Monday

With Heroes and House both taking a break for the holidays, it falls to Syfy to keep us entertained today, and they're definitely trying their hardest, with Stargate: The Ark of Truth at 9am, followed by Stargate: Continuum at 11.

Meanwhile, if you went down the rabbit hole last night, you'll be happy to know that Alice continues (and concludes) at 9pm.

Tuesday

Even if the day wasn't almost entirely otherwise devoid of SF entertainment, the return of ABC's Better Off Ted (ABC at 9:30pm) would still be at the top of our to-do list. In the first episode of its new run, the employees of Veridian Dynamics find their thoughts turning to reproduction, as Ted and Linda meet their genetically compatible matches, while Veronica tries to convince Lem to donate to a sperm bank. Oh, Ted. How did we get by without you?

If satires on corporate America are a little too close to the bone, then try the first episode of Outer Space Astronauts on Syfy (also 9:30); it's a new sitcom set in outer space - Maybe you missed that in the title - but we're a little worried about it based on the episode description being "Capt. Ripley invites aliens over to the O.S.S. Oklahoma for a pizza dinner, but the aliens want the ship, too." Uh, hilarity may ensue?

Wednesday

Oh, Syfy. With a Jericho marathon from 8am through 3pm, you know how to spoil us. From there until 9pm, it's a bit of a science fiction wasteland in terms of things that aren't re-runs, so consider it the Television God's way of telling you to leave the house and go and do some holiday shopping or something. Then be back in front of the visual entertainment box in time for 9 o'clock, when Discovery has a new episode of Mythbusters, with Jamie and Adam putting more gunslinging myths to the test.

Thursday

Remember 1990s SF vampire series Kindred: The Embraced? I definitely don't, but Syfy is looking to remedy my oversight with a marathon of the entire 1996 series starring former Soul Man C. Thomas Howell, starting at 8am.

Otherwise, with FlashForward, Vampire Diaries and Supernatural already in reruns, it falls to Fringe to keep the science fiction flag flying with its new episode "Grey Matters" at 9pm on Fox. Featuring the return of Leonard Nimoy as William Bell:

Friday

Get your day started off in the right way with Syfy's Outer Limits marathon, starting at 8am. You'll only wish it was Twilight Zone a couple of times, honest.

Depending on who you believe, there's either a rerun or new episode of Batman: The Brave and The Bold on Cartoon Network at 7pm (If it's a new episode, then it'll be the Plastic Man-guesting "Long Arm Of The Law," but some schedules have last season's "Duel of The Double Crossers!" listed. Your guess is as good as mine at this point).

But even if it is a new episode, that might not be enough to steal your attention away from Syfy's Sanctuary mini-marathon, starting at 7pm and ending with a brand new episode, "Penance," guest-starring Amanda Tapping's fellow former Stargate cast member Michael Shanks, at 10pm.

Or you can keep up with the latest double bill of Dollhouse on Fox at 8pm, with the "Meet Jane Doe"/"A Love Supreme" match-up offering Topher discovering the potential effects of science, Echo losing control of her multiple memory downloads, and the return of Alpha.

Once that's done, you might find yourself switching over to Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow on Cartoon Network at 10pm, just to look at how shiny the whole thing is.

Saturday

It's All Disaster Movies All Day on Syfy, starting with Earthstorm (9am) before offering up Meteor (11am), miniseries 10.5: Apocalypse (1pm), Ba'al: The Storm God (5pm), Ice Twisters (7pm), Annihilation Earth (9pm) and finishing with Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York at 11pm. Why so many disaster movies? Why not? Over on BBC America, there's a Doctor Who triple bill of edited versions of "Journey's End", "The Next Doctor" and "Planet of The Dead" starting at 7pm, but you should really wait until tomorrow, for reasons you'll discover in a second.

Sunday

...What's that, you say? A Doctor Who marathon on BBC America starting at 1pm, including 1hr 15 minute (ie, unedited from U.K. broadcast, apart from ad breaks) versions of The Next Doctor and Planet of The Dead? I thought you'd say yes. The full rundown of episodes is:

1pm: Voyage of The Damned
2pm: Turn Left
3pm: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End
5:30pm: The Next Doctor
6:45: Planet of The Dead

All of this is a lead-in to next week's premiere of "The Waters of Mars," and the following week's "The End of Time," of course. But do you care why it's happening, as long as it's happening?

Last night's "Death Race To Oblivion" was exactly the kind of thing Brave and the Bold feels like it was created to do: From the ridiculous-yet-awesome concept (Mongul forces everyone to have a super drag race, with the survival of Earth hanging in the balance) to the choice of guest-stars (Guy Gardner? Plastic Man and Woozy Winks?), everything was just fun; enjoyably fluffy, sure, but well done and completely watchable. Like the best episodes of the series, "Death Race" worked on both the fanboy level and the - for want of a better way of putting it - childlike sense of wonder level, with a special sidestep into the dreams of car fetishists this time around (Oh, come on, who didn't like seeing the Jokermobile again?). It may not have had the crossover appeal of an NPH guestspot, but in many ways, "Death Race" was the perfect example of the series at its best, making less than obvious choices to come up with something that's obviously fun. If the rest of the second season (of which this was the first official episode) is this good, then we're in for a treat.

For a season finale (which this was; it's officially the last episode of the first season, even though there was a gap of months between the most recent batch of episodes and the rest of the first season; the second season begins next month), last night's "The Fate of Equinox!" left us cold. Sure, the threat of the universe being destroyed in the battle between chaos and order sounds exciting on paper, but I've never been that interested in Equinox, the original(ish; he's based on the comics' Libra) villain chosen to hook the whole story around, and despite some nice moments, Dr. Fate wasn't up to the guest-star caliber of Aquaman, Blue Beetle or other heroes. It was fun enough, sure, but this - and last week's "Inside the Outsiders" both seemed like products of writers getting tired towards the end of the season, and especially after the "Mayhem of the Music Meister!" episode. We're hoping for a little more from "Death Race To Oblivion" when the show returns (If nothing else, there's some wit in the idea of Batman teaming with the Question to take on the Riddler), but what did you think?

This poll is simple: Which of the TV shows, listed below, do you feel guiltiest for being behind on? Your answer should be one of the shows you've fallen way behind on — but only the one you feel the greatest remorse about. Remember: if that show gets cancelled, it's your fault.

Monday

What better way to start off the week than with a Syfy marathon of Stargate SG-1 running right now, from 8am all the way through to 3pm? Sure, there's that whole "work" thing, but come on. It's Stargate!

Otherwise, your television thrills are limited to an 8pm conflict between new episodes of House on Fox (A teenage girl can't distinguish between fact and fiction "after a wild night out." Am I the only one who feels like this could be either awesome or hideously embarrassing for all involved?) and Heroes on NBC, where Sylar is still trying to take control of Matt's body and Claire has to face off with her father's Sorority Girl Army. And, yes, I did accidentally make that sound more interesting than the actual show. Sorry, everyone.

Tuesday

For those calling in sick, I'd recommend skipping Syfy's Tru Calling marathon (8am through 3pm for those whose love of Dushku overpowers their bad-show gag reflex) and tuning into AMC, which goes dragon crazy with a 12:45 airing of Dragonheart (Dennis Quaid and a dragon voiced by Sean Connery!) followed by a 3pm re-run of Reign of Fire (You could stay tuned for a 5pm Batman Begins and 8pm Terminator 2: Judgment Day as well, if you were feeling particularly lazy).

If you'd rather get a delayed British take on the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, then James May On The Moon (BBC America at 8pm) takes Top Gear's Captain Slow and puts him in the driver's seat for an hour long look back at those heady days where men were men and the Moon seemed an obtainable destination.

Otherwise, click over to ABC for the second episode of V and see whether it still feels like FlashForward meets... Well, the old V, really (The official PR for the episode says "A seeker among the Visitors tracks Erica and Father Jack. Chad seeks redemption by investigating the aliens ahead of his next newscast while law enforcers press Erica for information concerning Dale M…").

Wednesday

Thank God for Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel at 9pm. Without their investigation into whether cars will automatically burst into flames after crashing (Surely we have empirical proof that the answer is no already?), I'd have to find some way to pretend that Glee (Fox at 9) was a scifi show just to have something to write about for today. I figured I could always claim that it was set in an alternate reality where people aren't creeped out by Will Schuester trying to rap.

Thursday
If it's Thursday, then it's time for all the shows to run up against each other again. Sure, you could pretend that the networks aren't showing anything and watch a double bill of Demolition Man and End of Days on AMC (Sly and Arnold! In two of their most underrated - for a reason - movies! It starts at 8pm, if you're tempted), after spending the day watching Syfy's Star Trek: Enterprise marathon (8am through 3pm, as ever), but come on. I know that you can't resist the big shows people are talking about.

On FlashForward (ABC, 8pm), Aaron discovers the truth about his daughter's death, Janis returns to work and Mark and Olivia's martial troubles bring everyone down yet again, man. Things are much more fun over in Mystic Falls where Vampire Diaries (the CW at 8pm) brings a mysterious new teacher, arguments over medallions and, according to the CW, "Damon finally reveals to Stefan the stunning reason he has returned to Mystic Falls." If I watched the show and/or cared, I couldn't wait!

9pm brings the real reason to wrestle over the remote; Fringe on Fox gives Olivia, Broyles and Peter a new reason to be suspicious of Massive Dynamic when the impossibly shady corporation turn out to be involved in a kidnapping case, but Supernatural (The CW) looks much more fun than even Walter Bishop could provide:

Super fan Becky uses Chuck's phone to trick Sam and Dean into attending a Supernatural fan convention, complete with fans dressed up as Sam and Dean. One of the activities is a live action role-playing game, but things quickly turn sour after a real ghost appears on the scene.

Seriously. How could anyone resist that?

Friday

Jericho fans! You have the Syfy marathon of the day (8am through 3pm, which I'm sure you already know by now) to keep you happy during the daylight hours; the rest of us will be watching the original The War Of The Worlds movie on AMC at 10:15am (And avoiding the following Star Trek: Nemesis at 12:15pm, a movie which can best be described by blogger Kevin Church here), instead.

Still, Friday evening starts the weekend off right with the double bill of Batman: The Brave and The Bold ("The Fate of Equinox!" Yes, the exclamation point is part of the title) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (following last week's surprisingly brutal, "Are Jedi really advocating using flame throwers against living beings what the hell?" episode) on Cartoon Network, starting at 7:30pm (Clone Wars is at 8pm, if you have an aversion of Batman. And if you do, then I'm very, very sorry.)

If you're in the mood for MOR dramas teasing the supernatural, then CBS is the place to be tonight, with new episodes of both Ghost Whisperer (8pm, with Jennifer Love Hewitt "pulled into a murder mystery by a real estate power couple" - Yes, this is what people want to watch, apparently) and Medium (9pm, which at least includes a potentially amusing-for-the-wrong-reasons subplot about posting videos of someone on the internet and "getting into trouble") on offer.

The rest of us, we'll be considering Smallville on the CW at 8pm (It features the Wonder Twins! You know you want to), Stargate Universe on Syfy at 9pm (The crew of the Destiny get a message from their future selves from the past. Or something) and Sanctuary on the same channel at 10pm.

Saturday

If you're not looking forward to Syfy's Ice Twisters at 9pm ("A sci-fi novelist is summoned to help scientists after an experiment in weather manipulation goes awry and produces deadly tornadoes made of ice," apparently), then we'd suggest that AMC's double bill of trilogies is the best way to spend your day. Start with the Mad Max trilogy (Movies starting 1:30, 3:30 and 5:30pm) before a night of The Matrix trilogy (The three movies begin at 8pm, 11pm and 1am on Sunday, respectively). Otherwise, the only thing left is Discovery's Surviving 2012... which is about all the prophecies, and not, sadly, advice on making it through Roland Emmerich's latest.

Sunday

It's the best night of television this week! Who knew, right? Start things off right with Syfy's latest screening of Serenity at 6:30 before switching over midway through - Hopefully missing Alan Tudyk's least favorite scene ever in the process - to catch the premiere of AMC's brand new take on The Prisoner at 8pm. If Ian McKellan and Jim Caviezel can't bring Patrick McGoohan's classic paranoiafest back to life, I'm going to be very depressed.

Of course, the best way to finish the evening off is coming at midnight, with the latest episode of The Venture Bros on Cartoon Network. Can we all just admit that it's the smartest and funniest show on television already?

The Avengers:

More on Edward Norton's will-he-won't-he dance, with regards to returning as the Hulk. It doesn't sound like Norton's had any talks with Marvel, and he says he has no idea where they're at with this project. Nor is he terribly interested, unless Marvel comes to him with something especially fascinating. (But I'd be shocked if Marvel doesn't have Norton under contract for one or two more movies, in which case his interest, or lack thereof, would be irrelvevant.) [AICN]

Resident Evil 4:

Milla Jovovich Tweeted from the set of this film, and mentioned that the final shot of the film is a 3-D shot from high up, so they had to hoist a 3-D camera using a custom-made rig. And there's a scene where she lands a plane on a boat, and it looks like it's crashing — hundreds of neighbors called 911 to report a plane crash. And Alice and Claire fight the Executioner, an eight-foot-tall boxer toting a huge axe. They fight him in a prison shower, and every time he swings his axe, showers explode, so it's sort of raining. [ShockTillYouDrop]

Red Dawn:

The China-invades-America movie involves blowing up all of downtown Detroit, says Josh Hutcherson. And he describes his character, based on C. Thomas Howell's from the original: "In the story, I start out as not a geek, but sort of a tech guy. And by the end, I'm a total warrior, drinking blood from the animals and going crazy." [MTV]

Ghost Rider 2:

This movie will be darker and "more existential" than the first movie, but won't be a reboot, says writer David S. Goyer. Not that much is changing from his old screenplay, which is available online somewhere, but it'll be toned down to get a PG-13 rating. And it takes place eight years after the first film, when Ghost Rider is in a darker place. [MTV]

Doctor Who:

OMG new trailer for "The Waters Of Mars." So scary. [Oh No They Didn't]

And here are three whole minutes of the episode, of which about two minutes are new. Cannot. Wait. [Guardian]

And here are the episode descriptions for the (incredibly poorly) animated adventure "Dreamland":

Episode 1: Dry Springs, Nevada, 1958. The Doctor befriends a young waitress, Cassie, and her friend, Jimmy, at a diner. The Doctor activates an alien artefact and, after finding further signs of alien activity, the US Army intervenes and takes him and his new companions to the mysterious Area 51 in Roswell, where they find out about Operation Fallen Angel. Will Operation leader Colonel Stark succeed in making the curious trio forget what they have just seen?

Episode 2: Seeking refuge in the abandoned town of Solitude, Jimmy stumbles across a disconcerting discovery and the trio encounter Viperox royalty.

Episode 3: The Doctor cannot understand why the Alliance of Shades' mop-up team are more concerned with the whereabouts of a piece of space flight hardware than the hordes of Viperox pods hidden underground. Things start to fall into place when Jimmy's grandfather, Night Eagle, introduces the Doctor to Rivesh Mantilax.

Episode 4: Captured by the US Army, Rivesh is finally reunited with his wife, Saruba Velak. Meanwhile, the Doctor discovers the unsettling truth about his real identity.

Episode 5: The Doctor and Saruba have to confront the mysterious alien force in the vault housing her space ship if they are to save her husband and stop Lord Azlok from rousing his sleeping army.

Episode 6: As sunset falls, the Viperox drones start to attack the US Army base. Can the Doctor find a way to halt the seemingly unstoppable aliens in their tracks?

[BlogtorWho]

Fringe:

In tonight's Broyles-centric episode, Broyles will step on quite a few toes to solve the case that's personal to him. And there be cosmonauts and cover-ups, and we'll discover the CIA's extraterrestrial connection. [EW]

Also, turns out the Broyles in the alternate universe is a happily married man. [TV Guide]

Here are a few characters we'll meet in episode 2x13, from a casting call. [SpoilerTV]

[ALFRED] Mid 30's to early 40's male, blond hair and blue eyes, with a slight German accent. He's a young Aryan with a bad boys vibe. Guest Star

[NANA] Nana is 80 with a slight Eastern European accent. Really good Co-Star or possible Guest Star.

[ELIZA] Mother of the groom in her 60's. She's warm and sympathetic. Really good Co-Star or possible Guest Star

A few new set pics show our heroes hanging out by a police car. [SpoilerTV]

And a couple sneak peeks:

The Box:

The early reviews for this Richard Kelly tripfest are out, and... they're not very positive, sadly. But there are spoilers! Apparently, the box with the mysterious money-making, stranger-killing button is somehow connected to Arthur (James Marsden)'s work with NASA's Mars mission. The couple traces the license plate of the limo carrying around the burnt-faced Frank Langella to NASA, and then one of Arthur's NASA colleagues kills wife. Children get kidnapped, zombie civil servants chase the couple around, and then there are hints that aliens are behind the whole thing. There are bleeding noses, and Norma (Cameron Diaz) hires a babysitter without checking her references. Oh, and Arthur and Norma aren't broke, like in the original version of the story — they're well off, but their kid's tuition is going up slightly. [Reuters]

The Men Who Stare At Goats:

Here's a new TV ad showcasing this whimsical psychic-soldier film:

Supernatural:

In the upcoming body-switching episode, Sam and Dean swap bodies with each other, and with a couple other characters. [EW]

I think we mentioned a while back that Lucifer would be trapping Castiel in an upcoming episode. Here are a couple behind-the-scenes pics. [LilMissX on TwitPic via Chicago Tribune]

And here are some pics from the last episode of the year, "Abandon All Hope," in which an all-star cast goes up against Lucifer. And Mark Shepherd's demon character, Crowley, has the Colt! [Chicago Tribune and SpoilerTV]

Caprica:

We already showed you some new TV spots for this BSG prequel, but here's a bit more footage... including our first look at James "Spike" Marsters as terrorist leader Barnabus Greeley. [CapricaTV]

Chuck:

Chuck meets Batman! At least, Dietrich Bader will guest star in the ninth episode of the season, "Chuck Vs. The Beard," directed by Zachary Levi. [EW]

FlashForward:

This week's episode is supposed to be a great improvement over recent outings, and we may actually learn the significance of the blue hand. [EW]

And in case you're not getting the message that tonight's episode is going to be good for a change, David S. Goyer tells MTV it may be the best thing he's ever worked on, including The Dark Knight. It's a gamechanger, and here's what happens:

Titled "The Gift," this week's episode focuses on Agents Al Gough (Lee Thompson Young) and Demetri Noh's (John Cho) continued investigation into the mysterious Blue Hand, which Goyer described as an organization "with a very specific purpose in mind." Over the course of their investigation, a shadowy figure by the name of Jeff Slingerland (Callum Keith Rennie of "Battlestar Galactica") is revealed as a new nemesis with connections to the Blue Hand.

In addition to the Blue Hand, the episode deals with Demetri's lack of a flashforward and his subsequently tenuous relationship with fiance Zoey (Gabrielle Union).

[MTV]

And a casting call for episode 13 makes it sound like we're going to Somalia:

[MALVEAUX] 40s, Male, Caucasian. A tough-looking mercenary working security on a dangerous job. A more muscular Jean Reno..

[KORFA] 9-11, Somalian, Male. A young Somali boy fighting with a friend over a toy. Dialogue in Somali..

[SpoilerTV]

True Blood:

Terry and Arlene will make a surprising discovery that brings them closer together — sounds like all their loving under the influence of Maryann's spell has left Arlene pregnant. [TV Guide]

Smallville:

Rumor control: There's no official word that the show is going to turn into a sequel called Metropolis. Michael Rosenbaum hung out with the writers recently, but there are no plans for Lex to come back — even though everyone wishes he would. Also, Perry White isn't reappearing any time soon. [EW]

Heroes:

Hiro will stay with the carnies at least through the Thanksgiving episode, which sees ballroom dancing with weird masks, and zzzzzzzzz. Oh sorry. Dozed off. Anyway. Hiro is with the carnies for a while. [TV Guide]

And here's the description for that episode, "Thanksgiving":

H.R.G. hosts an unconventional Thanksgiving dinner; the Petrelli family receives a surprise guest; Lydia searches for the truth.

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

A straight plot recap of "Mayhem of The Music Meister!" wouldn't even scratch the surface of what made it such a joy to watch (But, if you need one: The Music Meister is a villain who can control people through music. He falls in love with Black Canary because of her singing voice, but even though she falls under his control like everyone else on the planet - with the exception of Batman - she's ultimately his undoing because of her canary cry superpower); it was, even more than usually for this series, all about the execution. Whether you came for the promise of Doctor Horrible-esque superheroic musical comedy, fanboy-baiting with characters like Green Arrow and Black Canary taking the first step down the road that's already led them to marriage in the comics, or just plain fun cartoonery with dancing gorillas, it's fair to say that this week, Batman: The Brave and The Bold delivered something for everyone.

It wasn't just NPH's dulcet tones that made this week's long-awaited episode of B&B so much fun; everyone involved raised their game, whether it was writers Michael Jelenic and James Tucker offering some of the best dialogue of the series so far (Who doesn't love Batman when he gets all pun-laded and sincere?) as well as a plot that's so ridiculous it approaches camp perfection (Never mind Batman singing, the explanation of how he managed to hit those notes afterwards was hilarious), or regular voice actors Diedrich Bader, John Di Maggio and especially Grey DeLisle (amongst many others) shamelessly singing their hearts out as well as managing to deliver their between-songs lines with straight faces. Although the casting coup and nerd cache of NPH has been getting all the plaudits for this ep, everyone involved did an amazing job.

After this, it'll be tough not to see the regular lunacy of the series as something of a comedown - but, at the same time, it was the uniqueness of the whole thing that made it as special as it was. Still, considering every jail in Gotham City is fitted with a revolving door and staffed by unreliable guards, is it really too much to hope that we might see a reprise sometime next season?

Monday:

House -
A police officer with a fear of heart disease heads to Princeton General on FOX at 8 PM. Because that's what apparently killed the last three generations of men in his family at age 40, he's terrified of the same. But was that really what it was? Also, the Darth Vader dictator's case is still hanging over Chase's head (I love House, but I'm so over this storyline) and House faces ghosts from his past ("ghosts"? We can hope).

Heroes -
On NBC at 8 PM, the newly found Sylar is led by Samuel on a voyage of self-discovery, while the arrival of Hiro proves fortuitous for Emma and her abilities. Meanwhile, Peter is asking Noah for help finding someone to heal Hiro.

Big Bang Theory -
Wil Wheaton guest stars as a participant in a trading card competition. Turns out Sheldon has a deep seated resentment for him, so he enters the competition too. Also, Wolowitz asks Penny to set him up with one of her friends, on CBS at 8:30 PM.

Extreme Paranormal -
A team of paranormal investigators, on A&E at 10 PM, use extreme measures (such as replicating deaths to "invoke" the ghosts of those killed in a 1980 riot) to find what's haunting the New Mexico State Penitentiary.

Movies:

Experience the flaming-skull magic once again! Nic Cage is Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider on FX at 8 PM.

Tuesday:

Nova -
Lizard expert Eric Pianka tracks down the elusive monitor lizard in Australia, and showcases them using "lizard-cam" technology on PBS at 8 PM.

Ghost Lab -
The brothers head to Chicago on Discovery Channel at 10 PM and also to the Mortuary in New Orleans.

Movies:

A San Francisco detective helps an alien cop track down an otherworldly murderer in Alien Nation, on the Fox Movie Channel at 8 PM

Wednesday:

Spectacular Spider-Man -
It's Valentine's Day and Peter jeopardizes his relationship with Liz Allen to stop a meeting between Tombstone, Hammerhead and Doc Oc. And on Disney XD at 9 PM, only Spider-Man can head off the impending gang war.

Ghost Hunters -
On Syfy at 9 PM the team probes Chicago's Congress Theater's claims of floating apparitions and disembodied voices.

MythBusters -
Which has better gas mileage: clean cars or dirty ones? On Discovery Channel at 9 PM, it's the "hangover episode," where Tori, Kari and Grant study myths stemming from beer and liquor.

Destination Truth -
Incan ruins are investigated on Syfy at 10 PM and the team looks for evidence of a humongous bird in Alaska.

Eastwick -
Some sorta of crazy moon beam eclipse thingy is affecting the women on ABC at 10 PM, and it's leading them all to free their inhibitions. Meaning, Kat gets freaky on top of a piano, Roxie and Mia have an awkward moment with the cute brothers they're each involved with and Joanna runs a troubling story.

Movies:

On Disney at 8 PM, Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire. One of Sabrina the Teenage Witch's aunt has a date with The Nanny's employer, who happens to be a vamp, too.

Thursday:

FlashForward -
On ABC at 8 PM, Mark has to answer to the Senate, in order to get the team funding and I hope we get to see more of his flash-forward in the process. Janis (the possibly pregnant-in-the-future FBI agent) questions her flash in regards to her current relationship status. Also, Olivia finds out some interesting tidbits about Mark's flash — possibly about the prevalence of alcohol in it?

Movies:

Bill Murray and crew are headed out to protect the city on AMC at 5:30 PM for Ghostbusters II.

Friday:

Batman: The Brave and the Bold -
On Cartoon Network at 7:30 PM we finally get to hear Neil Patrick Harris as the Music Meister as he uses his power to hijack a satellite, so he can control people with music... and take over the world. Yay for singing villains.

Ghost Whisperer -
On CBS at 8 PM, the whisperer must help Chad Lowe come to terms with his past and the ghost that's making him pay for it.

Smallville -
Oliver's kidnapped by Victoria (aka Roulette) and warned that his life is danger. Then, when he's arrested for Victoria's death, Oliver turns to Chloe for help. Also, Ms. Lane is upset with Clark for keeping Oliver's suicide attempt a secret, all on CW at 8 PM.

Dollhouse -
Finally, the way Sierra came to be a doll is revealed when she faces her Rossum Corp connection as an Active, on FOX at 9 PM. And of course, her link includes obsession and murder. This episode is directed by Jonathan "Will Riker" Frakes, who also directed several episodes of Roswell.

Stargate Universe -
Destiny seems primed for a collision with a star, and of course all her power goes out, too, leading the crew to consider abandoning her on Syfy at 9 PM. With a name like Destiny, though, are they serious? Apparently so, as they hold a lottery to fill the only working escape shuttle.

Sanctuary -
Magnus takes in those ousted by the Cabal in the attacks on the Tokyo and London sanctuaries, and Kate sets a one-of-a-kind creature free, on Syfy at 10 PM.

Movies:

An Alien breeds inside Sigourney Weaver, on AMC at 8 PM.

Saturday:

Movies:

Silly college kids take a wrong turn and end up mixed up with real (live?) deadly ghosts in Ghost Town on Syfy at 9 PM.

Sunday:

Movies:

On Encore at 10:15 PM Pierce Brosnan tries to warn of an impending volcanic eruption a little too late, in Dante's Peak.

OMAC is one of those characters that has a great concept that almost no-one has been able to do anything with: Basically, he's a nobody who gets retrofitted without his knowledge or consent to become the ultimate soldier, One Man Army Corps (or OMAC, for short). After years of attempts to update the character, work the character into regular superhero universe continuity and just generally redo the concept altogether, the comic version of the character seems pretty broken, but the Brave and Bold version managed to get everything right by... well, playing it relatively straight.

"When OMAC Attacks" wasn't the show's best episode, nor an obvious choice to bring the show back after its summer break - Both of those would be next week's musical episode - but it was entertaining enough, even for non-Kirby enthusiasts (Kirby fans like me would've spent the episode going "Is that really Kafka from the comic? Seriously? Awesome!"); using OMAC as an illustration of classic cartoon moral "Sometimes, it's better not to fight" was a smart move, balanced by the use of alter ego Buddy Blank as last-minute coward-made-good, saving Batman from mysterious villain Equinox. Where it fell down was a lack of the self-aware, more-than-a-little-goofy humor that's often the show's best quality... In fact, if anything, the episode seemed too sincere and straightforward. But perhaps that's because next week used up all the crazy pills.

In the end, it was nice to see the show back, and that goodwill alone was enough to make what was really a middling episode seem better than it actually was. But, having seen next week's "Mayhem of the Music Meister!," I know that much, much better things are around the corner. Better luck next time, then.

Monday:

House</em -
On FOX at 8 PM Foreman's preparing to explain the death of a dictator to the review board, while King Midas incarnate is realizing just how cursed he is when his son falls under House's care ... or, Foreman's care, as the team remains his for now.

Heroes -
Lydia's alarmed on NBC at 8 PM, when Samuel tries to extend his brood. Peter makes a connection with a reluctant Emma over some swooshy lights, and Sylar tries to remember who he used to be. Also, Gretchen reveals her hidden agenda to Claire, and we get the lesbian kiss many people have been watching this season for. But then what will we watch it for after that?

Big Bang Theory -
Immigration is coming for Raj unless he gets a new job, so Sheldon hires him. When did Sheldon start a business? Also, Howard really doesn't get the concept of third wheel with Leonard and Penny on CBS at 8:30 PM.

Movies:

Global warming attacks the planet and Dennis Quaid must save ... as many as he can in The Day After Tomorrow on FX at 5:30 PM. Psyche yourself up for 2012 with a reminder of Emmerich's appetite for destruction.

Tuesday:

Ghost Lab -
The brothers examine the evidence of ghosts in Arizona, including a full body photograph of an apparition, on Discovery Channel at 10 PM.

STARZ: INSIDE ZOMBIEMANIA -
Move over vamps — zombies have risen to take over. Richard Roeper hosts a look at Zombies through the film lens of history on Starz at 10 PM. The piece takes look at zombies and their starring roles in films being with 1932's White Zombie and up to 28 Days Later. Writer/director/zombie aficionado George A. Romero and the author of Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, Max Brooks, are featured along with others influential in the zombie movement.

Movies:

After zombies on Starz, at 11 PM watch a plague infect residents in Quarantine.

Wednesday:

Ghost Hunters -
TAPS heads north of the border on Syfy at 9 PM to investigate Canada's Fort Henry, the nation's most haunted locale.

Destination Truth -
The team enjoys a Turkish dance troupe on Syfy at 10 PM.

Eastwick -
Joanna's ex-fiance (wait, what?!) surprises her before her date with Will tonight on ABC at 10 PM. Meanwhile, Roxie starts investigating her killer roommate, and Kat turns to a divorce attorney — finally.

Movies:

Joshua Jackson is a photographer who's haunted by mysterious images of a woman who supposedly died in a car crash in Tokyo, in Shutter, on HBO at 5:30 PM.

Thursday:

FlashForward -
Remember Bryce? The suicidal doctor? On ABC at 8 PM, he thinks a flash is the key to a patient's recovery but Olivia's skeptical (and with her trouble with flashes, who wouldn't be?). Demetri and Mark's flashes are dividing them and Nicole (the creepy kid's babysitter) shares her flash: murder. Wait, wasn't she trying to atone for the future previously?

Vampire Diaries -
Stefan's on a truth kick and reveals to Elena his family's history, and how his rivalry with Damon got started. Damon, meanwhile is trying to take control of Vicki's life, causing, well, some problems obviously. And the sheriff and mayor try to keep every safe-ish on CW at 8 PM.

Supernatural -
The boys are traveling again, this time to see an 11-year-old boy whose beliefs all come true. Too bad his conjurings also include the monsters of lore. Cas thinks this child's a threat and wants him... taken out, on CW at 9 PM.

Fringe -
On FOX at 9 PM the team started decoding dreams when people are being turned into monsters via what sounds like a backdoor in their brains. And Broyles meets with Nina Sharp — whoa, is more lip-locking action in store?

Movies:

On Cinemax at 5:45 PM is the Edward Norton-version of Incredible Hulk, featuring two spectacular cameos by Lou Ferrigno.

Friday:

Batman: The Brave and the Bold -
The Dark Knight returns to Cartoon Network at 7:30 PM, to fight the metal man Shrapnel, with OMAC by his side.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars -
On Cartoon Network at 8 PM, Padmé is investigating a Separatist conspiracy, when the Jedi Council asks for her help.

Ghost Whisperer -
Melinda heads to the morgue when she's haunted by the ghost of a surgeon who's stuck reliving a failed operation on CBS at 8 PM.

Smallville -
The Blur is becoming an outlaw, and who knows how he'll react when Jor-El gives him the power to hear people's thoughts. Elsewhere, the Toyman is crashing a Queen Industries party to get to Oliver and force him to admit he killed Lex on CW at 8 PM.

Stargate Universe -
On Syfy at 9 PM, the ship's power reserves dip to a critical level, and the crew is ordered to use the power for essential services only — but we've seen how well they obey orders already. Plus, Rush announces they won't survive past a few days, so that should help with the whole "morale" thing.

Sanctuary -
The Cabal attacks sanctuaries around the world, using Ashley in support of their cause. Tesla an Henry try to defuse the the onslaught, without killing Ashley of course, on Syfy at 10 PM.

Movies:

Gene Hackman stars as a man fending off death in the ocean in The Poseidon Adventure on FMC at 6 PM.

Saturday:

In lieu of their usual Saturday night movie, Syfy is doing a Saw mini-marathon. The puzzle begins at 4:30 PM and covers the first three movies.

Sunday:

Super Hero Squad Show -
A bratty little kid gets control of the world with the help of a sparkly magic tiara. Time for the squad to think like kids if they want to save the world, on the Cartoon Network at 7 PM

Venture Brothers -
The Bros. are back, and Captain Sunshine is joining them. Plus, is Brock seriously gone for good?!? Find out on Cartoon Network at 11:30 PM.

Movies:

Wolvesbayne is a new movie about a werewolf hero who takes on a vampire cult, on Syfy at 9 PM.

NPH's episode, "The Mayhem of the Music Meister" premiered at Comic Con, where it wormed its catchy way into our hearts. UK and Canadian fans have already seen the episode in its entirety, but those looking to catch it on Cartoon Network in the US will have to wait until October 23.

[via Topless Robot]

Pandorum:

Excited about Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster's space horror romp yet? How about after you see this German trailer? It's Teutonic!

And here's a new featurette where the stars actually explain a bit more about the movie:

Zombieland:

A couple TV spots I don't think we've featured before:

The Fourth Kind:

Here's a new poster for this alien abduction/Blair Witch mashup. [IGN]

Twilight: New Moon:

The L.A. Times has a ton of set photos and promo photos from this film. More at the link. [L.A. Times]

Doctor Who:

There's a new Q&A with Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner about the new animated adventure "Dreamland." (It's the third part of three, and the other two parts are here and here.)

Lost:

One new set pic shows Matthew Fox at the airport, dressed in his suit from Flight 815. And there are other set photos showing a new structure being built, which appears to have some ancient walls, and could be a new entrance to that temple. More pics at the first link. [The ODI and The ODI]

FlashForward:

And here's a new description for episode three, "137 Sekunden":

MARK AND JANIS MEET WITH AN IMPRISONED NAZI WHO CLAIMS TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE BLACKOUTS, DEMETRI RECEIVES A TIP ABOUT HIS FUTURE, AND AARON WANTS TO EXHUME HIS DAUGHTER'S BODY TO RE-TEST HER DNA AND CONFIRM HER IDENTITY, ON ABC'S "FLASHFORWARD"
Gabrielle Union Guest Stars as Zoey

"137 Sekunden" - Mark and Janis travel to Germany to speak with an imprisoned Nazi who claims to have knowledge about the blackouts, and an anonymous tip leads Demetri to believe his deepest fears about his future. Meanwhile, Aaron pleads with Mark to help him get the approval to have his daughter's body exhumed in order to re-test her DNA and confirm the identity of the remains.

[SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Here's a new sneak peek from Friday's season opener.

Batman: The Brave And The Bold:

Henry Rollins will guest star as Robotman, the cyborg member of the Doom Patrol, in an upcoming episode. [MTV]

Sanctuary:

Some new promo pics from the season two premiere. [SpoilerTV]

Eastwick:

Here's the official synopsis for episode three, "Madams And Madames":

Haunted by the ghost of her daughter's ex-boyfriend, Roxie questions her sanity and turns to a local psychic for help. Declining Darryl's offer of a high-powered - and high-priced - divorce attorney, Kat decides to give Raymond another chance, but is she only delaying the inevitable? Joanna's quest to find the truth about Darryl leads her to a new and different scandal, and then she realizes her discovery was no accident. Meanwhile, Roxie's daughter, Mia, reluctantly attends her boyfriend's memorial, and though Bun has lost her memory, her mind is consumed with a mysterious symbol.

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Jennifer's Body:

New images from Diablo Cody's horror flick show Needy in formal wear, soaked and covered in mud, but she still comes out looking better than a bloodied, demonically-possessed Jennifer:

[IGN]

Dollhouse:

Michael Hogan, better known as Battlestar Galactica's Saul Tigh, will be making an appearance at the Dollhouse in the second episode. Little has been revealed about the role, except that Hogan will be playing a client. [CinemaBlend]

The Dollhouse crew is also looking to cast two guest stars for their third episode:

[NATE JORDAN] Male, Early to mid 30's. Very attractive. Likable but with a distinct edge. Please submit all ethnicities. BIG GUEST STAR.

[NOREEN] Female, Late 20's to Early 30's. A hot, smart go-getter. Please Submit All Ethnicities. ONE DAY GUEST STAR

[Spoiler TV]

V:

Joel Gretsch explains that his priestly character Father Jack believes we're all God's creatures, but he isn't sure whether the Vs fit under that umbrella:

Morena Baccarin explains that while alien ambassador Anna isn't a fighter, but she will do "whatever is possible to get what she needs:"

Flashforward:

David Goyer says that Dominic Monaghan's character will be a "game changer:"

[Spoiler TV]

Eclipse:

Silent Hill actress Jodelle Ferland joins the cast of the third Twilight movie as a newly turned vampire. [Variety]

Breaking Dawn:

Rumor has it that the adaptation of the final Twilight volume will be broken up into not two but three movies. Edward and Bella's wedding and honeymoon will comprise the first, Bella's pregnancy from Jacob's perspective will be the second, and the third will focus on the early years of Edward and Bella's daughter, Renesmee, which makes shelling out for two tickets to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows seem like a bargain.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold:

Two alumni of the 1960s Batman series will lend their voices to an upcoming episode. Adam West plays Thomas Wayne, Bruce's father, who one night goes to a costume party dressed as a bat and fights off mobsters. Catwoman Julie Newmar will voice Bat-mama Martha Wayne. [CBR]

Smallville:

The third episode of the new season, "Rabid," will focus on a zombie plague that infects the people of Metropolis. Former 24 and 90210 actress Cameron Bancroft will play Dr. Coats, a virologist working on the plague, which infects both Tess and Lois. Also, Oliver burns his Green Arrow costume in this episode. [Spoiler TV]

Casting sides for the fifth episode, "Idol," focus on punky teenager Twyla and her slightly younger skater brother Tanner (whom Kryptonsite suspects could be the Wonder Twins). They spot a man with stolen diamonds in a limo, and Tanner spray paints an S-Shield on the limo's window, hoping to catch the attention of the Blur, a.k.a. Clark Kent. The car ends up lurching forward into a storefront, knocking over a power pole. Later, Chloe brings the siblings into the Watchtower, and they are in awe, realizing that she works with the Blur, as well as other heroes. She threatens to obliterate their social media accounts if they tweet a word of this to everyone, but suggests that maybe they can help her watch the Blur's back. [KryptonSite]

The Vampire Diaries:

The new CW series about pretty vampires and the human girls they obsess over gets yet another promo:

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Introducing the panel, executive producer James Tucker told the excited crowd:

You guys got what we're trying to do with the show, you understand that Batman goes back further than 1989... I always envisioned the show as a show for nerd dads and moms and their offspring.

That family feel continued throughout the panel, culminating with Batman actor Diedrich Bader bringing his two kids onstage to show off their homemade superhero costumes. Bader - one of three voice actors on the panel, alongside John DiMaggio (Aquaman) and James Arnold Taylor (Green Arrow) - explained to the audience why the caped crusader is his best gig yet:

This is my favorite role ever. I've been playing the character for so long now that, we have a scene in a future episode where Batman gets some closure, I can't say too much — but it's huge, I think you can extrapolate from there — and we're recording and I'm there reading it, everyone else is joking and I'm crying, thinking 'It means so much to him...' I realized that I couldn't sell the jokes [as Batman, but] I learned to undersell the joke. I had to sell the reality of the show, there has to be a grounded element [and Batman becomes that element] Once you know that, then there're jokes, but they're really dry. When you know that, you can really move forward with who Batman is. He's 'The Dude'.

For the producers, the fun of the show is more in the freedom it offers, as Michael Jelenic revealed:

The fun thing about this show is that everything I've learned as a writer, I have to disregard. Anything goes... James and I had a 20 minute conversation over whether or not Batman should be wearing a scarf in World War I. I won. He will be wearing a scarf and the goggles... The show works best when we go into the room and have no idea what we're doing. If logic gets in the way, we're in trouble. Our approach is putting things that don't fit together and making them fit together.

According to producer Tucker, future guest-stars on the show will include such DC characters as GI Robot, Detective Chimp, Vixen, Enemy Ace, Captain Marvel and the whole Marvel Family, Firestorm, Metal Men, Doom Patrol, B'Wana Beast, and the villain Starro the Conqueror. Jelenic added that they're "working on" appearances from Superman and Wonder Woman, but there are rights issues involved.

But those aren't the only familiar names involved with the show's upcoming second season. The panel finished with a video showing former Batman TV show Catwoman Julie Newmar recording dialogue for an upcoming episode as Bruce Wayne's mother, Martha Wayne. (Bader told the panel that Batman would get "closure" this season, adding "You all know what I'm talking about"). Tucker later told us that the episode would be an adaptation of a comic where Bruce Wayne discovered that his father had also worn a Batman costume at some time in the past, before telling us that the show will also be adapting the Batman of Zur En Arrh comic from the 1950s, but shying away from the revisionist retcon from last year's Batman RIP.

After the panel, we had a chance to talk to Michael Jelenic about the making of the Neil Patrick Harris-starring musical episode, as well as why the show's tone is so light and fun.

The musical episode was amazing. How long have you been planning it, how long did it take? Tell all, because I'm in a good kind of shock after watching it.

So you liked it.

I thought it amazing. My first thought was that it was the new Dr. Horrible.

Well, you know, I wanted to do a musical in some form for four years. Like, when I was on The Batman, we tried to put in a musical number with Harley and Joker, but that wasn't really a musical, and then, when I was on Legion with James [Tucker, co-executive producer], we sort of talked about it, but there were a lot of reasons why we couldn't do it. But with Brave and the Bold, it's a show where we could do anything. And a show where we always have to try and top ourselves. The show's absurd to begin with, I think, it's all weird stuff, and there's only so many weird situations you can create, and after the Bat-Mite episode, I mean, it's like how can we get bigger than that? The reaction to that surprised us, even Mark Hamill, he came and did a voice on our show and told us that it was messed up.

So, basically, I've been pushing. And James really wanted to do it as well, and he's like, okay, let's do it, but it's so much work. It's so easy for me to say 'Let's do a musical,' because I have the least amount of work to do, so we had to have about three months. The composers had about three months to write the songs. James and I came up with [lyrics], he did two songs and I did three, gave them to the composers, met with them a couple of times. And even after that, that's a huge amount of work, but then we've got to record the voice actors, and that's a huge task. Normally [voice] records take two hours, this took two days.

Because they have to sing in this one.

Yeah, and it has to be perfect. It has to be in tune... Fortunately, Neil Patrick Harris came in and he was amazing, I mean, really professional, got through it really quick and, he gets it. And after the voice records, it's another huge task to direct this. It has to be in rhythm with the song, it has to be choreographed, and it's a huge, huge challenge.

Sitting in the room, I don't know if you really got it from where you were, but everyone was in love with it from the start.

When I work on anything, I tend to hate anything I work on, I tend to only see the flaws, so I told someone else, I won't know whether this is good or not until after the screening.

You've got some really obscure characters coming up in the show... Are you really a massive comic geek?

I'm not, that's the really good thing about the pairing of James and I on the show. James is a huge geek. He knows everything. When I started at Warner Bros and started on The Batman, Batman was pretty much the only character that I knew. Batman and Joker and Penguin, and that's it. And suddenly, I'm indoctrinated into this whole culture over the years, and even starting off with the beginning of Brave and The Bold, I knew none of these characters. [Someone like] Gentlemen Ghost was pretty absurd. Now I look at Gentleman Ghost on our show and there's nothing absurd about him at all... Our goal is to take absurd characters and make them into ridiculous fun. And not just fun, with a character like B'Wana Beast, he has a real serious arc [in the season], and Detective Chimp plays an interesting role at one point in season two. The Haunted Tank thing, I remember when I was doing press for Wonder Woman, someone was telling me about Haunted Tank and I said, 'Is that a character? It sounds so ridiculous.'

We were joking... We were working with the writer of that episode on the closing, and Batman's final line is 'Great job, Haunted Tank.' Because it's a stupid line, but come on. It's the Haunted Tank.

But you embrace the silliness, you're having so much fun, it's infectious.

Yeah, we really lucked out. The stars kind of aligned, the network's been supportive... I've been on shows where you get notes like 'You can't have a character called B'Wana Beast, or Haunted Tank, it's too absurd, kids won't think it's cool.' But they've left us to do what we want, and we either succeed or we fail.

Was there resistance to doing such a light show? You're kind of making Batman silly. Was there resistance to that?

Not from James and I. We've both worked on other Batman shows, so we've done all those plots. So we didn't have that baggage coming in. We wanted to do something different, and we're not going to do a better serious show than Batman: The Animated Series, so let's go in the other direction, because that's the only direction to go and be different, and hit all the demographics. The tone of the show seemed natural, I think.

We've Neil Patrick Harris' guest-shot on the animated Batman show before, but the episode in question - "Mayhem of The Music Meister," one of the series' upcoming second season episodes, which start on Cartoon Network later this year - was premiered at San Diego Comic-Con today, and it's not just the best episode of Brave and The Bold so far, it might also be the thing that replaces Dr. Horrible in your heart. Sure, it may not have Nathan Fillion, but it does have a giant telepathic gorilla waltzing with Aquaman, a nefarious plot to become the richest man on Earth by uniting us all in a mind-controlled musical utopia, and more visual in-jokes about both comics and music than you'd think could be fitted into half an hour... Oh, and some songs that are - heresy! - catchier than the Whedon family's efforts.

We'll be bringing you the highlights of the panel, as well as our conversation with producers Michael Jelenic and James Tucker, soon. Batman: The Brave And The Bold returns later this year, and DVDs of the first season are released August 25th and November 12th.

Spider-Man 4:

A somewhat unlikely comeback: Michael Papajohn, who played the carjacker who kills Uncle Ben in the first movie, reportedly told a convention he'll be back in the fourth. A flashback? Or is the carjacker getting out of prison? Or something else? It could be just a bit part, but it's odd that Papajohn claims to have this gig already, when the script was probably just finished a week ago. Of course, Papajohn may not have said this at all, and it may just be a garbled report. [Superhero Hype]

Star Trek 2:

Co-writer Roberto Orci tells ComicBookMovie it's "tempting" to introduce Khan in this sequel, because the sequel will probably weave in and out of the original continuity the way the first one did. But it's risky, because you open yourself up to comparisons. [ComicBookMovie]

Inception:

Chris Nolan's "architecture of the mind" thriller has reportedly started shooting, and our only real spoiler is that locations reportedly include Tokyo, Tangiers, London, Paris, Calgary and Los Angeles. And did we already pass along the rumor that Ken Watanabe plays an exec who blackmails Leonardo DiCaprio's character? [Slashfilm]

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen:

Here's another new clip from this movie — Shia drops a fragment of the Allspark, and it sets his floor on fire and makes all the household appliances freak out. Hilarity, as they say, ensues.

The Box:

So you might have wondered just how Richard "Southland Tales" Kelly manages to turn Richard Matheson's six-page short story into a feature-length movie. Apparently, it's by treating the original story as the "first act" of a three-act structure. In the original 1970 story, a young couple receive a box with a button in it, and a man tells them that if they press the button, they receive $50,000 but someone they don't know will die. And there's a twist ending you can see coming a mile off if you've ever encountered a twist ending in your life. Kelly continues the story after the twist ending, as the couple struggle to survive and to discover the secrets behind the box. He keeps the story in the 1970s, but ups the reward to a cool million dollars. [Sci Fi Wire]

Doctor Who:

Timothy Dalton "plays a terrifying judge who puts the Doctor on trial in an intergalactic court case," claims a Welsh newspaper. (But I suspect this is made up — I think they're getting this from the Sun, which invented this plot strand when they were running our photos without attribution last week.) [Wales Online]

Fringe:

J.J. Abrams explains what's coming in season two:

First of all, I would say that the first year was about learning there is an enemy and I would say that Season 2 is about knowing the enemy. As the show progresses, and in the second season, it's building to a specific confrontation and a really interesting shift in the fundamental paradigm on the show in a very cool way. Without going into any details about it, it has a fun, fresh way in next year that I think you never know how it's going to work, but cross your fingers people are going to like it. Next season is thrilling for me, not in that they audience is coming back to experience what we're doing, but the excitement is not just these characters, but now playing with [those characters].

[IF Magazine via HeyUGuys]

FlashForward:

We will find out why everyone on Earth blacks out for exactly two minutes and 17 seconds, in particular. Alex Kingston (River Song from Doctor Who) has a role in the pilot and it's hinted she'll be back. The show's first thirteen episodes take place in six countries, including one episode in Dubai (with subtitles.) There are 10 main characters and each of them has his/her plot arc mapped out on a "mega bulletin board" made out of six regular-sized boards. And the MosaicCollective website will be an actual plot device on the show — everyone on Earth can go on there and map out what their flashforwards were, and cross-reference with other people's. It's the new Facebook. Saying "I Mosaiced you" will become common and grammatical.

There's an aspiring musician who has a "flashforward" showing that he becomes a huge rock star, but the two minutes and 17 seconds end just before he's about to play his signature song — leaving him uncertain what that song might be, and whether he's written it yet. None of the people who are in the audience during that flashforward know what the song is, either. And we'll find out if animals also experienced the "flashforward" phenomenon. [Zap2It]

Heroes:

New set photos show Milo Ventimiglia and Zachary Quinto on set together. Are Peter and Sylar going to have an encounter, after Matt's incredibly inept brainwashing wears off for the first time? (Really, it was more like a brain-splashing. Or even a brain-sprinkling.) Way more pics at the link. [Just Jared via SpoilerTV]

Warehouse 13:

Star Eddie McClintock describes his character, Pete Latimer:

He's a very impulsive, intelligent, man-child who has joined the Secret Service, in order to make good on some feelings of guilt that he has, in relation to the death of his father, when he was a child. He wants to make the world right.

And there's an episode where he's stuck in a cave and an artifact is trying to attach itself to his body, and he's in pain and terrified. Also, Myka (his fellow agent) gets into an altercation with Pete at one point, where she's punching and kicking him, and he's getting thrown over a table, knocking over lamps, and then falls down a hole.

Normally, though, Pete and Myka have a sort of brother-sister relationship, with Pete being the annoying younger brother. Over the course of the show, the Warehouse full of arcane artifacts becomes more of a main character itself, with the artifacts serving as antagonists. But around episode four, we meet a flesh-and-blood antagonist who's someone from warehousekeeper Artie (Saul Rubinek)'s past. [IESB]

Batman: The Brave And The Bold:

A few more details about that upcoming musical episode starring Neil Patrick Harris. Apparently, it co-stars Aquaman, voiced by John "Bender" DiMaggio, who also voices Gorilla Grodd — and Aquaman sings! Given how boastful and shallow DiMaggio's version of Arthur Curry is, that ought to be fun to watch. [Newsarama]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Sadly, NPH won't actually be playing Dr. Horrible, since that would probably fracture the space-time continuum. Instead, he'll be playing the Music Meister, an amalgam of various DC Comics villains, who uses his ability to create music to dominate the world. Or something. He's a former band camp nerd who's become a megalomaniac. Mostly, the episode's plot is "just an excuse to have everyone sing," says producer James Tucker. Oh, like the Buffy musical episode then?

Here's your first look at NPH's look as a Batman villain:


[TV Guide Magazine]

Monday:

The Universe –
What's "Beyond The Big Bang" after all? Physicists and historians gather round to talk creation and utilize some nifty animations showing how the universe was made, on The History Channel at 9 PM.

Movies:
Could anyone replace Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice? Seriously I'd love to see someone try to remake the ghost with the most, and fail miserably. Even the cartoon was funny, but sadly not the same without MK. Watch the original on ABC Family at 9:30 PM, and marvel at how young and innocent Alec Baldwin looked.

Tuesday:

There's a Doctor Who marathon from 8 AM to 4 PM over at the SciFi Channel — nothing wrong with that.

Life After People –
What will happen to the city of cars when we all disappear? Will Detroit's vast car lots become dangerous land mines? Also looks like the future aliens will have a long-horn cattle problem if they ever try to settle on Earth after we're gone. Seriously hasn't this show run out of topics yet? "It will get old, deteriorate and be covered with plants" seems to be the answer for everything. But maybe cars will be different. Check it out on the History Channel at 10 PM.

Wednesday:

MonsterQuest –
Think crocodiles only eat pirate hands? WRONG, these creatures are large and in charge — just ask the cast of Lake Placid. In fact, since I can't find a clip from this week's episode on the The History Channel at 9 PM, I'm going to include my favorite Placid moment, to get you revved up for super ginormous crocodiles.

Mythbusters –
The boys pin cars against the rain and proceed to bust up all the weather related car myths on The Discovery Channel at 9 PM.

Ryan Reynolds is on Letterman — shilling for The Proposal, no doubt — but maybe he'll talk a little Deadpool, which is infinitely more interesting than yet another rom com. We'll have to wait and see on CBS at 11:30

Conan plays host to William Shatner, and McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). So there's really no reason not to tune into The Tonight Show on NBC at 11:30.

Thursday:

Mini Joan Of Arcadia marathon on from 8 AM until 3 PM on the SciFi Channel. It's all about a modern day Joan of Arc (kind of.) Oh, and God is a hottie.

Movies:
There's a bit o' Bond to get you through the night, from the SciFi Channel. At 6:30 PM Roger Moore stars in the movie with maybe the best theme song, Live and Let Die. After that, Pierce Bronsan takes the reins to ensure Tomorrow Never Dies.

Friday:
Batman The Brave And The Bold -
Batman gets zapped to the future, where animals are humanoid, and now we're the pets, or urm... slaves? But whatever — there are CAT PEOPLE, on the Cartoon Network at 8:30 PM.

Clip:

Clip:

Clip:

Saturday:

Kings –
It's Silas' birthday and uh-oh, there's a city-wide blackout. And you guys know what blackout is code for in TV land, secret sex, and lots of it. In the darkness, David tries to explain himself to the Princess, Jack makes off for his secret man lover and I sit alone in the corner and weep for what NBC did to this beautiful series. Kings is on NBC at 8 PM.

Primeval -
The ARC is being taken over by the military, and the group has to flee to the hills. As our heroes abandon their technology, it's humans versus prehistoric Terror Birds, on BBC America at 9 PM.

Sunday:
There's a Mythbusters marathon from 10 a.m. to past midnight, which promises a lot of smashing and crashing.

BBC Earth -
The lovely series BBC Earth will be airing on BBC America. This special is dedicated "Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life," delightful. It airs at 5 PM.

First 10 Minutes

Impact –
The two-parter miniseries Impact has managed to do the unthinkable, make both Natasha Henstridge and David James Elliot unattractive. But you know you're going to watch it, because there's nothing else on TV, and you're a sucker for an apocalypse movie. The moon is crashing to Earth, and it's up to these mega cable TV show stars to save us all, at 9 PM on ABC.

Impact Promo

True Blood -
Mother of God, what have you done to my Lafayette? There had better be some explaining this episode. But it looks like this week, we're in for some Jessica and Sookie one-on-one time, so no that shouldn't be shrillingly annoying at all. Ah, I kid. I love you ladies and every melodramatic moment you give me, bad accents and all. "Keep This Party Going" is on HBO at 10 PM.

Additional writing and reporting by Caitlin Petrakovitz.

Monday:

The Universe -
This weeks episode explores the dangers of space exploration, and the many ways the cosmic void can kill you. Check it out on the History Channel at 8 PM.

Tuesday:

Life After People -
Once we're all gone, what will happen to our all our WMDs? Will they detonate eventually, after time has its way with each deadly missile? Assuming any animals survive our extinction, would they be in danger if all the bombs on the Earth went boom? Life After People is on the History Channel at 9 PM.

Movies:

The saddest little robot in all the world with the longest never-ending tale, A.I., is on 7:30 PM on Cinemax.

Meet the man who's so extreme his name has three X's. That's right Vin Diesel's XXX, the movie about some tattooed extreme sports guy who has to fight terrorists (of course), is on 5 PM on FX.

Wednesday:

MonsterQuest -
The monster gang gets to the bottom of a monkey creature that terrorized the people of New Delhi in 2001. A South Asian cousin of Big Foot? I'm thinking yes, but get all the monster facts on the History Channel at 9 PM.

Mythbusters -
Time to test the curve-the-bullet theory from the scrupulously scientific movie Wanted, on Mythbusters over on the Discovery Channel at 9 PM.

Here Is The Actual Video From The User Challenge:

Thursday:

Eliza Dushku fans, rejoice! There's a Tru Calling marathon from 8 AM until 3 PM on the Syfy Channel.

Movies:

Watch the art of dragon riding and pouty swordplay, while watching Eragon at 7:30 PM on the ABC Family channel.

Learn how to drink beer the alien way in the SNL sketch inspired film Coneheads, staring the original players Dan Aykoyd and Jane Curtin. It airs on Comedy Central at 4:30 PM.

Friday:

Batman: The Brave and the Bold -
Jonah Hex winds up in Gotham after a battle with Zebra-Man, and a little time traveling. After some initial misundersandings, Batman is convinced to help Hex back to his time in exchange for information. The new episode is on Cartoon Network at 8:30 PM.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Clip:

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Clip:

Saturday:

Kings -
God save NBC's Kings. The alternate reality monarchy drama is back in action tonight. Where did we leave off? In this episode Jack and David go to Gath to "shore up" the peace, and I think we all know what that means. Also Michelle prances around with her health bill some more, and Silas tries to protect the city from a plague (which was actually made before all this scary swine flu drama so how strangely timely). Kings is back at 8 PM on NBC, for two more weeks.

Primeval -
A flesh eating fungus from the past is unleashed onto our world turning one soul into a fungus monster. BBC America at 9 PM.

Primeval Trailer:

Pushing Daisies -
It's the proper series finale for Daisies. The Darling Mermaid Darling's rival Aquadolls are killed, which means it's time for a mermaid revival. Olive and Ned team up to uncover the murderer, while Chuck hides in the wings. Watch, for the last time, our dear pie-maker and friends, on ABC at 10 PM.

Trailer (Sorry it's in German, can't find English)

Sunday:

True Blood-
It's been too long since we've blown a blood line and got naked with the ridiculous vampire community in Bon Temps. But this Sunday Alan Ball's blood sucking series based on the books by Charlaine Harris is back. So whose foot was that in the car? Are our worst suspicions true, and the very best character from last season is now food for worms? Will I be able to even watch this series without one redeeming character (unless the new religious ones are interesting? I'm thinking no.) Guess we'll have to wait and see, on HBO at 9 PM.

True Blood Trailer Promo

Monday:

Underwater Universe -
Dive to the bottom of the ocean without getting wet. Learn all about deadly threats in the deep blue sea, as the special takes you to the seven deadliest zones in the history of the ocean. Check it out on the History Channel at 8 PM.

Tuesday:

Earth 2100 -
ABC imagines what will happen to our filthy, polluting butts in 2100, by consulting the experts and asking for video submissions from people all over. In their nightmare scenario, gas will be $9 a gallon and a carton of milk will be $12. Hell, screw the endangered species — that's expensive. But if you factor in inflation... maybe we'll focus back on the animals. One expert theorizes that we'll resort back to a Medieval caste system, which could be fun if it's like we get to live in an SCA gathering full-time. ABC News Special: Earth 2100 is on at 9 PM.

Trailer:

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Clip:


Clip:


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Movies:

Buckle down for a back-to-back buster evening, with screenings of the original Ghostbusters at 8 PM and Ghostbusters II at 10:30 PM on AMC.

Wednesday:

MonsterQuest -
The monster hunters trek over to Papau New Guinea in search of a flying creature with a 20-ft. wingspan... aaaaand sold. See if the being is a terrifying giant bat, or just a dragon, on the History Channel at 9 PM.

Life After People -
So now that we know what will happen to paintings and our swimming pools (both will become overrun by bugs and disease) what about Sin City? What's in store for Las Vegas, once we're all gone? Will the animals learn how to play blackjack? Life After People is on the History Channel at 9 PM.

Mythbusters -
Can you really tunnel your way out of a cement prison with a tiny mallet? New Mythbusters puts science to work on common prison escape myths on the Discovery Channel at 9 PM.

Movies:
Possibly the best of the Stargate movies, Continuum, is on the Syfy Channel at 9 PM. Delve deep into the man that is Ben Browder, when the world erases him (and many members of his team) from existence, at 9 PM.

Thursday:

There is an original-series Land Of The Lost marathon over at the Syfy Channel from 6 AM until 5:30 PM.

Friday:

Batman: The Brave and the Bold -
Catwoman is getting frisky, and interfering with our main Bat's plans for a quiet crime free evening. Plus, the Red Tornado faces a difficult decision when he needs to turn off his own son. The new episode is on Cartoon Network at 8:30 PM.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Clip:

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Clip:

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Clip:

Saturday:

Primeval -
Mick steals an anomaly detector to uncover what's going on at the airport. But when a Giganotosaurus appears they have figure out a way to get it back in time, before the public realizes they're in danger and panics. That's on BBC America at 9 PM.

Primeval Trailer:

Pushing Daisies -
A rich man's murder leads some breadcrumbs to the location of Emerson's missing daughter. David Arquette moons over Olive as Randy Mann. Catch the second to last Daisies ever on ABC, at 10 PM.

Trailer (Sorry it's in German, can't find English)

Sunday:

Movies:
The Syfy channel premiere of Bottom Feeders, a bloody little film about a maintenance crew that becomes the snack for the monster living in their building. Starring Tom Sizemore, on the Syfy Channel at 8 PM.