american chopper

• At 8, ABC has the final of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
• FOX has a new, two-hour So You Think You Can Dance at 8.
• TNT has the Magic/Cavaliers game at 8.
• At 9, CNBC has The Oprah Effect.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9, followed by a new Street Customs.
• There's a new Dear Food Network on Food Network at 9.
• Also at 9: Spike has a new TNA Wrestling.
• At 10, Bravo has a new episode of The Fashion Show.
• Current has a new infoMania at 10, then a new Rotten Tomatoes Show.
• Sundance has a new In Short at 10, featuring David Lynch.
• HBO Comedy has 1991's 14th Annual Young Comedians Show at 10, with Jon Stewart and Drew Carey.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, ABC has the two-hour season finale of Ugly Betty.
• FOX has the two-hour season premiere of So You Think You Can Dance at 8.
  
• GAC has a new GAC Nights at 8.
• At 9, TLC has a new American Chopper.
• Spike has a new, two-hour TNA Wrestling at 9.
• Also at 9: ESPN has the Lakers/Nuggets game.
• At 9:30, TCM has West Side Story.
• At 10, NBC has the season finale of Southland.
• Bravo has a new episode of The Fashion Show at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

The guys from American Chopper went to Alaska Thursday night and decided to drop in on Governor and ex-VP candidate Sarah Palin. The four of them sit around talking about snow machines and keeping warm in Alaska and how to ... holy crap, look at the giant bear hide on her couch!! Actually, it looks more like that giant monster pig that kid shot and killed a while back.

[via Newsweek]

• Sci-Fi has a Eureka marathon all night.
• At 8, CBS has a new Survivor, followed by new episodes of CSI and Harper's Island.
  
• FOX has a new Bones at 8, then a new Hell's Kitchen.
• NBC has new episodes of My Name Is Earl, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, and Southland.
• The CW has a new Smallville at 8, followed by a new Supernatural.
• TNT has the Celtics/Bulls game at 8, then the Lakers/Jazz game.
• At 9, ABC has a new Grey's Anatomy, followed by a new Private Practice.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• Hallmark has the movie Expecting A Miracle at 9.
• Also at 9: Spike has TNA Wrestling.
• At 10, Comedy Central has a new Krod Mandoon.
• At midnight, TCM has the Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz movie The Long, Long Trailer.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• Sci-Fi has a Moonlight marathon all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new In The Motherhood, followed by a new Samantha Who?
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then a new CSI and the series premiere of Harper's Island.
• NBC has a new Office at 8, then the series premiere of Parks and Recreation, another new Office, a new 30 Rock, and then the series premiere of Southland.
• FOX has new episodes of Bones and Hell's Kitchen.
• At 9, TLC has a new American Chopper.
• Spike has TNA Wrestling at 9.
• At 10, A&E has a new episode of The Beast.
• Comedy Central has the series premiere of Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire at 10.
• At 12:15AM, Cartoon Network has a new Xavier: Renegade Angel.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Regular watchers of American Chopper will look at the picture to the right and immediately ponder the following question: is Paul Sr. giving Paulie Jr. a big hug or a meaty, larynx-crushing choke hold?

I've been notoriously anti-reality TV for a long time, but I gave American Chopper a grace chip when it ran on the Discovery Channel for the first few seasons. It can get just as over-the-top as most reality shows tend to do, but it still had a genuine level to it somewhere in just about every episode, and it offered viewers something more than just grown men fighting. I'm also a pathetic wanna-be gearhead and would watch a custom Buick LaSabre build contest if I thought I could generate an ounce of knowledge from it over my rich, car-building friends.

So imagine my surprise when the New York Post broke the biggest spoiler in the show's history, other than the fact that it is still on the air.

'Parks & Recreation'
(8:30PM, NBC) series premiere
Fans of 'The Office' will recognize the comic sensibilities of this Amy Poehler mockumentary (co-created by U.S. 'Office' producer Greg Daniels).

Poehler stars as Leslie Knope, the Deputy Director of the Parks and Recreation Department in fictional Pawnee, Indiana. The overeager government employee has big plans: She hopes her project to turn an abandoned lot into a town park will eventually lead her to the White House, as the first female President.

Standing in her way: Her crabby boss (Nick Offerman), a public official who hates the public; her equally ambitious assistant (Aziz Ansari); and her office crush, who has a crush of his own ... on a local nurse (Rashida Jones).

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, then new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Life on Mars.
• CBS has Survivor at 8, followed by new episodes of CSI and Eleventh Hour.
• NBC has new episodes of My Name Is Earl, Kath & Kim, and The Office, followed by the season premiere of 30 Rock and a new ER.
• The CW has a new Smallville at 8, then a new Supernatural.
• Also at 8, TCM has Dead of Night.
• At 9, FOX has a new Kitchen Nightmares.
• Discovery has a new Destroyed in Seconds at 9.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new It's Always Sunny..., followed by a new Testees.
• Bravo has a new Tim Gunn's Guide To Style.
• Sundance has a new Iconoclasts at 10, with Jon Favreau and Tony Hawk.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Sarah Silverman Program.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, then a new episode of Grey's Anatomy and the series premiere of Life On Mars.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, followed by the season premiere of CSI and the series premiere of Eleventh Hour.
• NBC has a new My Name Is Earl at 8, then the series premiere of Kath & Kim, then a new episode of The Office, then the series premiere of SNL Thursday Weekend Update, and a new ER.
• FOX has Game 1 of the National League Championship, the Dodgers vs. the Phillies at 8.
• The CW has new episodes of Smallville and Supernatural.
• At 8:30, HGTV has a new Myles of Style, followed by a new Rate My Space.
• At 9, History Channel has a new Modern Marvels.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new It's Always Sunny..., then the series premiere of Testees.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has another new episode of The Sarah Silverman Program.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

• At 8, FOX has a new Hole in the Wall, then a new Kitchen Nightmares.
• CBS has a new Big Brother at 8.
• Discovery has a new Some Assembly Required at 8.
• At 8:30, HGTV has a new Myles of Style.
• At 9, TLC has a new American Chopper.
  
• Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Island at 9.
• BBC America has a new Dragon's Den at 9.
• At 10, CBS has a new Flashpoint.
• USA has a new Burn Notice at 10.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
• Spike has a new TNA Impact at 10.
• Also at 10: MTV has the premiere of Top Pop Group.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, CBS has the premiere of Greatest American Dog.
• TLC has two new episodes of Monster Garage at 8, then a new American Chopper.
• Versus has more coverage of the Tour de France at 8.
• There's a new Chowder on Cartoon Network at 9, followed by new episodes of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and Total Drama Island.
• At 9, NBC has a new, two hour Last Comic Standing.
• TBS has a new Bill Engvall Show at 9, followed by a new My Boys.
• History Channel has a new Modern Marvels at 9, then a new episode of The Works.
• Hallmark has the new movie A Gunfighter's Pledge at 9.
• At 10, CBS has a new Swingtown.
• ABC has a new Hopkins at 10.
• USA has the season premiere of Burn Notice at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Family and the workplace -- two constants in everyday American society. They are the places where we spend most of our lives. Sometimes we spend more time at one over complaints of the other. Other times, we barely want to spend time at either location.

Because these are so important to many people across this country, it made sense that television would delve into both of these environments during the Reality Revolution. However, since a 60-minute show about a senior technical analyst sitting in his four square-foot cube was not likely to draw in the audience, the reality shows that were created focused on those families and workplaces that were a tad more unique. Thusly, shows were created around well-to-do families, celebrity families, or families with multiple children, while workplace shows dealt in tattoos, motorcycles, hair styling, and house-flipping.

Coming in later than the game operas and relationship shows, these family and workplace programs ushered in a new phase of the Reality Revolution and set the stage for the future of reality programming.

• ESPN has the NBA Draft all night.
• At 8, NBC has a new, two hour Last Comic Standing, then a new Fear Itself.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? at 8, followed by a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• More George Carlin on HBO2 starting at 8: What Am I Doin' In New Jersey?, Doin' It Again, Jammin' in New York, Back in Town, You Are All Diseased, and It's Bad For Ya.
• At 9, TBS has a new Bill Engvall Show, then a new My Boys.
• There's a new American Chopper on TLC at 9.
• HGTV has a new Rate My Space at 9.
• At 10, CBS has a new Swingtown.
• ABC has the premiere of Hopkins at 10.
• History Channel has a new Surviving History at 10.
• Spike has a new TNA Impact at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new My Life on the D-List.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Reno 911.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, followed by a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• TLC has a new Overhaulin' at 8, then a new American Chopper.
• At 8:30, NBC has a new Last Comic Standing, then a new Fear Itself.
• At 9, TBS has a new Bill Engvall Show, followed by a new My Boys.
• At 10, CBS has a new Swingtown.
• There's a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List at 10 on Bravo.
• Showtime has a new Penn & Teller's Bullshit at 10.
• Also at 10: Sundance Channel has a new Live From Abbey Road, with Mary J. Blige, James Blunt, and Dashboard Confessional.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Reno 911.

Check your local TV listings for more.

TLC has a new competition series called Master of Dance (worst title ever). The show will test dancers' skills by changing the song mid-performance to measure the breadth of their repertoire and the level of their creativity. This sounds a little too much like Freezedance but for prize money. The grand prise is $50,000 to be exact.

Joey Lawrence will host and there will be three judges: Lucinda Dickey (Solid Gold, Breakin'), Tyce Diorio (choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance), and Loni Love (comedienne voted one of Comedy Central's Top 20 Comics to Watch in 2008).