TVSquad

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.

Finally someone shows some love for Lost, which got itself back on track last season. The Directors Guild announced their nominees for this year's awards. Lost nabbed two nominations in the Dramatic Series category, for "The Looking Glass" and "The Brig." The Sopranos picked up two of the three remaining nominations, saving the last one for AMC's excellent freshmen drama, Mad Men.

On the comedy side, 30 Rock nabbed two nominations, with Desperate Housewives and Entourage picking up one each. And the critical love for ABC's incredibly charming Pushing Daisies continues as it snatches the final spot. But one category in which the Directors think very differently than anyone else is in Reality Programs. Not only is the kitschy Who Wants to be a Superhero? nominated, but is joined by Shooting Sizemore and Pros vs. Joes. The full list, including commercials, documentaries and mini-series after the jump.

• At 8, CBS has a new Pirate Master.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader at 8, then a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• Tavis Smiley hosts a Presidential Candidates Forum with Democrats on PBS at 8.
• HBO has the first three episodes of John From Cincinnati, if you'd like to try to figure it out.
• At 9, Colin Powell guests on CNN's Larry King Live.
• USA has the series finale of Starter Wife at 9, followed by the premiere of Burn Notice.
• At 10, NBC has the series finale of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
• Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay at 10.
• Sundance has a new Live From Abbey Road at 10, with The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snow Patrol, and Madeleine Peyroux.
• Also at 10: Bravo has the premiere of the reality show Hey, Paula.

Check your local TV listings for more.

From the Things I Don't Understand file: NBC is selling video of Matt Lauer's interview with Prince William and Prince Harry on iTunes, even though the entire interview is available on MSNBC.com for free.

Now, before you say "nobody would buy that," please note that the $1.99 video is the number two TV video on iTunes right now, right behind video of the recent Miss Universe Pageant. Just kidding. Actually, number one right now is the latest episode of Starter Wife. The rest of the top 10: recent eps of The Office, Lil' Bush, The Starter Wife, Kyle XY, The Starter Wife, Hannah Montana, Stargate: SG-1, and Studio 60.

I guess if you buy it from iTunes you can keep it forever and watch it over and over and over.

• At 8, CBS has a new Pirate Master.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader at 8, followed by a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• History Channel has a new Mega Movers at 8.
• At 9, USA has a new Starter Wife.
• Lifetime has the new movie My Baby Is Missing at 9.
• There's a new movie on Hallmark at 9 too: Love's Unending Legacy.
• At 10, NBC has a new Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
• Sundance Channel has a new Live From Abbey Road at 10, with John Mayer and Norah Jones.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, ABC has a new Fast Cars and Superstars, followed by the NBA finals.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader at 8, then a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• CBS has a new Pirate Master at 8.
• TCM has Mr. Lucky at 8, then The Adventures of Robin Hood.
• At 9, TLC has a new American Chopper.
• USA has a new Starter Wife at 9.
• At 10, NBC has a new Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
• Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Showbiz Show with David Spade.
• Also at 10: Spike has a new Ultimate Fighter.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, CBS has a new Pirate Master.
• ABC has the special Fast Cars & Superstars at 8, followed by the Cavaliers/Spurs game.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? at 8, then a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• TBS has four excellent episodes of Friends starting at 8, including the one where Ross dates the girl with the messy apartment and Chandler falls for Joey's girlfriend.
• At 9, TLC has a new American Chopper.
• USA has a new episode of The Starter Wife at 9.
• At 9:30, HBO2 has a making-of special about John From Cincinnati, then the movie Brick.
• At 9:45, HBO has a first look at Evan Almighty.
• At 10, NBC has a new Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
• There's a new Ultimate Fighter on Spike at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Showbiz Show with David Spade.

Check your local TV listings for more.

The USA six hour miniseries The Starter Wife presented a half and half panel as the closing event at Friday's TCA ... half of the panel was here in Pasadena, the other half in sunny and gorgeous Australia. Based on the novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer, the series is being shot down under, which doubles as Malibu, and follows the trials and tribulations of Gracie Pollock (Debra Messing) as a freshly dumped (via cell phone just beofre her 10th anniversary) "starter wife".

The miniseries is airing a bit oddly, if you ask me. Not that you did, but since I'm telling the story here, let's pretend like it happened. They're airing the first episode as a two hour show, and then four one-hour episodes after that. All on the USA Network this May. While that may be a bit odd, the show looks like it'll pull in fans of Sex and the City, and is directed by veteran Jon Avnet.

It also stars Joe Mantegna who had the two zinger quotes of the evening:

• Joe Mantegna, on starter wives: "I've been on the same starter wife for 32 years."
• Joe Mantegna: on hearing writer and executive producer Josann McGibbon say that she'd been bitten by a leech in Australia, but that it wouldn't have happened in Los Angeles: "Did you just say there's no leeches in L.A.?!"