Thursday 2
“Survivor: Panama–Exile Island” (KRQE-13 7 p.m.) The newest “Survivor” series displays a nifty little innovation: Instead of voting folks off the show for good, losers are sent to “Exile Island” where they must struggle to survive all by themselves.
The Outdoorsmen: Blood, Sweat & Beers” (Spike 8 p.m.) This real deal documentary follows a group of manly men into the woods on an annual outing in which they consume mass quantities of beer and compete in insane athletic events. In other words: It's perfect Spike programming.
“ER” (KOB-4 9 p.m.) James Woods is cruising for an Emmy, and he just might get it, seeing as how he plays a medical teacher who inspired several of the ER docs and is now laid low with end-stage ALS. Inspiring and dying–that's Emmy gold, baby.
“The Shop” (MTV 11:30 p.m.) Wouldn't it be wicked cool if, like, that Ice Cube movie Barbershop was real? … That's basically the premise behind this new MTV reality series, which hangs out and watches people get haircuts.
Friday 3
Grizzly Man (Discovery 7 p.m.) Werner Herzog's recent film–already “pre-snubbed” for a Best Documentary award at the Oscars–makes a quick debut on Discovery Channel. Despite the (at this point expected) annual lameness of the Academy Awards' documentary category, this portrait of doomed animal activist Timothy Treadwell is riveting stuff.
Saturday 4
“The Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials: The Top 40 Countdown” (KRQE-13 7 p.m.) Oddly enough, this show appears on next week's special “TV's Lamest Excuses for Shows: The Top 40 Slot-fillers.”
Sunday 5
See “Idiot Box” above.
Monday 6
“Surface” (KOB-4 7 p.m.) For what it's worth, NBC's watery monster conspiracy series reaches its season finale. Personally, I chose ABC's “Invasion” In the “watery monster conspiracy series” lottery, and I'm sticking to it.
“Lucky Travels L.A.” (Animal Planet 7 p.m.) AnPlan tries its hand at a travel series, taking the editor of Animal Fair Magazine and his dog on a pet-friendly tour of L.A. I think Lucky is the dog and not the editor. But I could be wrong.
Tuesday 7
“Get This Party Started” (UPN 8 p.m.) Think “Extreme Makeover”–but, instead of getting a new house or a lifesaving operation, you get a kick-ass party. … Hard to believe UPN is going out of business with programming ideas like this.
Wednesday 8
“The 48th Annual Grammy Awards” (KRQE-13 7 p.m.) Mariah Carey, Kanye West, U2, Green Day and Gwen Stefani are the heavy hitters at this year's musical backslapping party. But I just can't seem to get get excited about the Grammys. We're so deep into Oscar territory right now, I can't spare the brainwaves.
“Trick My Truck” (CMT 7 p.m.) What happens when you take Xzibit out of “Pimp My Ride” and substitute a bunch of hicks? Well, you get this titularly similar rip-off. Next stop: The BBC, where Eric Idle will host “Bodge My Lorry.” After that, it's OUT TV, Ryan Seacrest and “Fabulize My Volvo.”
