TVSquad

• At 5, TV Land has an Andy Griffith Show marathon.
• At 7, NBC has a new Dateline.
• At 7:30, ESPN has the Sprint Cup: Labor Day Classic 500 race.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother, followed by a new There Goes The Neighborhood.
• CNBC has the NBC Prime Time Preview Show at 8.
• Nickelodeon has a new Nick News at 8.
• CMTV has the original The Longest Yard at 8.
• Also at 8: Style Network has a new Ruby.
• At 8:30, Disney has a new Jonas.
• At 9, various stations have The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon (check local listings).
• PBS has a new Masterpiece Mystery! at 9.
• WE has a new Bridezillas at 9.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• There's a new Design Star on HGTV at 10.
• History Channel has a new Pawn Stars at 10.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken.

Check your local TV listings for more.

When I was a kid, watching The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon on Labor Day was a must. It was just fun to have this all day, all night, live event happening every September. One year I even stayed up all night watching it (the next morning I knew it wasn't worth it).

The show isn't looked at as "hip" anymore (if it ever was), but along with the older showbiz vets we always see there are some new acts mixed in too. Are you going to watch it?

Ah, Labor Day. Isn't it great to have the summer over (yes, I consider Labor Day as the end of summer) and the new TV season about to begin?

Here's a list of the various marathons, specials, and sports that you can see on Sunday and Monday. Let us know if we've missed anything.

Sunday

• At 8 AM, Hallmark has a Golden Girls marathon.
• At 9, USA has a Law and Order: SVU marathon.
• At 10, WE has a marathon of Girlfriends episodes.
• At 10:30, TV Land has a Beverly Hillbillies marathon.
• At 11, CBS has U.S. Open coverage.
• At 1 PM, Discovery has a Planet Earth marathon.
• Bravo has a Top Chef: Las Vegas marathon at 1.
• At 3, Spike has a Band of Brothers marathon.
• NBC has the Deutsche Bank Golf Championship at 3.
• At 5, TV Land has an Andy Griffith Show marathon.
• At 9, it's the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon (check local listings).

Longtime Johnny Carson announcer and sidekick Ed McMahon has passed away at age 86.

This probably isn't a surprise to most people, since McMahon has been in poor health for a number of years and also injured his neck severely in a fall in his home in 2007.

McMahon is best known, of course, for being the announcer and couch mate for Carson on The Tonight Show for 30 years. McMahon also hosted the original version of Star Search for many years, co-hosted Bloopers and Practical Jokes with Dick Clark, and was a staple of the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon every September. Besides appearing in a number of TV shows and movies, he was also a spokesman for American Family Publishers (though, oddly, every single joke about these commercials with the giant checks and McMahon mentions Publisher's Clearing House for some reason).

McMahon died at Ronald Reagan/UCLA Medical Center in L.A.

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to eat a little crow from one of my previous posts. The Jerry Lewis telethon made a whopping 65 million dollars this year for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Obviously, people are still watching.

Apparently, the show also pitched help for any MDA-registered families that are victims of Hurricane Gustav. It's a good idea and a brilliant P.R. move by Lewis and company. It did get me thinking: why should all that money only benefit those with muscular dystrophy? Why can't next year's donations go towards fighting cancer or some other charity?

• Hallmark Channel has a Murder, She Wrote marathon all night.
• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes.
• USA has more of the U.S. Open at 7.
  
• G4 has a new Hurl! at 7.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• TV Land has the series finale of M*A*S*H at 8.
• Also at 8: Cartoon Network has a new Ben 10 Action Force.
• At 9, various stations have The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon (check local listings).
• PBS has a new Masterpiece at 9.
• History Channel has a new Ice Road Truckers at 9.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• There's a new Skins on BBC America at 10.
• At 10:30, E! has a new Sunset Tan.
• At midnight, Cartoon Network has a new Metalocalypse.
• At 12:30am, Cartoon Network has a new Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Labor Day marks the end of summer (yeah, don't tell me summer ends later in September, if it's Labor Day and the kids are back in school, summer is over), and you could spend the weekend at the beach, having a barbecue, or doing something athletic outside. Or, you could stay in all weekend on your couch and watch a TV marathon! Here's a list of some marathons you can see this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Saturday, August 30

• At 6am, TCM starts a marathon of Katharine Hepburn movies.
• At 7, History Channel has a marathon of Ax Men.
• At 9, USA has a Starter Wife marathon.
• Also at 9, Sci-Fi has a marathon of monster movies, including Carnosaur, Reptilian, Beneath Loch Ness, Eye of the Beast, King of the Lost World, and Black Swarm.
• At 10, Bravo has a Shear Genius marathon.
• At 11, History Channel has a bunch of Ice Road Truckers episodes.
• At 11:30, Discovery Kids has a marathon of Flight 29 Down episodes.
• At 2pm, Spike has a CSI marathon.

Our Monday morning roundup of a half dozen things TV Squad readers - and TV fans in general - will be talking about this week.


1. Democratic National Convention. Some viewers will be saying "hey, I'm interested in what Obama and Biden have to say," while others are saying "hey, this is interrupting my favorite show!" (All this week on various stations, including CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, and C-SPAN.)

2. The late night shows return. Finally, Letterman, Leno, Conan and the others are back after vacations and the Olympics. All except Carson Daly, of course.

3. The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. Laaaadeeee! Is Ed McMahon going to cohost this year? (Sunday starting at 9pm on various stations - check local listings.)

4. The new cast of Dancing with the Stars revealed. I still want to see Andy Dick on this show. (Unveiled on Good Morning America this morning...actually, probably right about now.)

5. The U.S. Open. It's amazing how much this is on, taking up the entire programming schedule on USA Network. But that's a good thing! (All week on USA, from 11am to 6pm, then from 7pm to late night.)

6. The season premiere of Greek. The horrible summer is almost over, Labor Day is here, and the new fall season has begun. (Tuesday at 9 on ABC Family.)

• At 7, USA has coverage of the U.S. Open.
• FOX has a Fall Preview at 7.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• At 9, it's The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon (check local listings).
• HGTV has a new Design Star at 9, then a new Living With Ed.
• There's a new Ice Road Truckers on The History Channel at 9.
• VH-1 has a new Rock of Love with Bret Michaels at 9, followed by a new Hogan Knows Best.
• Also at 9: WE has a new Bridezillas.
• At 9:15, IFC has The Cooler, with William H. Macy and Maria Bello.
• At 10, Comedy Central has a new Mind of Mencia, then a new American Body Shop.
• E! has a new Girls Next Door at 10, then a new Sunset Tan.
• HBO has the season finale of Entourage at 10, then a new Flight of the Conchords.

Check your local TV listings for more.