Programming Notes

Another night of no worthwhile new episodes last night. We get a break from the nothing tonight, but it's still an ugly week for a TV junkie (especially if you don't like basketball). Here's some new stuff this week that might be worth a look (all times Eastern):

• Halfway Home: An improv-heavy comedy about a halfway house. The Office's Oscar Nunez has a prominent role, which is the main reason I'll be giving it a shot. I think Oscar the character may have been given that lengthy vacation so that Oscar the actor could do this show. Premieres Wednesday at 10:30 on Comedy Central after South Park.


• Andy Barker, P.I.: An accountant moves in to a new office which used to belong to a private eye, and he stumbles into a side career solving cases for clients who think he's the PI. The cast is great, the stories are solid, but the jokes are not top notch. Some funny moments, though. An entirely likable show, but pretty forgettable. With not much else on, why not give it a shot? Premieres Thursday at 9:30 on NBC.


• Raines: A fairly interesting twist on the genre, but for the most part it's your standard cop show. If you like Jeff Goldblum, it's definitely worth watching. If not, you could do worse. Premieres Thursday at 10:00 on NBC.


• October Road: After writing a best selling book based on the people he grew up with, a young author returns to his home town to discover that they are pretty angry about the book. The previews make it look dreadful, though I might still give it a shot if I'm bored. Laura Prepon looks way better with red hair. I wish she'd go back. Premieres Thursday at 10:00 on ABC. My work computer is annoying, but it's possible the pilot is online here.


• Hellboy Animated: Blood & Iron: I caught the first in the series, Hellboy: Sword of Storms, not long ago, and it was good enough that I wanted to see more. Conveniently, the second movie, Blood & Iron is on this week. I'm spoiler-paranoid as usual, but from a quick glance at the plot summary, I don't think you'll need to have seen Sword of Storms first, though I think you may get lost if you're new to Hellboy entirely. Blood & Iron premieres Saturday at 7:00 on the Cartoon Network as part of their Toonami lineup.

There are also new episodes of Bones, Jericho, Lost, South Park, Scrubs, Smallville, SNL, and Battlestar Galactica, but not much else.