TV Barn's TV Picks for Jan. 2

BIRDMAN OF ABC
Surfing the channels, you won't find Brian Dennehy on an rerun of ...

A) "The 4400"
B) "Hunter"
C) "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
D) "M*A*S*H"
E) "Miami Vice"

[Pass on our script and hire the correct answer at the bottom of the column.]

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TV Barn's TV Picks for Tuesday, January 2, 2007
by Tom Heald with Jon Delfin
All times Eastern
For PBS programs, check local listings



8 p.m.
"Dateline" (NBC) probes the mystery of the "Lady in the Lake," which has nothing to do with the piece of tin that M. Night Shyamalan forced on us.

James Lipton goes good quote hunting with Matt Damon "Inside the Actors Studio" (Bravo).

"Emeril Live" (Food): "Fit for Life"
"SWAT: Tactical Force" (TLC)

8:15 p.m.
Life is not a bowl of oranges (Fox).

9 p.m.
The neighbors' children and an unstable minister threaten to spoil the "Big Day" (ABC; also 9:30).

"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (NBC) unearths a Pakistani/Italian version of "Romeo and Juliet." And really, how could that end poorly?

10 p.m.
UNNECESSARY GUEST GACY PATROL
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC): Brian Dennehy. Plot: A deathbed confession reveals who really killed Gerald Ford and where the real Saddam Hussein is.

A pair of women seek to save the whales and find Nemo in "A Fish Story" ("Independent Lens," PBS).

TELE-GEBRA
"The National Enquirer" x "Nip/Tuck" = "Dirt" (FX). Virgin Mary Sighted as Aliens Attack Former "Friends" Star's Career!

"Dog the Bounty Hunter" (A&E): "Year of the Dog"
"Man, Moment, Machine" (History): "Saddam Hussein and the Nerve Gas"
"American Gangster" (BET): Smith Bros.
"ECW" (Sci Fi)
"Seconds From Disaster" (National Geographic): "Tornado Outbreak"
"Party Police: Wild on the Water 2" (Court)
"Best Places to Find Cash and Treasure" (Travel)

midnight
"The Big Black Comedy Show" (Showtime)


TALK TALK
* Martin Short and Donal Logue meditate on the Tao of Dave.
* George Clooney, Senator John McCain and Unwritten Law wish Jay good night and good Germans.
* George Lopez, Giuliana DePandi and My Chemical Romance slip Jimmy a mickey.
* LL Cool J and Gov't Mule make Conan their beast of burden.
* James Denton, Dan Gabriel and Julie Gribble plumb the depths of "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson."

More talk show information is available at www.interbridge.com/lineupsdate.html and charlierose.com.


WAITING FOR GUFF
While appearing in 90% of television shows and movies from 1975 to 1989, Mr. Dennehy did not prominently appear on C) "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."



-- posted by Jon Delfin