(S05E13) "What does L.A. have in store for us today?" -- Brenda

Major crimes was back on the job with a case that was gruesome and grim at the same time. How Brenda managed to face the morning crime scene without blanching is proof that she's as tough as nails beneath that smiling, sweet Southern facade. Brenda needed to be when dealing with a triple homicide, gang rape and possible gang war. Welcome to L.A. More on the case and the kitty situation, after the jump.

(S01E14) I got a lot of heat because of my review of last week's show and usually I ignore all criticism because I'm so brilliant. However, when 99% of the comments are negative, I'm forced to take another look at my reviews. So, as I watched Jericho this week, I vowed to pay close attention so as not to miss any pertinent information and it totally paid off. During the opening, the Morse code message clearly said, "Don't bother watching. This episode is kind of lame."

To be honest, I couldn't really concentrate on everything that happened because of the scene early on where Gerald McRaney & Pamela Reed decided to get boozed up. It may me wonder: Why aren't more people getting drunk in the middle of the day? I mean, it's not like anyone has a job to go to and shouldn't a small town like Jericho have at least one town drunk anyway?

Whatever will we do now that the figure skating competition is over? Oh, nevermind. There's the Champions Gala tonight where nobody is expected to fall (or win).

Actual competition continues on NBC in the form of speed skating, a six-mile marathon race that features American Chad Hedrick. Also, the women compete in the alpine giant slalom and four men climb into a bobsled and race down an icy track at break-neck speeds. Plus, more curling!

Check it out:

Tonight is the night that NBC has been waiting for: the gold medal showdown in ladies' figure skating. American Sasha Cohen enters tonight's free skate on top, but by only .06 of a point over Russian Irinia Slutskaya. Expect to stay up until midnight for the outcome of that competition (or you can get the results from any news website).

Also tonight, to fill the time between figure skating competitors, the women snowboarders compete in the parallel giant slalom. Curling, hockey, bobsledding and marathon speed skating are also on the schedule:

While NBC is focusing on speed skating and alpine skiing today, the real action is on its other networks, MSNBC and USA, where you can watch live hockey games all day long. The American men will play Finland in the quarterfinals at 11:30 this morning. Also, the American men's curling team is in the semifinal game against Canada. It airs on CNBC at 5 pm.

No figure skating tonight but the ladies will be back Thursday to determine the gold.

Here's the schedule:

The event that usually garners the most talk is women's figure skating, and it begins tonight with the short program. With Michelle Kwan out of the competition due to injuries, American skater Sasha Cohen gets the spotlight. And, Emily Hughes, the younger sister of 2002 Olympic gold medal figure skater Sarah Hughes, will also hit the ice. No pressure, Emily. Despite all the excitement over Sasha's modeling contracts and Emily's famous sister, Russian skater Irina Slutskaya is still favored for gold.

Also on the ice tonight, speed skaters Chad Hedrick, Shani Davis, Joey Cheek and Derek Parra race each other in the 1500m. Hedrick, Davis, and Cheek have all won gold medals so far in these games.

Here's the schedule on all of NBC's networks:

Ice skating returns to NBC primetime tonight with the finals in the ice dancing competition where an American team is in contention for a medal. But, the real interesting action on the ice is over at the speed skating track. Americans Chris Witty and Jennifer Rodriguez are both going for the gold in the 1000m. Expect to see and hear a lot about Witty from NBC tonight. She has overcome some pretty intense personal problems since winning gold in Salt Lake City.

Also tonight, the women's freestyle aerials competition, and the two-man bobsled. Here is the schedule for all of NBC's stations:

One of the athletes to watch tonight is not an American. It's Croatian Alpine Skier Janica Kostelic, who won four gold medals in her sport in Salt Lake City. Her brother, Ivica, won the silver medal in the slalom last night. Americans Julie Mancuso and Lindsey Kildow, who was injured during a training run earlier this week, are also in medal contention.

There are some Americans to watch, too. Apolo Anton Ohno races in the 1000m speed skate and hopefully he'll be able to stay on his feet for this one. Also, gorgeous Jeremy Bloom (seriously, girls, look at him) competes in the moguls.

Here's tonight's line-up on all of NBC's stations:

The Russians are well on their way to winning a gold medal in pairs figure skating tonight. After a flawless short program, Totmiyanina and Marinin enter tonight's long program almost four full points ahead of the next team. Also tonight is the women's halfpipe snowboarding competition. The U.S. men already claimed a gold last night, thanks to an awesome run by Shaun White. Tonight, Americans Gretchen Bleiler, Hannah Teter and 2002 gold medalist Kelly Clark all have a good chance at getting on the podium. Also tonight, more speed skating as American Casey FitzRandolph races in the 500m, for which he won gold in Salt Lake City. And the American women and men each take on Norway in curling.

Here's tonight's schedule on all of NBC's networks:

Some big names in competition today. On the slopes, Americans Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves hope they can hold back Austrian hot shot Alpine Skier Hermann Maier, who is on a mission to win since he missed the Salt Lake City games due to a motorcycle accident. Seattle native Apolo Anton Ohno (and his soul patch) go for the gold in the same race that caused controversy in SLC when he won after a South Korean speed skater was disqualified for interfering with Ohno during the race. But, the real spectacle of the night will hopefully be top-rated, red-haired, American snowboarder Shaun White, a.k.a. The Flying Tomato, as he goes for the gold on the half-pipe.

Here's today's Olympic schedule:

The Olympics. An event where athletes from every country in the world gather to compete in sports. It's a time of unity. Of heroes. Of peace. Somebody needs to clue Brian Williams in.

He joined Bob Costas as the commentator for the Opening Ceremonies of the Turino, Italy Olympic games last night. And I almost through threw the remote control through the television set. Williams felt the need to share his news knowledge with the rest of us by mentioning some not-so-happy news events related to specific nations as they paraded into Olympic stadium. Denmark? Williams mentions the cartoon that triggered riots in Muslim nations. China? He talks about human rights and environmental standards. Iran? He says that country's leader has called for the destruction of Israel. I much prefer the interesting factoids about the nations, their Olympic history, and notable Olympians.

His comments were unfair to the athletes of those nations. The news and controversy surrounding certain nations lately are not representative of the athletes who are competing.

**Apparently, the Daily Nightly commenters agree.

Most of the action today is going to be on the ice, in the form of figure skating and speed skating. Figure skating pairs begin competition with the short program. Expect to hear a lot from the commentators about how the judging has changed since Salt Lake, when Canadian and Russian pairs ended up sharing the gold medal. Also today, Chad Hedrick begins his quest for five gold medals in speed skating. Plus, the Americans face the very strong Chinese women in freestyle skiing. All the high profile events will air during NBC primetime.

Here's the schedule:

By next fall, the Olympics will be long gone. But, NBC wants to remind you of the games by putting one athlete on The Apprentice. Which one? You get to choose. Online voting begins today, coincidentally, so do the Olympics, and ends on February 26, coinciding with closing ceremonies. The winning Olympian will join the other candidates in Los Angeles when shooting begins on season six of The Apprentice. I'm guessing that whichever team gets the Olympian will exploit him or her to the max until Trump fires the athlete. The press release that announces the cross-promotion doesn't mention any of the athletes' business experience. No matter. The Apprentice stopped being about business in season two, didn't it?

The list of candidates is after the jump: