Super Sunday: Time for Giants, Pats, commercials
Don’t miss
Super Bowl XLVI – Are you ready for some football? It’s America’s day of gridiron gluttony – when something like a gazillion viewers tune in to see big, sweaty men frolic on plastic grass. But even if you don’t have your head in the game, there are plenty of things to watch besides the New England Patriots and New York Giants. Highlights include all those wacky, high-priced commercials and the halftime festivities with Madonna rocking the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will call the play-by-play, but not before hours upon hours of monotonous pre-game blather. 3 p.m. Sunday, NBC.
Sunday
Like every other great institution, “Puppy Bowl VIII” is embracing social media. This year a bird will provide live tweets of all the adorable, tail-wagging action on the mini gridiron. 3 p.m., Animal Planet.
The goofy swiveling chairs are back as “The Voice” renews its effort to find America’s next great crooner. But what we really can’t wait to see is Monday night’s medley of Prince songs performed by the show’s judges, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton. (7 p.m., NBC – time approximate after the Super Bowl).
Monday
It’s time to raise the curtain on “Smash,” a real showstopper of a drama that chronicles the making of a Broadway musical and all the ego clashes, backbiting and diva doings that entails. Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston and former “American Idol” finalist Katharine McPhee headline a stellar cast. 10 p.m., NBC.
On “Castle,” Castle and Beckett (Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic) go back in time as a hard-boiled private eye and femme fatale trying to solve a cold case from 1947. Let’s hope the whole endeavor doesn’t send us into a big sleep. 10:01 p.m., ABC.
Tuesday
“NCIS,” prime time’s most popular drama, hits a milestone with its 200th episode. To mark the occasion, the show takes an “It’s a Wonderful Life” twist with plenty of flashbacks as Gibbs (Mark Harmon) finds himself questioning the choices he’s made over the years. 8 p.m., CBS.
“Lost” on the Amazon is the simplistic way to describe “The River,” a new drama about the treacherous search to find a wildlife expert (Bruce Greenwood) who vanished after decades of traveling the globe for a popular nature series. There are unnerving chills and thrills aplenty in the two-hour opener. 9 p.m., ABC.
Wednesday
Charlie Rose and Lara Logan channel the spirit of fabled newsman Edward R. Murrow by reviving “Person to Person.” It’s a program that has the hosts interviewing newsmakers, politicians, entertainers and other celebrities in their homes. 8 p.m., CBS.
Thursday
The frivolity of the traveling auditions are over. Now, it’s time to get down to serious business on “American Idol,” which kicks off its Hollywood rounds and begins to separate the contenders from the pretenders. 8 p.m., Fox.
It’s alligator-hunting time in the bayou as “Swamp People” launches a new season. But we’re thinking it would be a lot more fair – and entertaining – if they armed the gators with uzis and bayonets. 9 p.m., History Channel.
Friday
It’s shades of the “Twilight Zone” on “Fringe” as Peter, Walter and Olivia (Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Anna Torv) find themselves trapped in a town from which there is no escape. Sounds kooky and bizarre, but then again, this is “Fringe.” 9 p.m., Fox.
Saturday
Valentine’s Day is near, so naturally someone went and made a movie called “Cupid.” It’s about a talk-show host (Joely Fisher) who meets a mysterious romance expert who promises that he’ll lead her to her true love.
But first she has to help other couples find each other. 8 p.m., Hallmark Channel.