MONDAY, AUGUST 29

'Basketball Wives LA' (8PM ET, VH1) series premiere
A Los Angeles-based spin-off from the Miami original, this drama-filled reality show features the wives, girlfriends and exes of some of basketball's most prominent players, including Imani Showalter, Drayla Michele, Laura and Gloria Govan, Kimsha Artest, Malaysia Pargo and Jackie Christie.

'Hell's Kitchen' (9PM ET, Fox) new timeslot
The culinary challenge show switches timeslots as six chefs compete to make it into the final five.

'Hoarders' (9PM ET, A&E) season finale
A follow-up to check the progress of five people who were profiled last season, including a woman with a house full of cats, a man whose property was condemned, and a woman whose hoarding was so bad that her husband had to sleep in the car.

MONDAY, AUGUST 22

'Bachelor Pad' (8PM ET, ABC)
If seeing grown adults slowly having their sanity slip away in an alcohol-soaked pool-party setting wasn't entertaining enough, this week the contestants tackle synchronized swimming! We can also look forward to another macho display of testosterone poisoning from Jake Pavelka and Kasey Kahl.

'The Lying Game' (9PM ET, ABC Family)
The second episode of this twisted tale sees Emma struggling to keep up the charade of being Sutton with her sister still missing, while Ethan helps her prepare for the father-daughter dance.

'Top Gear' (9PM ET, BBC America) season premiere
If you like your entertainment a little less soapy and a little more speedy, check out the 17th season premiere of the world's most beloved car show, with all the same stunts, challenges and test drives you've come to know and love. Rock legend Alice Cooper will take part in 'The Star in the Reasonably Priced Car' challenge this week.

MONDAY, AUGUST 15

'Bachelor Pad' (8PM ET, ABC)
TV's most trainwreck-y reality show is back for the summer, and after last week's eventful season premiere, things are only going to get messier. This week sees our 'Bachelor/ette' alums competing in a Q&A contest where they'll throw paint-filled eggs at targets on each others' backs to answer questions like "least attractive" and "least deserving of $250,000" in the hope of winning immunity for the week. Ouch.

'Gloria: In Her Own Words' (9PM ET, HBO) special presentation
This engaging and important documentary on iconic women's rights activist Gloria Steinem documents her rise from troubled Midwestern child, to dissatisfied New York writer, to public face of the feminist movement.

'The Lying Game' (9PM ET, ABC Family) series premiere
This mysterious drama series lands somewhere between 'The Parent Trap' and The CW's new thriller 'Ringer,' centering around two separated-at-birth twins who meet for the first time in their teens and trade identities as they search for their biological mother. But when privileged Sutton fails to return to her old life, foster kid Emma must decide whether to keep up her sister's charade.

MONDAY, AUGUST 1

'The Bachelorette' (8PM ET, ABC)
Ashley's journey comes to an end in Fiji, but will her happy ending come courtesy of Ben or JP? It won't be smooth sailing to get to the final rose, either -- one guy has her family's blessing, and the other is declared a mismatch by Ashley's sister, oops!

'Moby Dick' (8PM ET, Encore) miniseries premiere
This lavish literary adaptation sees William Hurt and Ethan Hawke in pursuit of the great white whale in a three hour miniseries that will air across two consecutive nights. Donald Sutherland and Gillian Anderson also star.

MONDAY, JULY 18

'The Bachelorette' (8PM ET, ABC)
It's hometown week for our blushing 'Bachelorette' and her four remaining suitors -- which means kooky family members, tough questions and, knowing Ashley, probably a tearful meltdown or two. But the more important question is ... what is your water heater doing right now?

'Hell's Kitchen' (8PM ET, Fox) season premiere
If you like your reality with a little more realism (and probably just as many tears), Gordon Ramsay returns with 18 masochistic new contenders competing for a head chef position at BLT Steak in New York. Just to spice things up, expect a battle of the sexes that will have tempers flaring.

'Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story' (8PM ET, Lifetime) original telefilm
If you're still on a Harry Potter high following the release of 'Deathly Hallows Part 2,' Potterites might want to check out the tale of how J.K. Rowling (Poppy Montgomery) brought the boy wizard to life whilst struggling to support her kids as a single mother on welfare. Magic!

MONDAY, JULY 11

'Adventure Time with Finn and Jake' (8PM ET, Cartoon Network) season premiere
The colorful kids' animation returns for its third season on Cartoon Network, continuing the adventures of Finn and his four-legged friend Jake as they traverse the mystical land of Ooo. In the season premiere, Finn and Jake find their tree house invaded by King Snuggadoodle and the Huggaboopies (yes, really).

'Eureka' (8PM ET, Syfy) summer season premiere
After a six month break, 'Eureka's' fourth season resumes with an unscheduled launch that causes havoc for the gang, while Carter finds himself in an awkward situation after S.A.R.A.H. and Andy's nuptials hit a speed-bump.

MONDAY, JUNE 27

'Weeds' (10PM ET, Showtime) season premiere
The seventh season of the drug-dealer chronicle jumps three years into the future, with Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) recently released from jail and trying to rebuild her illegal business. Aidan Quinn, Martin Short and Jennifer Jason-Leigh guest star in the new season.

'The Big C' (10:30PM ET, Showtime) season premiere
Alan Alda, Parker Posey and Hugh Dancy will guest star in the second season of this Showtime program, which stars Laura Linney as a woman with cancer.

MONDAY, JUNE 20

'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' (8PM ET, Current TV) series premiere
The former MSNBC host returns to television with nightly current-events, news and commentary program. Contributors include Donald Sutherland, Ken Burns, Michael Moore, John Dean and Matt Taibbi, among others.

MONDAY, JUNE 13

'Regular Show' (8:15PM ET, Cartoon Network)
Now it can be told: This show is one of my not-so-secret addictions. It's the enjoyably surreal, funny and juvenile chronicle of Rigby the raccoon and Mordecai the blue jay, slackers who goof off from their jobs as park workers every chance they get. Given that their boss is a talking gumball machine and they hang out with characters like Skips (a Yeti voiced by Mark Hamill), Pops (an old-timey gent with a giant head), the constantly aggravated Muscle Man and his best pal, High Five Ghost, things often get winningly weird. In Monday's episode, Rigby gets angry when Mordecai mocks him for not having a high school diploma, so he takes steps to become 'More Smarter' (don't attack my grammar, that's the title of the episode).

MONDAY, JUNE 6

'Bobby Fischer Against the World' (9PM ET, HBO)
HBO kicks off its summer documentary series with a film that chronicles the brilliant rise of chess prodigy Bobby Fischer, who became a grandmaster as a teenager, battled Russia's Boris Spassky in a legendary 1972 match and, in his controversial later years, became paranoid and withdrawn. This documentary draws on interviews with chess legend Gary Kasparov, author Malcolm Gladwell, talk-show host Dick Cavett, Paul Marshall (Fischer's personal attorney), Harry Sneider (his trainer) and photographer Harry Benson, who had access to Fischer before and during the 1972 championship.

MONDAY, MAY 30

'Platinum Hit' (10PM, Bravo) series premiere
Old 'American Idol' judges don't die; they just move to new musical-based competition series. Former 'Idol' judge Kara DioGuardi heads up a team of critics in this new show which pits 12 up-and-coming musicians against one another in a series of songwriting challenges. The winner receives $100,000 and publishing deal with Sony. Joining DioGuardi is singer-songwriter Jewel, who acts as host and provides feedback.

MONDAY, MAY 23

'House' (8PM, FOX) season finale
This has not been a good year for House. Oh, he finally hooked up with Cuddy and Thirteen came back to the team, but those brief moments of joy were overshadowed by the sadness. Soon enough, Cuddy broke up with him, which caused him to return to his pill addiction. Then he self-medicated himself with a medicine which helped him grow new muscle, except it caused the growth of tumors. Now he's about to make a decision which could change his relationship with both Cuddy and Wilson.

MONDAY, MAY 16

'Chuck' (8PM, NBC) season finale
Though the threat of cancellation has consistently hung over this NBC series, the network officially announced Friday that Chuck Bartowski and his Buy More and CIA colleagues would get a fifth and final season to wrap things up. So rest assured watching the season finale that any cliffhangers will be resolved when the show returns in the fall. In the season 4 finale, Chuck tries to bring down Vivian Volkoff before she can ruin his wedding to Sarah.

MONDAY, MAY 2

'Castle' (10PM, ABC)
The good news: Castle is taking a road trip to Los Angeles. The bad news: it's to help Beckett solve the murder of her former partner. When the investigation of the partner's unexpected death points to a suspect out in California, Castle and Beckett take an unauthorized hop on a plane to LaLa Land. While there, the duo visit the set of the movie 'Heat Wave,' based on one of Castle's books, and gain some insight into the case. Guest appearances on this week's episode include Gene Simmons, Dominic Prucell and D.B. Sweeney.

MONDAY, APRIL 25

'Nurse Jackie' (10PM, Showtime)
Things are not going well for Jackie this season. Besides her continued addiction to pills, people she once trusted are moving away from her or just moving on. This week's episode continues Jackie's streak of bad luck as she begins to worry about her dwindling supply of pills. In the emergency room, things heat up as Coop tries to pull the ER chief title from O'Hara.