Tonight is full of drama on “Chuck” and “Gossip Girl”, while one character finds out some life-changing news on “How I Met Your Mother”.

8 p.m.

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS): Penny vows to get revenge on Sheldon when he bans her from the apartment for a series of petty infractions. More about this show here.
• Dancing With The Stars (ABC): I got the Susan Lucci elimination right last week. More about this show here.
• Chuck (NBC): Chuck runs into his ex-girlfriend Jill (guest star Jordana Brewster) while on a Nerd Herd call. In an attempt to save face, he lies to the girl who broke his heart and tells her that he is more successful than he really is. When Chuck flashes on Jill’s boss-a research scientist who may have developed a deadly bio-weapon, he, Sarah and Casey must find out if Jill is involved. Meanwhile at the Buy More, Big Mike nearly chokes to death, which leads company efficiency expert Emmett (guest star Tony Hale) to implement a mandatory CPR course taught by Captain Awesome.
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: John and Riley’s impromptu trip to Mexico results in deadly consequences. Meanwhile, Sarah and Ellison finally come face-to-face. More about this show here.
• Gossip Girl (The WB): Blair does not approve of the new man, Cyrus Rose (guest star Wallace Shawn), in her mother’s (guest star Margaret Colin) life, so she makes it her mission to break up the lovebirds by any means necessary. Jenny moves in with Agnes (guest star Willa Holland) as the friends move forward with their plans for a fashion line. Serena continues to fall for the new guy in her life, Aaron (guest star John Patrick Amedori), but she learns something about him that threatens to end things just as they are getting really good. Dan decides to win the trust of Bart Bass (guest star Robert John Burke) in order to learn more about the man and possibly write an expose on him for Vanity Fair, but things get heated after Chuck finds out the real reason Dan is spending so much time around his family. More about this show here.
• Inside the Actor’s Studio (Bravo): Dave Chappelle turns the tables and asks James Lipton the questions. That is, if he doesn’t go hide in Africa before he’s supposed to show up.
• Little People, Big World (TLC): Matt hires a friend to build a deck but keeps making last-minute changes, adding stress to his marriage. Amy prepares her preschool class for graduation and tries to keep things in order during the renovation. Clips from tonight’s show are available here and here.

8:30 p.m.

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS): When Lily and Marshall contemplate making the life-changing decision to have a baby, Lily turns to Ted and Robin for advice and their very different points of view on the issue. More about this show here.
• Little People, Big World (TLC): The twins are caught off-roading and have their driving privileges revoked.
• Monday Night Football (ESPN): San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals haven’t won on MNF since 1985.

9 p.m.

• Two and A Half Men (CBS): Alan tries to escape Judith’s grasp as Charlie and Herb go on the prowl. More about this show here.
• Heroes (NBC): To prepare for the confrontation ahead, Hiro follows respected businessman, husband and father Arthur Petrelli (guest star Robert Forster) in the days before he “died” — to discover what drove him to create rival company Pinehearst and strike at Angela. Later, a moment unfolds where Sylar, horrified and guilt-ridden, might have stopped his murderous pursuit of abilities — that is, if H.R.G. and Elle (guest star Kristen Bell) had swayed from their monstrous assignment. Finally, under the wing of Company man Thompson (guest star Eric Roberts), agent-in-training Meredith (guest star Jessalyn Gelsig) watches her new life go up in smoke, following the arrival of her hot-headed brother.
• Prison Break (Fox): Michael’s medical condition forces Sara to take him to the hospital, and Sucre and Lincoln get themselves into an explosive situation. Mahone has designs on the Company’s architect while Agent Self meets with a surprising ally. More about this show here.
• One Tree Hill (The WB): Tension fills the air backstage at Peyton’s USO Show, as Lucas deals with Peyton and Julian’s (guest star Austin Nichols) romantic past. Haley battles stage fright and Nathan struggles with a decision that could change his career. Brooke gets a call that threatens her relationship with Sam (guest star Ashley Rickards). Millicent confronts Mouth on his relationship with Gigi (guest star Kelsey Chow).
• Jon & Kate Plus 8 (TLC): The Gosselins FINALLY arrive in Hawaii for their vow renewal.

9:30 p.m.

• Samantha Who (ABC): After an altercation with a cop, Samantha is arrested and given community service, where she meets Natalie (Mary-Kate Olsen), a troubled young woman. Sam feels that it’s her duty to help the wayward Natalie turn her life around, in spite of warnings from Andrea that Natalie’s a bad seed who can’t be turned. Meanwhile, even though Todd insists that they’re just friends now, Howard offers advice on how to win back Samantha’s affections. More about this show here.
• Worst Week (CBS): Sam winds up in hot water, literally, trying to impress the Clayton family minister. More about this show here.

10 p.m.

• Boston Legal (ABC): More about this show here.
• My Own Worst Enemy (NBC): During Edward’s rescue mission to get Raymond out of captivity, Henry wakes up to find himself in the midst of gunfire. Paula (Michelle Krusiec, “What Happens in Vegas”), a fellow operative overhears a panicked Henry put in a call to Mavis, revealing his identity. Henry/Edward’s fate now lies in her hands. Meanwhile, Mary Grady (Missy Yager) finds out that her suspicions about Tom are true; and a relationship between Dr. Skinner and Edward is exposed. Madchen Amick also stars.
• CSI: Miami (CBS): Lucy Lawless (Xena) guest-stars as a man is found handcuffed and stabbed in his hotel room, while a prank at the lab causes a rift in the CSI team and threatens their investigation. More about this show here.
• 17 Kids & Counting (TLC): Jinger takes her driving test as the family celebrates Michelle’s birthday and responds to viewer mail.
• The Hills (MTV)
• Scream Queens (VH1): The remaining contestants play the role of a head with no body.

Photo ©2008 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Post from: Media Scribbler

Fox: The World Series: Game 5 — Philadelphia Phillies vs. Tampa Bay Rays — The Phillies are leading 3-1, so this is the last chance for the Rays to pull something out. Don’t count on it.

ABC: Dancing With the Stars — The rumor is that the folks behind the scenes (in particular, Susan Lucci) really, really, really want Cloris Leachman gone. It’s kinda like what happened with Mel B. last year — no one expected her to be around for long, and she ended up almost winning. I was rooting (in the type of rooting that occurs when you don’t watch the show) for Lucci, but I now feel sympathy for Leachman. But I really like the kid from “Hannah Montana” too.

Samantha Who – Sam enters a clinical trial for people with memory loss, and she regains fragments of her memory. Because I’m warped like this, I kinda hope it turns out to be like the “Torchwood” ep with a clinical trial where people are turned into mayflies in the end. That was cool.

NBC: Chuck — Chuck’s really not digging this superspy thing. Tonight he’s targeting superterrorists who for some ungodly reason are targeting Buy More staffer Jeff. Also, Jeff appears to have the fate of the world in his hands and is the only one who can prevent WWIII. That should be an interesting plot to figure out.

Heroes – Nathan and Tracy are fighting to survive Surjeh’s plans for them, while Daphene’s boss gives her a murderous mission. Sounds very cheery.

The WB: Gossip Girl — Jenny becomes friends with a hard-working model, Serena becomes friends with a new guy, and Blair continues to try to seduce Chuck, but of course she runs into obstacles.

TLC: Little People, Big World — During a trip to Nashville, Matt Roloff falls ill and stops breathing in the middle of the night. A preview of the ep is located here. In the second ep, Zach tries to up his grade in a class by participating in a Battle of Gettysburg and gets more than he bargained for. A clip of that is here.

Jon & Kate Plus 8 — The Gosselins are headed to Hawaii to renew their wedding vows. There are so many things about this show that me and other people who love to hate it would question just in that paragraph. No. 1 for me is how you can afford airfare for eight kids to Hawaii. Seriously, I know they got some product placement deal, but isn’t this show supposed to be about normalcy? Could anyone else do that?

Bravo: West Wing — For those of you who long for the simpler days of the mythical Bartlett administrator, there is a two-episode marathon of the political show. And if you’d rather see parallells to the current campaign, they’re airing “National Lampoon’s Summer Vacation” afterwards.

History Channel: Modern Marvels — Tonight’s show how such things as scary masks and pumpkin carving have evolved through time.

National Geographic Channel: Locked Up Abroad — A guy who got caught smuggling cocaine from Ecuador explains in detail why doing such a thing is a really bad idea.

Versus: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild — If baseball’s not your thing, here’s a hockey game that was described by my hockey-fan friend as “The battle of who could care less.” Hey, but they split their four-game series last year, so it should be close.

Post from: Media Scribbler

NBC: Chuck — Nicole Richie guest-stars as a high-school nemesis of Sarah (isn’t this the same basic characterization as Lindsay Lohan’s reoccurring part on Ugly Betty?) who Sarah must face at her high-school reunion while she’s dealing with a bomb plot. Ben Savage also guest-stars.

Heroes — Superhero Profiles says that we’re going to learn the limits of Claire’s powers, as well as where those limits came from with her family. There’s also going to be two deaths — a hero and a villain. Sounds like they’re setting things up for a must-see sweeps.CBS: How I Met Your Mother — Ted and Stella decide to do a quickie wedding, but suddenly their exes appear to complicate matters. Because this is a sitcom and there has to be someone to object during the ceremony.

Two and A Half Men — Charlie tries to help one of his former conquests (and Jake’s former teacher) after she becomes a stripper, but things get more complicated when she experiences a religious conversion.

Worst Week — Sam has invited too many of his coworkers to his wedding, but the excuse he uses to uninvite some of them complicates things (is this “Complicated Day” on CBS?)

ABC: Dancing With The Stars — Tonight’s dancing night, with the contestants trying to make it through another week of eliminations and the viewers hoping for a week less of boredom.

Samantha Who — Sam decides to go to Africa to help refugees, chickens out when she finds out how many vaccinations she’d need and how hard it would be, and then decides to hang out with Andrea and Dena so no one else will know she didn’t go. Sounds like the perfect plan to fall apart.

Fox: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles — Things look brighter for the show, which got a full-season order last week and is expected to improve in the ratings with the impending return of “American Idol”. This week, “Battlestar Galactica’s” Stephanie Jacobsen plays Jesse, a “woman from Derek’s past”, who SF Universe said probably accurately will either be in trouble or a Terminator.

Prison Break — Lincoln and Sucre target Pad Man to obtain the last key card, with violent consequences. Also, Gretchen gives Sarah the chance to settle the score as Sarah remembers events in a Panamanian prison cell. More (with big spoilers) here.

The CW: Gossip Girl – Vanessa blackmails Blair, so Blair asks Chuck to seduce Vanessa to retaliate. Sounds like a great idea — send your ex out to inevitably fall for your enemy. Also, Chuck’s jealous of the “bromance” between Dan and Nate. More spoilers (including video clips) here.

ESPN: Monday Night Football — New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos. This would’ve been a much better showdown if Tom Brady weren’t on injured reserved. As it is, this will be a good chance for the Broncos’ Jay Cutler to prove he’s the real thing.

(NBC Photo: Adam Taylor)

Post from: Media Scribbler