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Weekend Edition
The usual suspects come back together in the 4th season of "Californication" (premieres Sunday at 9pm on Showtime) - but will they become a family or finally head their separate ways?
The highlights for this weekend include Jim Carrey's hosting of "SNL" tomorrow night - his very presence will keep everyone on their A-game, we hope. Carrey did a very funny promotion for the show last night on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" by conducting his entire interview with Fallon on a treadmill where he was, in fact, running at a pretty good clip.We already wrote extensively about two of Showtime's Sunday premieres, "Episodes" and "Shameless," both are great shows and are worth your time - perhaps even so worth it, that combined with "Dexter," "Nurse Jackie," and the upcoming "The Borgias," might be enough to convince you to subscribe. Showtime will also be premiering the 4th season of "Californication" this Sunday. If you've pulled away from "Californication" over the last couple seasons, you might want to come back as we found the entire season to be pretty darn good, so good that we were compelled to watch the entire season in one sitting. Season 4 features a lot of getting back to the basics between David Duchovny's Hank Moody and his somewhat estranged girlfriend/wife and daughter, Karen and Becca played by Natascha McElhone and Madeleine Martin (who is fantastic!).
This doesn't mean that the sexual hijinks are over for Hank Moody, however, as the show sticks to the formula of at least one Hank Moody sexual encounter per episode. But there seems to be even more laughs this time between Hank, his literary agent Charlie Runkle (Evan Handler) and Charlie's ex-wife Marcy (Pamela Adlon). We were also very happy to see the return of Madeline Zima as Mia Lewis - when we talked to the very sweet Madeline at the Summer Television Critics Association sessions, it seemed like only a "film version" of Mia would appear but in order to figure out what exactly happened when Hank and the underage Mia hooked up several seasons ago, Zima was brought back. We don't want to utter any spoilers but there are some great story arcs and performances by guest stars during a season that brings everything to the next level.
The "problem" is that this 2 hour block of Showtime pretty much eclipses most other Sunday offerings for this mid-season. If you want big-network superheroes, then you have the premiere of "The Cape" on NBC at 9pm; Comedy Central will be showcasing comics on Sundays and this Sunday at 10pm they are kicking it off with Louie C.K.'s "Hilarious" which will be funny despite being edited all to hell. The one exception is HBO's "Big Love" which premieres its final season on the 16th - thankfully both HBO and Showtime repeat their shows multiple times per week so you will have the chance to DVR them and/or go the on-demand route, the question we have for you is: which shows do you feel like you must watch on their first airing?
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For a taste of the new season of "Tosh.0" check out the video embed at the end of this post. "Tosh.0" will be back on Tuesday at 10pm on Comedy Central.
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The TV Junkie Must-Watch Plan: Tonight - "The Soup," "Fashion Police," Letterman (Regis Philbin, comic Hannibal Buress; No Age perform), Fallon (Michelle Williams, comic Patton Oswalt). Saturday - "Saturday Night Live" (Jim Carrey hosts, the Black Keys perform). Sunday - "Nature," "Californication," "Episodes," "Shameless."
Tonight
7:00pm Young Justice Cartoon Network - Series Premiere
8:00pm Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes OWN - Series Premiere
9:00pm Law & Order: UK BBC America - Season Finale
9:00pm Your Own Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star OWN - Series Premiere
10:00pm The Soup E! - Joel McHale and company kick off the new year.
10:00pm Merlin Syfy - Season Premiere
10:00pm Outrageous Food Food - Season Finale
10:00pm Twisted ID - Season Premiere
10:3opm Fashion Police E! - Joan Rivers and friends will probably be ripping attendees of the People's Choice Awards new ones
11:35pm Late Show With David Letterman CBS - TV host Regis Philbin; comic Hannibal Buress; No Age perform
11:35pm The Tonight Show With Jay Leno NBC - Actor Jim Parsons; actress Hailee Steinfeld; Lukas Nelson performs.
12:35am The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson CBS - Actress Mila Kunis; comic Geechy Guy.
12:35am Late Night With Jimmy Fallon NBC - Actress Michelle Williams; comic Patton Oswalt; restaurant owners Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow.
Saturday
8:00pm It's Me or the Dog Animal Planet - Season Premiere
9:00pm Primeval BBC America - When Connor finds a deadly Kaprosuchus terrorizing the docks, he must work with the new ARC leader.
9:00pm Celebrity Ghost Stories BBC America - Season Finale.
11:25pm Saturday Night Live NBC - Actor Jim Carrey hosts; the Black Keys perform.
Sunday
8:00pm Food Network Challenge Food - Season Premiere
8:00pm Infested! Animal Planet - Series Premiere
8:00pm Sonny with a Chance Disney - Season Finale
8:00pm Nature PBS/KOCE - Elsa's Legacy: The Born Free Story The fate of lions since the publication of "Born Free" 50 years ago; an update to the people featured in the film Born Free
8:30pm Bob's Burgers Fox - Series Premiere
9:00pm Alaska State Troopers National Geographic - Season Premiere
9:00pm Californication Showtime - Season Premiere. Exile on Main St.
9:00pm Desperate Housewives ABC - Susan's mother (Lesley Ann Warren) and aunt (Valerie Harper) visit; Gaby's feelings of loss turn into an obsession
9:00pm The Cape NBC - Series Premiere. Former police officer Vince Faraday teams up with carnival misfits in order to fight crime; The Cape must rely on his friends to help him stop Chess from taking over Palm City's jails.
9:00pm Masterpiece! PBS - Season Premiere. Downton Abbey When the Titanic goes down, Lord Grantham loses his heirs, and Mary loses her fiance.
9:00pm The Wild Within Travel - Series Premiere
9:30pm Episodes Showtime - Series Premiere. Episode 1
10:00pm Louis C.K.: Hilarious Comedy Central - Special. The comedian, creator and tar of "Louis" has his standup act showcased on Comedy Central.
10:00pm Shameless Showtime - Series Premiere. Pilot
11:45pm Robot Chicken Cartoon Network - Season Premiere
| Tosh.0 | Tosh Tuesdays 9pm / 8c | |||
| Tosh.0: Season 3 Is Coming | ||||
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