News & Notes

Tonight, ABC has the Series Premiere of My Diet Is Better Than Yours, CBS has the series premiere of Angel From Hell, and NBC has the series premiere of Shades of Blue.

Over on cable, Cooking Channel has the first season finale of Sugar Showdown, IFC has the third season premiere of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, and Spike TV has the second season premiere of Lip Sync Battle.

Find out what new and returning shows will be hitting our TV screens in January, February and early March by checking out the latest episode of TV times Three: Ep.304, “Winter TV Preview” On this episode I am joined by @kyool and @TheTeleverse to preview the 2016 Winter TV Schedule.

Prime Pick

The Big Bang Theory (CBS): New. “The Sales Call Sublimation.” Runs 31 minutes.
Life in Pieces (CBS): New. Heather and Tim find a couple they really like, but their kids don’t get along. Greg wigs out about them both flying on the same plane. Matt is surprised by his ex-wife’s visit. Starts a minute after the half hour and runs 30 minutes.

Mom (CBS): New. Christy puts on a dinner for Violet’s future mother-in-law. Bonnie puts the brakes on when Steven wants to take their relationship up a level. Starts a minute after the hour and runs 29 minutes.
Angel From Hell (CBS): Series Premiere. An uptight doctor gets a visit from her guardian angel, or weird stalker, to try and get her to lighten up and have more fun in her life. Runs 30 minutes. Not always a big Jane Lynch (Glee) fan, but I think she is used very well here. Maggie Lawson (Psych) is also good too. Kevin Pollack (Mom) and Kyle Bornheimer (Perfect Couples) do some good work in small parts. The premise is kind of stupid, because if anyone needs a visit from their guardian angel, it’s probably not a well-to-do doctor. But, putting that aside, I laughed a lot and in the second episode too. So, as a comedy that makes me laugh, it is definitely worth checking out and makes for quite the two-hour comedy block on CBS Thursdays. Will you be checking this one out tonight?

Elementary (CBS): New. Watson learns that her stepfather is writing a novel based on her work with Sherlock. The case involves the investigation of a murdered FBI agent that may have something to do with one of his former cases.

Solid Selections

Heroes Reborn (NBC): New. Luke and Malina work together to get to Tommy and save everyone after Noah vanished. At Sunstone Manor there is a battle to free the people under Matt Parkman’s control.

The Blacklist (NBC): New. Red and Aram attempt to protect Liz as she waits to be tried. Part 1 of 2.

Shades of Blue (NBC): Series Premiere. NYPD detective Harlee Santos, played by Jennifer Lopez, who has gone in with a crew of dirty cops gets arrested by the FBI and put back undercover to takedown her boss and other members of her squad. This is a solid show. If you like twisty undercover stories, you may like this one. Lopez is good and Ray Liota is chewing some pretty good scenery and the rest of the cast aint bad either. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before and they aren’t bringing anything new to it. But, it is well done and worth watching if you like these types of shows or are a J.Lo fan, as she is front and center and everything revolves around her character.

Other Options

• Ash vs Evil Dead (Starz Edge): Repeat. This past Saturday night’s first season finale episode, “The Dark One,” replays. Runs 40 minutes. Plays earlier in the evening.
• The Shannara Chronicles (VH1): Repeat. Based on The Elfstones of Shannara, the second novel of the original Shannara Trilogy by Terry Brooks. An Elvin princess, an elf-human hybrid and a human Rover must band together on a quest to stop demons from overtaking the Four Lands. Runs two hours. For more about the series, check out my spoiler-free preview of The Shannara Chronicles.

Sports Notes

• CBS Sports has doubleheader college basketball action tonight with Bryant at Wagner followed by Old Dominion at Louisiana Tech.
• ESPN has doubleheader college basketball action tonight.
• ESPN2 has doubleheader college basketball action tonight.
• ESPNU has tripleheader college basketball action tonight with Michigan at Purdue, Alabama at Mississippi and Santa Clara at BYU.
• NBA TV has doubleheader NBA action tonight with the Boston Celtics at the Chicago Bulls followed by the Los Angeles Lakers at the Sacramento Kings.

Thursday TV Marathons

Blue Bloods (ION): Has 14 episodes.
Episodes (SHO2): Season four today.
The Golden Girls (Logo): Has 12 episodes tonight.
Law & Order (SundanceTV): Has 12 episodes tonight into late night.

• Printable Winter 2016 TV Schedule v1.01 (PDF) - Last Updated: 1.24.2016
• Printable Winter 2016 Cable TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 12.20.2015 - Includes Amazon Prime, Netflix and PBS.