SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12
CMT Insider: Nominee Report (CMT, 1:30 p.m. ET) Katie Cook talks with Faith Hill and other country music personalities about the move of the Country Music Association Awards this year to New York City and reviews the nominees in each category. Kenny Chesney is also on hand to talk about his 2004 CMA Entertainer of the Year win. The CMA Awards will be telecast live on CBS Tuesday, November 15 at 8 p.m. ET.
Pasadena (SoapNet, 7 p.m. ET/10 p.m. ET) Nate becomes convinced that there is a body buried in his parents' yard; Henry defies Catherine and Will and continues to see Lily. Pasadena star Dana Delany can also be seen this week on The WB's Related (see Monday, Nov. 14).
My Name is Earl Marathon (NBC, 8 p.m. ET) Four episodes of the best new comedy of the 2004-05 season to date and the only new bright spot on NBC's increasingly dismal schedule are set for rebroadcast tonight. (Earl star Jason Lee will host Saturday Night Live later tonight.)
Kenny Chesney's Top 10 Countdown (CMT, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Ninety Minutes. 2004 CMA Entertainer of the Year Kenny Chesney presents his ten best-known videos and talks about the making of each one. He also answers questions from fans submitted via www.cmt.com.
Killer Flu (Discovery Channel, 10 p.m. ET) Premiere. Some scientists assert that a flu pandemic could claim as many as 150 million lives. Others fear that the Avian Flu might become the type of pandemic those scientists are talking about. This special examines the likelihood of a pandemic and the level of preparedness at home and abroad for such a bio-catastrophe. Killer Flu will be repeated Sunday, Nov. 13 at 10 p.m. ET.
Mad TV (Fox, 11 p.m. ET) Can it be true that Mad TV has been with us for 11 years? You do the math: This is the 250th edition of the show. Pamela Anderson guests.
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m. ET) Jason Lee (My Name is Earl) is the host. Foo Fighters are the musical guests.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Nick News: The Fight to Be Fit (Nickelodeon, 8:30 p.m. ET) The Alliance for a Healthier Generation -- a joint initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association created to help educate young people and their parents about the causes and prevention of childhood obesity -- recently partnered with Nickelodeon on a media and public awareness campaign promoting exercise, proper nutrition and healthy lifestyles for kids. In this edition of Nickelodeon's always-informative Nick News franchise, President Clinton talks with children about his own experience as an overweight child and the importance of learning good eating and exercise habits at an early age. Topics include cafeteria food, physical education programs at school, the appeal of junk food and the amount of time kids spend sitting in front of television sets, computers and video games. Also: Stephen Daniels, M.D., chair of the American Heart Association's Cardiovascular Disease in the Young committee, explains how and why kids are now developing diseases that used to be categorized as "adult," such as diabetes. Linda Ellerbee hosts. Information about the Alliance for a Healthier Generation is available at www.healthiergeneration.org.
Category 7: The End of the World (CBS, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Second of Two Parts. CBS' two-part, four-hour sequel to last season's Category 6: Day of Destruction concludes as that seemingly unstoppable super-storm continues wreaking havoc around the world. Randy Quaid, Gina Gershon, Shannen Doherty, Tom Skerritt, Swoosie Kurtz, James Brolin, Adam Rodriguez, Cameron Daddo, Sebastian Spence, Nicholas Lea and Robert Wagner star.
Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost and Found (NBC, 9 p.m. ET) This nostalgic special features interviews with many of the stars of NBC's Saturday Night Live during its first full decade, including Jim Belushi, Dana Carvey, Billy Crystal, Nora Dunn, Gilbert Gottfried, Victoria Jackson, Tim Kazurinsky, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon, Joe Piscopo, Martin Short and Terry Sweeney, along with dozens of clips from memorable skits and many of the show's best musical acts from that period, among them Aerosmith, Bonnie Raitt, Queen, The Kinks, James Brown, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Elvis Costello and Roy Orbison. Interviews with executive producers Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol (who produced the program from 1981-84) are also included.
Breaking Bonaduce (VH1, 9:30 p.m. ET) Danny returns home after 30 days of drug and alcohol rehabilitation, with mixed results.
But Can They Sing? (VH1, 10 p.m. ET) Kim Alexis, Joey Pantoliano and Myrka Dellanos are out, while Morgan Fairchild, Antonio Sabato Jr., Carmine Gotti Agnello, Larry Holmes, Bai Ling and Michael Copon are still in, though voting viewers will remove one more casual crooner tonight. In this installment the contestants perform duets: Ling and Agnello sing Summer Nights from Grease, Holmes and Copon comically team on Don't Go Breakin' My Heart and Fairchild and Sabato Jr. belt out the Dirty Dancing classic (I Had) The Time of My Life.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14
The Oprah Winfrey Show (check local listings) It's the 20th anniversary edition of Oprah Winfrey's daytime talk show -- arguably the most influential program of its kind in the history of television. Winfrey will look back at memorable guests, hairstyles and stunts -- especially that unforgettable day when she dragged 77 pounds of fat across her stage in a wagon, representing the weight she had lost at that time on a liquid diet.
Las Vegas (NBC, 9 p.m. ET) Criss Angel, whose reality series Mindfreak on A&E has evolved into one of the most addictive programs on television, plays himself in this episode, appearing as a guest magician at the Montecito. Meanwhile, Monica (Lara Flynn Boyle) decides that Danny (Josh Duhamel) deserves a promotion and tries to lure Big Ed (James Caan) back to the hotel. Singer Robert Goulet appears as himself.
Related (The WB, 9 p.m. ET) One of the most entertaining programs on television this fall season is the failed 2001 Fox serial Pasadena on SoapNet (see Saturday, Nov. 12). Only four episodes were telecast during its original run, but SoapNet has acquired the full thirteen that were produced. Had Pasadena survived, series star Dana Delany would quite likely have received an Emmy Award nomination for her complex performance as the emotionally disturbed, wicked wife and mother of the deeply dysfunctional McCallister family. Delany guest stars in Related tonight as the late wife and mother (seen in flashbacks) of the Sorellis, a family that has its problems, too -- though they pale when compared to those of the monstrous McAllister clan.
Awesomely Bad Freakouts (VH1, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Did you know that diet and exercise guru Richard Simmons once slapped a man at an airport, or that faded star Willie Aames flipped out while exercising, or that actor Chris Tucker once led Atlanta police on a 12-mile high speed chase? Neither did we, but VH1 has all the details in this cheesy special. There are plenty of other stories included here about celebrities flipping their lids and throwing tantrums in public, including the most notorious such act of late: Russell Crowe bouncing a telephone off the face of a New York City hotel clerk.
Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County (MTV, 10 p.m. ET) Season Finale. Despite increased competition from the dozens of new and returning series on the broadcast networks this fall, not to mention many high profile pay and basic cable programs, the second season of MTV's lush reality soap opera Laguna Beach during the last two months emerged as one of the most buzzed-about shows on television. (Whoever said soap operas are on the decline and no longer appeal to teenagers or twenty-somethings hasn't seen this show or checked out its ratings: It's the most-watched program in its time period among persons 2-24.) Tonight's season finale will be telecast without commercial interruption, signifying the show's status as a fresh cable phenomenon. As part of the finale presentation cast members will appear live in MTV's Times Square studio to provide commentary on their recent teeny-something dramas.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Joan and Melissa Live at the CMAs (TV Guide Channel, 6 p.m. ET) Live. What do Joan and Melissa Rivers know about country music? Find out tonight as they interview stars arriving for the Country Music Association Awards at Madison Square Garden.
2005 CMA Red Carpet (CMT, 6:30 p.m. ET) Live. For more knowledgeable coverage of the CMA arrivals, go with this live CMT red carpet special with experienced country interviewers Katie Cook and Lance Smith. (Check out CMT Insider on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 10:30 p.m. ET for a CMA Awards recap.)
The 39th Annual Country Music Association Awards (CBS, 8 p.m. ET) Live. Three Hours. For the first time ever, the CMAs have left Nashville for New York City. Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Gretchen Wilson, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, Big & Rich, Sara Evans, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts and Lee Ann Womack are scheduled to perform, as are Elton John and Dolly Parton, Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles and Willie Nelson and Paul Simon in duets. Presenters include James Gandolfini, Olivia Newton-John, Trace Adkins, Shania Twain, Trisha Yearwood, Billy Joel, Wynonna, Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix. Brooks and Dunn are the hosts.
Vibe Awards (UPN, 8 p.m. ET) Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson host Vibe magazine's third annual Vibe Awards, honoring the best in urban music, taped Nov. 12 at Sony Studios in Culver City, California and featuring performances by Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, Chris Brown, Akon, Ciara, Ludacris, Pharrell, Young Jeezy, Keyshia Cole, David Banner and Lil Wayne. Mary J. Blige will receive the VLegend Award for lifetime achievement. Presenters include Tichina Arnold and Terry Crews of Everybody Hates Chris, Nick Cannon, George Clinton, Shannon Elizabeth, Chazz Palminteri, Holly Robinson Peete and Michael Rapaport.
Supernatural (The WB, 9 p.m. ET) Sam convinces Dean that it's time to return to their childhood home -- the house in which their late mother was pinned to a ceiling and set ablaze by a demon. Once home they learn that a malevolent poltergeist has inhabited the house and set out to exorcise it. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles star. Loretta Devine guest stars as a psychic.
Nip/Tuck (FX, 10 p.m. ET) Anne Heche completes her three-episode guest stint as a mobster's widow in need of a new face.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16
I Walk the Line: A Night for Johnny Cash (CBS, 8 p.m. ET) Premiere. Sheryl Crow, Foo Fighters, Shooter Jennings & Jessi Colter, Norah Jones, Kid Rock, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, U2 and Dwight Yoakam perform in this special that pays tribute to Johnny Cash. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, who portray Johnny and June Carter Cash in the upcoming feature film Walk the Line, also appear. Clips from the film and from many of Cash's performances will be featured.
That '70s Show (Fox, 8 p.m. ET) Kelso decides it's time to get married, until he meets the fast-talking head of security at a gentlemen's club in Chicago who makes him an offer he can't refuse. Meanwhile, Red and Kitty celebrate their 25th anniversary and Donna wonders why she hasn't heard from Eric. Bruce Willis guests.
Stacked (Fox, 8:30 p.m. ET) Jenny McCarthy plays an old friend of Skylar's who has undergone a radical makeover. Pamela Anderson stars.
Lost (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) After last week's jaw-dropping, heartbreaking final sequence -- the most shocking scene in any television series this year -- you surely don't need to be encouraged to tune in to Lost tonight. But we'll recommend that you do so anyway, because this episode begins to tell the story of the passengers in the rear section of Oceanic Flight 815, who ended up on the other side of the island when the plane broke apart and crashed and have since been violently victimized by the Others. Between its primary narrative, the many ongoing flashback backstories of the principal characters and now a secondary narrative about an entirely new set of characters on the same canvas, Lost continues to expand the boundaries of broadcast storytelling in new, fascinating and entertaining ways.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17
Smallville (The WB, 8 p.m. ET) Continuing with this series' ongoing references this season to the Superman movies of the Seventies and Eighties, Professor Fine convinces Clark that the only way to save the life of his ailing mother is to destroy the Fortress of Solitude. But it's really just a ploy to free the captive Zod and kill the trusting young Kent. James Marsters guest stars.
Everwood (The WB, 9 p.m. ET) Bright and Amy deal with Hannah's decision to return to Minnesota with her mother; Jack takes off on a risky bike trip with his friend Cliff, and Andy and Harold decide to try skydiving.
Without a Trace (CBS, 10 p.m. ET) This episode is told from the point of view of the missing person's loved ones -- in this case the parents of a 15-year-old boy who has disappeared. Laurie Metcalf and Matt Craven guest star.
ER (NBC, 10 p.m. ET) John Stamos' brief guest run on this series ends with this episode about the aftermath of a catastrophic plane crash.
Outrageous and Contagious: Viral Videos (Bravo, 11 p.m. ET) Bravo has cobbled together a number of those loony homemade videos that have been turning up with alarming frequency in e-mail inboxes, at least according to Bravo. We haven't received any, so they'll all be new to us. During the show, viewers will be encouraged to send their favorite viral videos to www.bravotv.com where they will be posted for the enjoyment of all (and may end up as fodder for future viral video network specials).
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18
Masters of Horror (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET) Dario Argento, the man responsible for the profoundly disturbing 1977 horror film Suspiria, directed this installment in Showtime's creepy anthology series, and that alone makes it essential viewing for true genre fans. It's titled Jenifer, it's based on a classic comic book and it was written by and stars Steven Weber of Wings -- someone we would never in our wildest dreams or most twisted nightmares thought we would see team with Argento in any capacity. Jenifer is about a girl who destroys the bodies and souls of the men she meets -- including the police officer who saves her life and adopts her.