Premieres and Notables: October 17-23, 2011

Monday, 10/17

Lying Game (ABC Family; 7 pm CST). Mid-season Finale.

Lottery Changed My Life; TLC. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Tuesday, 10/18

Man Up! (yeah, that's right: with the exclamation point). ABC. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Three video game-playing buddies realize they need to grow up.

Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel; HBO. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.
One of the best news shows-- period-- on the air. Check it out if you get HBO.


Wednesday, 10/19

Nature; PBS. 7 pm CST (check local listings). Season Premiere.

American Hoggers; A&E. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A family of feral-hog hunters is chronicled in this much-needed-to-be-brought-to-air series.


Thursday, 10/20

Rules of Engagement; CBS. 7:30 pm CST. Season Premiere.
Yeah-- I mentioned this one a few weeks ago. But then How to Be a Gentleman went and got cancelled (well, banished to Saturday to burn-off episodes), so this one got a slight delay-- and a weeknight timeslot.

Sweet Home Alabama; CMT. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Friday, 10/21

Boss; Starz. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Kelsey Grammer stars as a Chicago mayor who has ruled through fear and favors, and finds out he has a degenerative brain disease.
And no worries that this show will get cancelled. it's already been picked up for a second season.

X-Men; G4. 10 pm CST. Series Premiere.
The Marvel anime invasion continues.


Sunday, 10/23

Secret Millionaires Club; The Hub. 12 pm CST. Series Premiere.
An (animated) group of teens gets investment advice from Warren Buffet.
Yep. That's what I know about it.

Once Upon a Time; ABC. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Lost writers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis bring some of the multiple timeline storytelling they did so well on that other show to this one they created themselves.  Fairy tale characters such as Snow White, Price Charming, and Rumpelstiltskin are real, and they are banished in a city in Maine with no recollection of their true lives.  But the daughter of White and Charming is figuring it out.
This show follows the "real world" life they live now as well as the one they came from.