TVSquad

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.