(ALL TIMES ET)

10PM | Showtime
Nurse Jackie – When Jackie finds Kevin’s little sister sleeping off a hangover in her daughters’ room, she suspects Kevin brought his sis there to keep an eye on Jackie after the failed intervention. The phrase “fox guarding the hen house” is coming to mind here …

8PM | NBC
Chuck – Chuck has been a great show, and, as several save-the-series campaigns prove, a real fan favorite, and I’ll watch it ’til the end. But, as the return of Volkoff, Ellie’s continuing obsession with her dad’s computer and yet another Chuck/Sarah relationship issue make up tonight’s tired storylines, the time for it to end may be at hand.

8PM | NGC
Civil Warriors – To mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the National Geographic Channel has two nights of special programming on tap, including a three-hour block of this series, in which descendants of Civil War vets – including Frederick Douglass – go on a research mission to find out about their relatives’ experiences.

8PM | GSN – SERIES PREMIERE
Drew Carey’s Improv-a-Ganza – Drew and his improv buddies Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles and Wayne Brady are back!

8PM | FOX
House – In the show’s 150th episode, Thirteen (Olivia Wilde) is sprung from jail, and finds House waiting for her to 1) find out why she went to the hoosegow in the first place and 2) take her to a … spud-gun competition? Yup.

8PM | CBS
How I Met Your Mother – Ted and Zoey have another tiff, which may mean good news for fans, ‘cuz this coupling just isn’t working. In a more fun storyline, Marshall quits his job to do volunteer work.

9PM | FOX
Chicago Code – A Windy City heatwave has led to the possibility blackouts, which is only fueling emotions when Wysocki and Evers are assigned to the heartbreaking case of a son who witnessed his dad’s murder.

9PM | PBS
The Great Famine – Yet another compelling entry in the American Experience series covers U.S. efforts to help Russian citizens during a famine in the early 1920s, including archival footage and the story of the many obstacles American volunteers had to overcome just to get sustenance to the starving Soviets.

9PM | NBC
Law & Order: Los Angeles – The spin-off returns as Skeet Ulrich‘s Rex Winters makes his exit. A permanent exit.

10PM | BRAVO
Bethenny Ever After – On the heels of her birthday breakdown, Bethenny faces another big drama when she has to leave beautiful baby Bryn for the first time as she heads off on a Skinny Girl business trip.

10PM | ABC
Castle – Crime novelists Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly guest star as themselves and, during a poker game, try to help Castle unravel the complicated case of an aspiring Olympic swimmer who’s been found dead in a pool.

10PM | THE HUB
Family Ties – It’s a classic: Tom Hanks guest stars as Uncle Ned, Alex’s hero, until it becomes clear that his great uncle has a huge drinking problem.

10PM | LOGO
The NewNowNext Awards – The pop culture kudosfest, taped last week in Hollywood, is hosted by The Beek – Ke$hia Blow video scene stealer James Van Der Beek – and includes appearances by Panic! At the Disco, Adam Lambert, Paula Abdul, the Fabulous Beekman Boys and Robyn.

Worth flipping to during commercials:
– It’s week four of competition on Dancing With the Stars (8PM, ABC);
– Intervention: Hillbilly Heroin (8PM, A&E) focuses on the oxycodone problem in Scioto County, a southern Ohio community that’s on the DEA’s list of the top 10 illegal drug trafficking spots;
– Ben proposes on The Secret Life of the American Teenager (8PM, ABC Family);
– Adam visits businesses making yummy and unusual chocolate treats on Kid in a Candy Store (8:30PM, Food Network);
– All new episodes of All Worked Up kick off on truTV (9PM);
– In the first season finale of Being Human (9PM, Syfy), we flashback to when Aidan and Josh first met;
– Buddy serves as grand marshal for the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Hoboken on Cake Boss (9PM, TLC);
– Emily wonders whether gymnastics is worth giving up life as a regular teen on Make It or Break It (9PM, ABC Family);
– Carl wigs when Mike invites Molly to join them for Cubs opening day on Mike & Molly (9PM, CBS);
– On The Hard Times of RJ Berger (10PM, MTV), Jenny freaks out over getting her first-ever zit, while Lily’s big pimpin’ with her settlement check from the bus company;
– Kono gets the scoop on what really ended Chin Ho’s police career on Hawaii Five-O (10PM, CBS);
– A&E kicks off the sixth season of Paranormal State with back-to-back episodes (10PM);
– Back-to-back new episodes of Pawn Stars on History (10PM);
– LaToya Jackson is a judge when the contestants don dressed made of money on RuPaul’s Drag Race (10PM, Logo).

And the late-night line-up:
– Conan (11PM, TBS): Chris O’Donnell, Lil Jon and P.J. Harvey;
– The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (11PM, Comedy Central): Foo Fighters;
– The Colbert Report (11:30PM, Comedy Central): Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage;
– The Late Show with David Letterman (11:35PM, CBS): Alec Baldwin;
– The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:35PM, NBC): Jamie Foxx;
– Lopez Tonight (Midnight, TBS): Russell Brand;
– Jimmy Kimmel Live (12:05AM, ABC): David Arquette;
– Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (12:35AM, NBC): Miley Cyrus and Michael Stipe (REPEAT);
– The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (12:37AM, CBS): Isabella Rosselini;
– Last Call with Carson Daly (1:35AM, NBC): Lykke Li (REPEAT).

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• Filed in Chuck, Classic TV, Late Night, TV Picks
• Tags: Bethenny Ever After, Castle, Chicago Code, Chuck, Drew Carey's Improv-a-Ganza, Family Ties, House, How I Met Your Mother, Law & Order: Los Angeles, NewNowNext Awards, Nurse Jackie

(ALL TIMES ET)

10PM | FX
Justified – It’s easily one of the series’ best episodes so far, which is saying a lot. Raylan’s papa gets arrested again, Raylan’s services are requested for a state task force that’s investigating Harlan County crime and Boyd …. ah, Boyd. He gets mixed up in a payroll robbery scheme at the mine, and the consequences for some are tragic. The consequences for Boyd portrayer Walton Goggins, meanwhile, should be an Emmy.

8PM | FOX
American Idol – The top 13 perform songs from their favorite artists in the first night of finalists competition.

8PM | CBS
Survivor: Redemption Island – It’s Russell vs. Matt on Redemption Island.

9:30PM | ABC
Mr. Sunshine – When Ben (Matthew Perry) finds out Roman has no place to crash, the two become roomies.

10PM | CBS
Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior – As the team tries to track down a serial sniper, the sharp shooter sets his sights on Mick.

10PM | SYFY
Face Off – The final five have to disguise themselves, and fool their families, to win tonight’s challenge.

10PM | THE HUB
Family Ties – The Hub airs the two-part series finale of the classic Michael J. Fox sitcom, in which Alex P. Keaton lands his dream job in New York City.

10PM | ID – SERIES PREMIERE
Nothing Personal – Steve Schirripa, a.k.a. The Sopranos‘ Bobby Baccalieri, hosts this compelling new series that profiles paid assassins and famous hit man killings.

10PM | MTV – 25TH SEASON PREMIERE
The Real World: Las Vegas – Yep, season 25! The second cast to hit Vegas will shack up at the Hard Rock, and they promise to be as wild, crazy and skanky as the first set of LV RWers.

10PM | BRAVO
Top Chef: All Stars – The chefs head to the Bahamas, but paradise turns ugly when they have to go head-to-head against the winners of their previous Top Chef seasons, and then whip up vittles for Bahamian royalty with only the barest of equipment.

Worth flipping to during commercials:
– The girls model couture dresses on America’s Next Top Model (8PM, The CW);
– Bobby competes to bake the best Boston cream pie on Throwdown With Bobby Flay (8:30PM, Food Network);
– The teams battle for their wedding flowers on tonight’s Shedding for the Wedding (9PM, The CW);
– The infamous “Bling Ring,” the group of teens who burglarized celeb homes in Los Angeles, is profiled on American Greed (10PM, CNBC);
– A woman is caught stealing from her neighbor on Hoarding: Buried Alive (10PM, TLC);
– Joy depends on a homeless dude (guest star Jon Lovitz) to get her green card on Hot in Cleveland (10PM, TV Land).

And the late-night line-up:
– Conan (11PM, TBS): Pee-wee Herman;
– The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (11PM, Comedy Central): Aaron Eckhart;
– The Colbert Report (11:30PM, Comedy Central): David Brooks;
– The Late Show with David Letterman (11:35PM, CBS): Snooki and Judah Friedlander (REPEAT);
– The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:35PM, NBC): Michael Douglas (REPEAT);
– Lopez Tonight (Midnight, TBS): Jerry O’Connell and Curtis Stone;
– Jimmy Kimmel Live (12:05AM, ABC): Jamie Foxx (REPEAT);
– Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (12:35AM, NBC): Adam Sandler and Aziz Ansari (REPEAT);
– The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (12:37AM, CBS): Trace Adkins;
– Last Call with Carson Daly (1:35AM, NBC): Diplo and Laurie Ann Gibson.

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• Filed in American Idol, Classic TV, Justified, Late Night, TV Picks
• Tags: American Idol, Criminal Minds Suspect Behavior, Face Off, Family Ties, Justified, Mr. Sunshine, Nothing Personal Steve Schirripa, Survivor Redemption Island, The Real World 25, The Real World Las Vegas, Top Chef: All-Stars

Hey TVScreeners. As you might have noticed, things have been pretty quiet on the TVScreener.com front lately. Blame a slew of holiday gift guides and other features I’ve been writing for TV Squad, plus a little 50,000-word book project that I have, oh, about a month to write … but that’ll wrap shortly (and I’ll share more about it when the release date gets closer), and things will be back to normal around the ol’ TV blog soon enough. PS – Stay tuned for a killer TVScreener.com Christmas giveaway. Seriously, hundreds of dollars worth of TV-related swag to share, and it kicks off right after Thanksgiving!

In the meantime, I had to take a sec to post about the awesome little ’80s revival that’s happening in primetime these days:

– Magnum P.I. star Tom Selleck‘s back on the tube with Blue Bloods, one of the few new hits of the fall TV season;

– The Hollywood Reporter uh, reports, that Remington Steele and James Bond movie star Pierce Brosnan is headed back to primetime, in a show that sounds Bond-ish;

– The Hub is airing back-to-back episodes of Family Ties Monday thru Thursday nights (8 and 8:30 PM), which has not only been a reminder of what a genius of comedic timing Michael J. Fox is, but, via that “Sit, Ubu, sit” ending, has helped me finally figure out the origin of my obsession with Labrador Retrievers. PS – My fellow Family Ties fans, a must-read book: The autobio of Ties creator Gary David Goldberg, called Sit, Ubu, Sit and featuring the iconic photo of the pooch on the cover;

– The ubiquitous presence of Betty White (and all the ’80s stars on her TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland) on TV, as well as in the awesome new Golden Girls: 25th Anniversary Complete Collection DVD box set (in packaging that mimics Sophia’s handbag);

– TNT’s in-the-works Dallas series remake, which may star Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray and the legend himself, Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing;

– Comedies like The Middle, Modern Family and Raising Hope (which several of my TV critic cohorts and I at Scooter McGavin’s 9th Green picked as one of the best new shows of the season) have led a revival of the type of great family sitcoms we haven’t seen a prevalence of since the ’80s;

– And the new TBS ’80s college comedy Glory Daze, which, in addition to being solidly funny and starring a cast of talented, endearing newcomers, also boasts the fashions, trends and music of the ’80s. Delightful.

Oh, and though it’s not primetime, it is ’80s TV-related: The Pee-wee Herman Show, the new Broadway show that’s like being live at Pee-wee’s Playhouse. TVScreener.com reader Rich told me he’s seeing the show the day after Thanksgiving, and I cannot highly enough recommend that anyone else who loves the Playhouse and will be in NYC during the holidays check it out. Even though the show isn’t about the holidays, I can’t think of a better way to get yourself in a feel-good holiday mood.

So, who else is loving this retro vibe in primetime? Dallas will soon return … what other ’80s drama or sitcom would you love to see remade? Which other ’80s TV superstars would you like to have join Tom Selleck, Pierce Brosnan and Ed O’Neill (not to mention Cheers star  Shelley Long as a Modern Family guest star and Miami Vice star Don Johnson in that recent Eastbound and Down appearance) in a return to TV land?

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• Filed in Betty White, Blue Bloods, Classic TV, I Love TV!, TV News, TV on DVD, TV Remake
• Tags: 80s TV, Betty White, Dallas remake TNT, Family Ties, Pee-wee Herman Show, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Selleck