Thursday 14
“Hooking Up” (KOAT-7 8 p.m.) ABC's new reality series has 12 women relating their assorted woes with the world of online dating. Apparently, it's really hard to find a date in New York City. And “Sex and the City” made it seem so simple.
Friday 15
“Battlestar Galactica” (Sci-Fi 8 p.m.) No offense to “Stargate: SG-1” and “Stargate: Atlantis,” both of which have proved very durable (and both of which have their season premieres before and after this show), but it's “Battlestar Galactica” that I'm all excited for tonight. Call me a big ol' geek, but Sci-Fi has turned this campy '70s TV series into a dark, gritty and totally absorbing space opera. Thanks for putting this season's premiere so close to last season's finale as well. I owe you one, Sci-Fi.
Saturday 16
Island in the Sky (AMC 6 p.m.) A long lost John Wayne movie? You'd better believe it, pilgrim! AMC lets loose with an exhaustive weekend of John Wayne movies highlighted by this 1953 film and by 1954's The High and the Mighty–both of which haven't been seen in about 50 years, both of which have been newly restored by AMC and both of which feature The Duke as a WWII pilot. Go figure.
“Polar Bear Battlefield” (Discovery 7 p.m.) Seriously, has Army recruiting gotten that bad?
Sunday 17
“Mythbusters” (Discovery 7 p.m.) Discovery's gonzo tribute to the scientific method gets into the spirit of the channel's annual “Shark Week” by having Jamie and Adam bunk and/or debunk assorted “myths” seen in Steven Spielberg's 1975 film Jaws. Can you really blow up a shark with a scuba tank and a speargun? Let's find out.
“101 Things removed from the Human Body” (TLC 8 p.m.) No thanks. I just ate.
Monday 18
“Ballbreakers” (GSN 11 p.m.) … Are you done giggling now? Good. It's a show about billiards.
“Himalaya with Michael Palin” (Travel Channel 7 p.m.) Former Monty Python trouper-turned-travel journalist Michael Palin hikes up into the mountains of Asia for a little exotic action.
Tuesday 19
“Miami Ink” (TLC 8 p.m.) We've already had behind-the-scenes reality shows about restaurants and hair salons and motorcycle mechanics, why not a tattoo parlor? I can't believe it's taken this long for someone to come up with the idea.
Wednesday 20
“So You Think You Can Dance” (KASA-2 7 p.m.) Well, it's a slight improvement over “American Idol.” Now, instead of singing and dancing, people are only dancing. Now, if we can just get them to stop dancing and get off the air completely, we'd really have something.
“Inked” (A&E 7 p.m.) We've already had behind-the-scenes reality shows about restaurants and hair salons and motorcycle mechanics, why not a tattoo parlor? I can't believe it's taken this long for someone to … wait a minute. Something about this seems kinda familiar.
“Venus & Serena: For Real” (ABC Family 8 p.m.) The list of “celebrities” whose day-to-day life I have no interest in seeing continues to grow week by week.
