SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25
XX Winter Olympic Games (NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, USA Network) Special Note: To view listings for Saturday and Sunday coverage of the XX Winter Olympic Games on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC and USA Network, check the TV Program Schedule Listings on MediaVillage.com.
TRL Awards (MTV, 12 p.m. ET) Premiere. MTV VJs Damien Fahey, Vanessa Minnillo and Susie Castillo host the 4th annual TRL Awards, honoring the top artists and songs of the last year as voted for by viewers of MTV's essential live afternoon music and interview program. Madonna receives the Lifetime Achievement Award and Bono the Most Inspired Artist Award. The TRL Awards features "appearances" by Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Jessica Alba, Chris Brown and Ashlee Simpson, among others.
Mrs. Harris (HBO, 8 p.m. ET) Premiere. Annette Bening and Ben Kingsley star in the story of Jean Harris, the headmistress of an exclusive girls' school who in 1980 killed her longtime boyfriend, The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet author Dr. Herman Tarnower, during a bout of deep depression following the discovery that Tarnower was sleeping with a younger woman. One of the most scandalous murder trials of the 1980s followed. Ellen Burstyn, Cloris Leachman, Frances Fisher, Chloe Sevigny, Bill Smitrovich and Philip Baker Hall co-star.
Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York (Sci Fi Channel, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Costas Mandylor, Alexandra Paul and Michael Ironside star in a cheesy thriller about volcanic activity erupting under the streets of New York City after an illegal drilling operation by scoundrels searching for geothermal energy goes horribly wrong. Believe it or not, the hero of the story is a sewer worker!
Jamie Foxx's Laffapalooza! (Comedy Central, 10 p.m. ET) Premiere. Cedric the Entertainer is the host of this two-part, two-hour special featuring up-and-coming urban comedians and a performance by Morris Day & the Time. Jamie Foxx is the founder of the annual four-day Laffapalooza! event and he appears in this special. Part two of Jamie Foxx's Laffapalooza! will be telecast tomorrow at 10 p.m. ET.
Friends and Crocodiles (BBC America, 10 p.m. ET) U.S. Premiere. The perpetually intertwined professional lives of a large-living maverick businessman and his pretty and prudent young assistant -- both work-obsessed -- is at the center of this drama that explores the social and economic swings of the '80s and '90s. Damian Lewis and Jodhi May star. Robert Lindsay portrays Sneath, a journalist who serves as the narrator of this drama and its companion production, Gideon's Daughter, which will premiere on BBC America Thursday, March 23 at 10 p.m. ET.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26
Closing Ceremony of the XX Olympic Winter Games (NBC, 7 p.m. ET) Four Hours. Andrea Bocelli, Avril Lavigne and dozens of dazzling acrobats perform during the lavish grand finale of the Olympic Winter Games.
Dancing with the Stars (ABC, 8 p.m. ET) Live. Season Finale. Two Hours. The seven previously eliminated celebrities return with their professional partners for one last dance -- and Mary J. Blige performs two songs -- before we learn the results of last Thursday's voting. Will the winners be Stacy Keibler and Tony Dovolani, Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke or Jerry Rice and Anna Trebunskaya? Visit the MediaVillage poll and vote for your favorites before Sunday's show!
Bleak House (PBS, check local listings) Miniseries Finale. The handsomely produced Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of Charles Dickens' gripping novel concludes tonight.
Celebrity Fit Club (VH1, 9 p.m. ET) Season Finale. 90 Minutes. Which faded or fading celebrity dropped the most weight this time around? We're guessing Bruce Vilanch, if only because he had the most to lose. As for the team that collectively loses the most, there is only one pound separating the two groups as they head into the final competitions. Grab a box of cookies and enjoy!
Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces (History Channel, 9 p.m. ET) Premiere. Seems there's even more to the story of the sinking of the Titanic than we thought. Using hi-definition photographic equipment, shipwreck divers and hosts of the History Channel series Deep Sea Detectives Richie Kohler and John Chatterton last August discovered pieces of the missing double-bottom of the Titanic resting more than 1500 feet from the remains of the ship. The experts say that this discovery challenges the accepted understanding of how the ship sank. They now believe the hull broke in half much earlier than previously thought and that the ship did not rise to an upright angle before its final plunge, having instead remained low to the water at all times. This new scenario is presented in chilling CGI animation.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27
Deal or No Deal (NBC, 8 p.m. ET) Return. NBC is presenting another five-night Deal or No Deal event this week, with new installments of the successful December guessing-game series scheduled to run Monday-Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Howie Mandel is the host. Donald Trump makes a guest appearance toward the end of tonight's show, an effective way indeed to hype the season premiere of The Apprentice, which follows at 9 p.m. ET.
Skating with Celebrities (Fox, 8 p.m. ET) The two remaining teams, Jillian Barberie and John Zimmerman and Kristy Swanson and Lloyd Eisler, perform their final routines. The finale of Skating with Celebrities will be telecast Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.
Is It Real?: Ape-Man (National Geographic Channel, 8 p.m. ET) Premiere. Does the Orang Pendek -- a.k.a. the "Little Man of Sumatra" -- really exist? Those who insist they have seen it describe a three-foot-tall ape-like creature that walks on two legs and has a humanoid face. National Geographic grant recipient Dr. Peter Tse sets out to prove its existence and capture the first-ever photograph of the creature. (And while we're on the subject, isn't it interesting that so many legendary creatures, including Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, have somehow escaped being caught in a clear image on film?)
The Apprentice (NBC, 9 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Very much in the news lately for his publicity generating dust-up with Martha Stewart, Donald Trump makes a timely return to NBC as the fifth season of his fading reality franchise gets underway. Trump and executive producer Mark Burnett have attempted to spice up the show by adding three would-be apprenti from other lands and frequent boardroom appearances by two of Trump's children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka.
The Bachelor: Paris (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) Season Finale. Two Hours. The Bachelor, as tired a franchise as The Apprentice, brings it's eighth season to a close as Travis Stork makes his final choice. Will he pick Moana or Sarah? And, of perhaps greater importance, will anyone care? We'll find out when tonight's ratings come in.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28
American Idol (Fox, 8 p.m. ET) Ninety Minutes. The ten remaining female semifinalists perform.
The Amazing Race (CBS, 9 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Two Hours. After an unappealing season in which quartets of family members raced around America, CBS' three-time Emmy Award winning reality competition series returns to form, with eleven teams of two dashing through exotic locations across five continents. The prize: $1 million. The host: Phil Keoghan.
Supernatural (The WB, 9 p.m. ET) Anyone following the mythology of this often-creepy series won't want to miss tonight's episode, in which the mysterious Meg returns and sets a trap for Sam and Dean's elusive demon-hunting dad.
Hi-Jinks (Nick at Nite, 9:30 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Adults (some of them celebrities) continue playing good-natured pranks on unsuspecting kids as the second season of Nick at Nite's hidden-camera reality series begins.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC, 10 p.m. ET) The long-absent and much-missed Susan Saint James (The Name of the Game, McMillan and Wife, Kate and Allie) returns to television in the role of an attorney involved in the defense of three teenagers suspected of murder.
The Shield (FX, 10 p.m. ET) In what will certainly be the most powerful episode of any drama series on television this week, smarmy and manipulative Lt. Kavanaugh (Forest Whittaker) forms an unholy alliance with imprisoned criminal Antwon Mitchell (Anthony Anderson), the slimeball who drove Shane to the brink of madness and cunningly eluded Mackey and Rawling last season.
The Real World: Key West (MTV, 10 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. The 17th season of MTV's still-irresistible reality drama locates the latest group of seven destined-to-clash housemates in a house in Key West. They include a gay swimming champion, a loon known as "Johnny Bananas" and the always-welcome de riguer party girl.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1
American Idol (Fox, 8 p.m. ET) Ninety Minutes. The ten remaining male semifinalists perform.
Lost (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) Remember last season when a then-pregnant Claire was kidnapped and held somewhere for several days, only to return to camp with no memory of what had happened to her? Of course you do. It looks like she'll finally get new information about her ordeal in this episode. Knowing Lost, that info may come with a whole new set of tantalizing questions attached, but we'll take what we can get.
Monty Python's Personal Best (PBS, check local listings) The five living members of the now-legendary Monty Python troupe -- John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Terry Jones -- are each featured in their own one-hour installment of this special retrospective series. Each hour includes the particular Python's favorite clips from Monty Python's Flying Circus and their concert movies, along with new introductions and comedic commentary filmed for this program. (The five men collaborated on the sixth hour, honoring their deceased colleague Graham Chapman.) The shows starring John Cleese and Terry Gilliam will premiere tonight. Watch for the Michael Palin and Terry Jones installments on March 8.
Free Ride (Fox, 9:30 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Fox may be rushing things a bit here. This is a post-Idol sneak preview of a new single-camera comedy that won't premiere on the network until Sunday, March 12 at 9:30 p.m. ET. A lot can be forgotten during twelve days, especially a show as unremarkable as this one, about a college graduate who returns to his small Midwest town, moves back in with his parents and then deals with the fact that he no longer fits in. For what it's worth, Free Ride is billed as "partially improvised." Josh Dean, Erin Cahill and Dave Sheridan star.
Barbara Walters Special (ABC, 10 p.m. ET) No longer welcome, it seems, on Oscar night, Barbara Walters interviews George Clooney, Patrick Dempsey, Matthew McConaughey and Mariah Carey.
Project Runway (Bravo, 10 p.m. ET) In the first half of the two-part season finale, Danny V., Chloe and Santino return to their homes and get to work on their lines, which they will present during Fashion Week. No pressure there. Next week: The winning designer is chosen!
Spying on Myself (A&E, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Two Episodes. Individuals undergo rigorous training with acting coaches and undercover experts to learn how to walk, talk and behave like completely new people. And then, after being further transformed by state of the art makeup and disguise techniques, these gluttons for emotional distress put their new identities to the test and set out to meet with family and friends to learn what their nearest and dearest say about them when they aren't around.
THURSDAY, MARCH 2
American Idol (Fox, 8 p.m. ET) Live. Four more semifinalists -- two male, two female -- are voted out of the competition.
Skating with Celebrities (Fox, 9 p.m. ET) Season Finale. Will the winners be Jillian Barberie or Kristy Swanson?
College Hill (BET, 9 p.m. ET) Season Premiere. Eight students at Virginia State University become dorm-mates roommates and the tears, temper tantrums and teasing begin anew as BET's signature reality serial begins its third season.
FRIDAY, MARCH 3
The Wonder Pets! (Nickelodeon/Noggin, 11:30 a.m. ET) Series Premiere. Three singing classroom pets -- Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming the Duckling and Turtle Tuck -- travel the world saving baby animals in distress in this new animated series with music, each episode of which is an original mini-operetta. The Wonder Pets! will be telecast during the Nick Jr. programming block Monday-Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Las Vegas (NBC, 9 p.m. ET) NBC's lightweight diversion relocates from Monday to Friday -- a move that will either save the network on this night or kill this often-entertaining show. Josh Duhamel and Vanessa Marcil star.
Conviction (NBC, 10 p.m. ET) Series Premiere. Let's get one thing clear. Even though the main character is Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot, fresh out of the witness protection program and still portrayed by Stephanie March, and even though the sets on this show are the same that were seen in the short-lived (and prematurely cancelled) Law & Order: Trial By Jury, and even though characters from the three Law & Order series may appear on this show, we have been instructed by NBC and executive producer Dick Wolf to not regard Conviction as a Law & Order spin-off. Nor should we give much weight to the fact that the show's young cast includes Eric Balfour, late of three very short-lived flops, ABC's Veritas, NBC's Hawaii and UPN's Sex, Love & Secrets. (That's us talking -- not NBC or Dick Wolf.) Balfour plays one of the many young assistant district attorneys around whom this series revolves. J. August Richards (Angel), Julianne Nicholson (Ally McBeal) and Anson Mount (The Mountain) also star.
Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi Channel, 10 p.m. ET) Starbuck's daring plan to save the humans trapped on Caprica results in the discovery of a habitable planet and the presidential race between Baltar and Roslin takes an unexpected turn in part one of Galactica's two-part season finale.