expert Phil Gordon. Twenty-five celebrities will be featured throughout the six editions, competing for the series' highest prize pot yet -- $1 million, which will go to charity. Tonight's premiere features a game of Texas Hold 'Em played by the men of Desperate Housewives: James Denton (Mike Delfino), Doug Savant (Tom Scavo), Ricardo Antonio Chavira (Carlos Solis), Mark Moses (Paul Young) and Steven Culp (the deceased Rex Van De Kamp).
Run's House (MTV, 10:30 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Following in the footsteps of the Osbourne family, Reverend Run (a.k.a. Joey Simmons of Run DMC), his wife and five children are filmed going about their lives at home and elsewhere while Run works on his comeback album. Reverend Run's brother and neighbor, Russell Simmons, appears in the show and serves as one of its executive producers. Another high-profile executive producer of this series, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, describes it as television's "first hip-hop reality sitcom."
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14
Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 8 p.m. ET) This unashamedly emotional drama starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as a woman who can communicate with the dead has been a success so far for CBS. Tonight, television's newest medium helps a recently deceased man try to stop his grief-stricken fiancée from committing suicide. Series creator John Gray wrote this episode. David Conrad and Aisha Tyler co-star.
Twitches (Disney Channel, 8 p.m. ET) Premiere. Twins Tia and Tamera Mowry, fondly remembered from the kid-com Sister, Sister, play twin sisters from another world who were separated at birth and sent to Earth to escape evildoers. When they are reunited on their 21st birthday they discover that they have magical powers and set out to find their birth mother and save their homeland.
American Revolutions: The Highwaymen (CMT, 8 p.m. ET) Premiere. The subjects of this documentary are country superstars Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson during the time they performed and recorded together as the Highwaymen. Rare clips from the group's final recording sessions in 1994 are included.
The 1st Amendment Stand-Up (Starz InBlack, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Comedian Doug Williams hosts up-and-coming comedians described by the network as "fearless," "explosive" and determined to "provoke."