I’m telling you what’s on TV tonight purely for TiVo recording purposes, of course… I know you’ll all be out painting the town red on this fine New Year’s Eve. And who wouldn’t want to TiVo Ryan Seacrest’s version of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2008 (ABC, 11:35/10:35c)? Just typing that was painful. Here are some alternatives:
New Year, No Limits, ESPN, 11/10c
Rock in the New Year by watching two daredevil (read: stupid) stunts: At 12:00am Eastern, Robbie Maddison will try to jump the length of a football field with a motorcycle, and Ryhs Millen will try to do a 360-degree backflip with a truck at 12:00am on the West coast. ERs, please stand by.
New Year’s Eve Live, FOX, 11/11c/11m/11p
Spike Feresten hosts with Cat Deeley in NYC; Jordan Sparks, Blake Lewis and Lifehouse perform.
New Year’s Eve with Anderson Cooper, CNN, 11/10c
Anderson will be eye candy reporting from Times Square, while other correspondents we don’t really care about will be live from Key West, New Orleans, Las Vegas and more.
Tila Tequila’s New Year’s Masquerade 2008, MTV, 11/10c
Tila hosts a wild costume party for MTV with help from Perez Hilton, Mary J. Blige, Kid Rock, Good Charlotte and more. I’m going to bite my tongue on this one.
New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly, NBC, 11:35
Alicia Keys performs on the rooftop of Rockefeller Center (hells yeah!), while Lenny Kravitz goes nuts in Times Square. Carson, who?
MARATHON ALERT: And, for those of you who want to be different and bring in the New Year in real TV style, there’s a Twilight Zone marathon on SCI FI starting at 8am/7c.
Happy New Year’s!
Saturday:
Mini-Marathon Alert: Samantha Who? ABC, 8/7c89
Catch 4 episodes in a row of Christina Applegate’s hit, “Holy crap, I woke up from a coma and have no idea who I am” comedy.
Mad TV, FOX, 11/10c
Susan Sarandon (how’d they snag her?) hosts “Mad TV’s Most Wanted,” which is basically a clip show of their favorite skits.
Movie: Good Night, and Good Luck, CBS, 8/7c
Don’t miss this awesome performance by David Stathairn as Edward R. Murrow… and who can forget that George Clooney directed and starred in this Oscar-nominated movie as well. Yummy.
Saturday Night Football: New England Patriots at New York Giants, NFLNET, 8/7c
Head to a local sports bar if you want to watch this (bloodbath) game between the undefeated Patriots and the mediocre Giants.
Sunday:
The Simpsons, FOX, 8/7c
Gotta love an episode guest-starring Steve Buscemi as Dwight, a man who befriends poor Marge before robbing a bank. DOH!
Cold Case, CBS, 8/7c
Tim McGraw (sap alert!) provides the emotional soundtrack for this episode about Lilly and Valens heading down South to investigate the murder of a singer.
Masterpiece Theatre: Jane Eyre, PBS, 9/8c
Ruth Wilson plays the title role in this two-part adaptation of Jane Eyre that aired last January for the first time. It’s a great ride for those who love the book.
Amazing Race, CBS, 8/7
What can I say… you know the drill: Watch the teams race across the globe while they destroy or bring their relationships closer together in the process. Good freakin’ TV.
Unless you’re into sports, you’re gonna have to settle on watching re-runs you may have missed the first time around.
Men in Trees, ABC, 8/7c
Marin gets lost in the forest trying to find a secret ingredient for her stew (no, I’m not kidding). Meanwhile, Lynn wishes Jack would find his romantic groove again.
Numb3rs, CBS, 10/9
Don tries to find the culprit behind some scary blackouts in L.A., while Charlie tries to figure out what the next target will be.
Moonlight, CBS, 9/8c
Mick fears his identity will be leaked by a recently released ex-con.
Singing Bee, NBC, 8/7c
Hold onto your hats, kids, because tonight is TV theme song night… that’s right, tunes from Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island will be stuck in your head all weekend.
Champs Sports Bowl: Boston College vs. Michigan State, ESPN, 5/4c
Emerald Bowl: Maryland vs. Oregon State, ESPN, 8:30/7:30c
The Office, NBC, 9/8c
This is the classic episode with Roy trying to kick Jim’s ass, and instead, getting doused with Dwight’s handy pepper spray. And of course, there’s Michael “negotiating” with Jan for a pay increase. You can’t miss this episode this time around.
Born in the Wrong Body, MSNBC, 11/10c
Take a fascinating and painful look at issues facing transgendered people at different stages of the redefinition of their genders.
Family Television Awards, CW, 9/8c
Something tells me Brit and Jamie Lynn will be missing from the show this year. But, fear not! The cast of High School Musical 2 will be there to honor their movie, and fellow cast member Zac Effron.