TV: Five shows worth watching tonight: Jan. 26
Your select viewing guide for Thursday, Jan. 26
COMEDY The Big Bang Theory CBS, CTV, 8 p.m. ET/PT This show is already the most-watched sitcom on network television, but are the producers trying to spike ratings higher with a return love connection between Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco)? The dour physicist and the hot blond waitress were pretty hot and heavy a few seasons ago, then reverted to their previous platonic-neighbor relationship. And then last week, Leonard asked out Penny for a romantic dinner. To test their compatibility via scientific method, they agree to try out the modern concept of “dating,” much to the chagrin of Sheldon (Jim Parsons). In other news, Raj (Kunan Nayyar) fosters a physical attachment to his cellphone's virtual assistant. Ah, those wacky nerds.
COMEDY 30 Rock NBC, 9 p.m. ET/PT Recently returned for its sixth season, this series gets faster and funnier with each new episode. Tonight, the indomitable show-runner Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) has to negotiate her new contract with her unpredictable boss Jack (Alec Baldwin). In other news, the dim NBC page Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) feels slighted by his co-workers and requests a work reassignment, while Tracy (Tracy Morgan) and Jenna (Jane Krakowski) try to make a few extra bucks by working as the entertainment at their accountant's son's bar mitzvah. Oy vey.
REALITY Jersey Shore at Sheena's House MTV, 9:30 p.m. ET/PT If you're a regular viewer of Jersey Shore, make this show your new Thursday pre-game ritual. The setup involves MTV Live co-host Sheena Snively sitting in a living-room set with members of her own family – including her husband, her parents, her sister and her six-month-old nephew – with the entire group discussing the previous episode and what's likely to happen in the next show. Clips are shown and, unlike on Jersey Shore, the bad words are not bleeped out. The show's energy stems from Sheena's unabashed love of the Shore characters and worth watching just for her working-class father's reactions to all the onscreen tomfoolery. Check it out.
REALITY David Blaine: What Is Magic? TLC, 10 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. PT Is David Blaine the modern-day Houdini? The master illusionist became famous with his bizarre endurance stunts – including encasing himself in a block of ice in Times Square for 63 hours – and his ability to perform sleight of hand. There's not much structure to this special, in which he travels all over the U.S. to perform deft feats of legerdemain before astounded spectators. The highlights include Blaine stealing a cop's watch and fooling the entire New York Giants football team with amazing card tricks.
MOVIE Eraser AMC, 10:30 p.m. ET; 7:30 p.m. PT Only a few years before Arnold Schwarzenegger became the Governator, he was the biggest box-office draw in the world. Case in point: This 1996 action feature in which Arnie plays the role of John “Eraser” Kruger (the last name presumably explaining that accent), a U.S. marshal working in the witness-protection program. Kruger is assigned to protect a scientist (Vanessa L. Williams) who has discovered that her defence-company employer is selling top-secret weapons to the enemy. All plotlines aside, the film delivers non-stop action sequences, including Arnold jumping out of a plane sans parachute and the big guy’s deadpan delivery of this classic line of dialogue to a dead alligator: “You’re luggage.” Dumb but fun.