(ALL TIMES ET)

8PM | TLC – SERIES PREMIERE
The Unpoppables – Yes, it’s a show about balloon people, but not the clowns who make balloon dogs at kiddie birthday parties. Katie, Addi and Brian, the artists – and they are most definitely artists – of New Balloon Art, travel around the country fashioning spectacular balloon sculptures for events big and even bigger. Giant balloon Eiffel Towers, wearable balloon dresses and balloon sofas you can actually sit on are just a few of their most impressive works. In fact, the New Balloon Art crew’s handiwork is so compelling, I’d bet the other cable networks already have copycat series in the works.

Check local listings for time and channel | PBS KIDS GO! – 3RD SEASON PREMIERE
The Electric Company – Hey, you guuuuuys! The redo of the iconic kiddie series returns for its third season with a continuing emphasis on educating the 6-9-year-old set on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), via cool music videos, animation and celeb guests like Alan Cumming, Sherrod Small, Jenny Slate and Good Charlotte brothers Benji and Joel Madden.

8PM | NBC
Chuck – John Larroquette returns as Agent Roan Montgomery, who requires Chuck, Sarah and Casey’s assistance in Morocco. Meanwhile, back in Burbank, Morgan frets about meeting Alex’s mom, while Mama Bartowski (guest star Linda Hamilton) gets reacquainted with her fam.

8PM | FOX
House – Cuddy’s mom (guest star Candice Bergen) is admitted to the hospital, but guess who she doesn’t want treating her? Yep, House.

8PM | CBS
How I Met Your Mother – Zoey sets Ted up on a date with her cousin (guest star Katy Perry), which only serves to make him realize he’s got a thing for Zoey.

9PM | TLC
Cake Boss – In back-to-back episodes, Buddy and the Carlo’s crew make a shark cake, a giant hot air balloon cake and work with four adorable junior bakers from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

9PM | FOX – SERIES PREMIERE
The Chicago Code – From The Shield creator Shawn Ryan, this cop drama stars Jennifer Beals as new Chicago police superintendent Teresa Colvin, who recruits her former partner, Jarek Wysocki (Brotherhood‘s Jason Clarke), to help her with her new corruption task force. Her first target: city alderman Ronin Gibbons (Delroy Lindo).

9PM | THE CW
Gossip Girl – Enjoy Chuck Bass while you can, especially now that his portrayer, Ed Westwick, is making noise about leaving the show.

9PM | ABC FAMILY
Greek – The college drama’s getting all controversial in its final season, as one of the characters investigates the morning-after pill the morning after her unplanned Homecoming hook up.

9PM | HBO
Reagan – Documentarian Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight and Freakonomics) profiles President Ronald Reagan (who would have celebrated his 100th birthday on Feb. 6), including interviews with his family, friends and political colleagues, footage from his Hollywood days and rare photos from his pre-political days

Worth flipping to during commercials:
– The King’s Speech Best Actor Oscar nominee (and I’m betting, winner) Colin Firth is in the hot seat on Inside the Actors Studio (7PM, Bravo)
– On 90210 (8PM, The CW), Teddy finds out who’s blackmailing him, while Navid finds out the truth about Adrianna;
– Emily and Paige duke it out for a swim team anchor spot on Pretty Little Liars (8PM, ABC Family);
– On Being Human (9PM, Syfy), Josh makes friends with another werewolf who doesn’t like vampires;
– Four episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (9PM, Comedy Central) includes the gem “Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad,” with 7th Heaven dad Stephen Collins as the twins’ real papa;
– In the “How to Build a Beating Heart” installment of Explorer (10PM, NGC), we learn how “tissue engineering” has allowed scientists to build replacement body parts, like skin, muscles and even major organs.
– The team has to protect the lone witness in a murder case, lest she become the next victim, on Hawaii Five-O (10PM, CBS);
– It’s the series premiere of Lizard Lick Towing (10PM, truTV), the All Worked Up spin-off that follows repo man Ron Shirley and his North Carolina crew;
– On Skins (10PM, MTV), Cadie gets out of the hospital, but she’s far from well;
– And Tabs tries to revamp a children’s hair salon in California on Tabatha’s Salon Takeover (10PM, Bravo).

And the late-night line-up:
– Conan (11PM, TBS): Nick Swardson, Jeff Bridges and Far East Movement;
– The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (11PM, Comedy Central): James Franco (REPEAT);
– The Colbert Report (11:30PM, Comedy Central): Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother author Amy Chua (REPEAT);
– The Late Show with David Letterman (11:35PM, CBS): Martin Lawrence and Steel Magnolia;
– The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:35PM, NBC): Mark Wahlberg, Paula Abdul and James Blunt;
– Lopez Tonight (Midnight, TBS): Jamie Foxx;
– Jimmy Kimmel Live (12:05AM, ABC): Amy Sedaris, Nelly and Dr. Phil;
– Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (12:35AM, NBC): Brooke Shields, Alex Pettyfer, Gail Simmons and And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead;
– The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (12:37AM, CBS): Dominic Monaghan, Gabrielle Union and Kurt Metzger;
– Last Call with Carson Daly (1:35AM, NBC): Holt McCallany, Interpol and Plan B.

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• Tags: Cake Boss, Chuck, Gossip Girl, Greek, House, How I Met Your Mother, How I Met Your Mother Katy Perry, Reagan documentary, The Chicago Code, The Electric Company, The Unpoppables

MUST-SEE-TV DVD OF THE WEEK:
Sons of Anarchy – Season One (Fox Home Entertainment)
Details: It’s my favorite new show in several seasons, and it’s one of those shows that’s so good that it only gets better on second viewing. Think The Sopranos as bikers instead of Jersey mobsters, with a definite Hamlet-y undertone, and that only gives you a hint of how good the writing, acting and storytelling is on the show, which was created by Sopranos producer/The Shield writer (really, can you have a better resume?) Kurt Sutter.

At least four cast members were deserving of Emmy nominations (though the show, incredibly, received none) for the premiere season: Undeclared and U.K. Queer as Folk star Charlie Hunnam as Jax, a new father and second-in-command of the SAMCRO motorcycle club, who’s growing suspicious of the intentions of his stepfather, SAMCRO leader Clay; Hellboy star Ron Perlman as Clay, the complicated man who loves Jax and his mom, but doesn’t always have the best intentions; Married … with Children‘s Katey Sagal as Jax’s mom/Clay’s wife Gemma, who’s every bit as smart, tough and conniving as any of the biker dudes; and CSI: Miami‘s Kim Coates as Tig, SAMCRO’s resident psychopath.

In short: Great performances? Check. Action? Check. Drama? Check. Dark humor? Check. Makes good use of its 10PM timeslot with naughty behavior and language? Check. Time to breeze through the season one DVDs before the show’s second season premieres on FX on Sept. 8? Check.

Bonus Features: Featurettes on the making of the show and casting the show, a gag reel, deleted scenes and audio commentary with the cast and Sutter

BEST OF THE REST:
Greek: Chapter 3 (Buena Vista Home Entertainment)
Details: Casey finally ‘fessed up to her feelings for Cappie, setting up what should be a very interesting next season (which premieres on ABC Family on Aug. 31).
Bonus Features: Audio commentaries, bloopers and a “20 Questions with the Cast of Greek” featurette

Dexter: The Complete Third Season (Paramount Home Entertainment)
Details: In season three, serial killer Dexter finally had a best friend (guest Jimmy Smits) … and then he didn’t. Everything in between made for another great season of the show.
Bonus Features: Cast interviews, an excerpt of Dexter by Design, the latest Dexter novel by author Jeff Lindsey, and episodes of other Showtime series, including The Tudors and The United States of Tara

The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season (Fox Home Entertainment)
Details: Among the season’s best episodes: “Insane Clown Poppy,” “The Computer Wore Menace Shoes” (where Homer starts his own gossip Website), “HOMR” (where a crayon is found to be the source of Homer’s, uh, Homer-ness), “New Kids on the Blecch” (where Bart and pals form a boy band and ‘N Sync guest stars) and, one of the best episodes ever, “Worst Episode Ever,” in which Comic Book Guy (my all-time fave Simpsons character) has a heart attack and Bart and Milhouse take over The Android Dungeon
Bonus Features: Audio commentary, deleted scenes, sketch gallery and Easter eggs, and, of course, the limited edition Comic Book Guy head packaging

Chris Isaak: Greatest Hits Live (Soundstage) (E1 Entertainment)
Details: Crooner Isaak, with his smooth vocals, catchy songs, groovy suits and playful stage presence, is one of the best live performers touring, and if you haven’t had the chance to see him in concert, this recording of his show from the PBS concert series will give you a good idea of what you’re missing.
TV Screener Tidbit: The concert includes a performance of “American Boy,” the infectious tune that was also the theme song of the funny, but sadly short-lived Showtime sitcom The Chris Isaak Show.

Simon & Simon: Season Three (Shout! Factory)
Details: One of the best detective shows of the ’80s, with odd couple brothers Rick and A.J. Simon (Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker) teaming up to find baddies in San Diego.
TV Screener Tidbit: Look for a pre-teen Mario Lopez guest starring in the season three episode “Corpus Delecti.”

Hannah Montana: The Movie (Buena Vista Home Entertainment)
Details: When teen star Hannah (Miley Cyrus) starts to get too big for her britches, her dad whisks her away to their Tennessee hometown to remind her of her roots. OK, OK, some of Cyrus’ off-camera shenanigans are super annoying, but my nine-year-old niece Danielle worships her and told me in detail why that undeniably infectious song “The Climb” is “really a great song, Aunt Kim,” so that’s all I need to recommend how fun the movie is, especially through tween eyes.
Bonus Features: Music videos, cast bloopers, audio commentary and a featurette on how to do the “Hoedown Throwdown” dance

Gossip Girl: The Complete Second Season (Warner Home Video)
Details: It was slow-going in some parts of the show’s second season, but well worth it to see (finally) the Blair and Chuck hook-up at the end of the season.
Bonus Features: A tour of Gossip Girl haunts in NYC, an audiobook download for one of the novels on which the show is based, a gag reel, unaired scenes, a featurette on the show’s fashions and the “Chasing Dorota” Webisodes

Everybody Hates Chris: The Complete Series (Paramount Home Entertainment)
Details: All four seasons of the charming sitcom narrated by – and based on the teen years of – comedian Chris Rock
TV Screener Tidbit: The final scene of the show’s series finale cleverly spoofs the finale scene from The Sopranos series finale.

The Beast: Season One (Sony)
Details: Includes all 13 episodes of the Patrick Swayze FBI series, which won’t be returning for a second season.
Bonus Features: 13 behind-the-scenes featurettes

AND THE REST …
Dirty Sexy Money: The Complete and Final Second Season (Buena Vista Home Entertainment)

Eli Stone: The Complete Second and Final Season (Buena Vista Home Entertainment)

Everybody Hates Chris: The Final Season (Paramount Home Entertainment)

Man vs. Wild: Season Three (Discovery Channel)

Total Drama Island: The Complete Series (Warner Home Video)

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• Filed in Review - DVD
• Tags: Dexter season 3, Gossip Girl season 2, Greek, Simon & Simon, Simpsons season 12, Sons of Anarchy season 1 DVD