NGTV Guide: Tuesday, March 9

How can it be season finale time for Neal and Peter already?!?

White Collar – USA 10/9c – SEASON FINALE
“Out of the Box” – Neal teams up with Alex in order to retrieve the ever-elusive music box at an Italian Consulate. Meanwhile, Peter enlists the help of Diana to help take down Fowler.

The Good Wife – CBS 10/9c
“Fleas” – As Peter strategizes on how to handle his retrial and the next steps in his public rehabilitation, Alicia and Will defend an attorney arrested for murder. Ana Gasteyer (“Saturday Night Live”) guest stars as Pam Lester, a difficult judge whose respect Will needs to earn.

NGTV Guide: Monday, March 8

Happy Monday! For some reason I’m feeling quite chipper on this first day after the weekend. Feel free to smack me.

Chuck - NBC 8/7c
“Chuck vs. the Beard” – Chuck (Zachary Levi) feels like his life is falling apart when he can’t flash and gets left behind for a mission. While Shaw (guest star Brandon Routh), Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) and Casey (Adam Baldwin) go on without him, Chuck finds himself in a sticky situation back at the base. Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster, Ryan McPartlin, Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay and Mark Christopher Lawrence also star.

Life Unexpected – the CW 9/8c
“Bride Unbridled” – Cate and Ryan are forced to put on a happy face as the hosts of a wedding expo, but the unfortunate situation becomes even more unfortunate after Baze and Math show up at the event. After watching Lux mope around the house for days, Baze solicits help from Jones in an effort to cheer her up.

Castle – ABC 10/9c
“The Mistress Always Spanks Twice” – When a half-naked woman is found covered in caramel sauce and hanging by bondage cuffs in a public park, Castle and Beckett’s investigation takes them into New York’s underground world of sexual domination. Naturally the case serves as sexy fodder for their already charged relationship banter

3 Signs It’s Time To Stop Watching That Show

Recently I was chatting with a fellow fan of a certain hour-long show which boasts a segment of the fanbase who are incredibly disgruntled. Thousands and thousands of words have been written expressing their displeasure about a certain plot development, extending to constant negativity about the show as a whole. Other fans, like the two of us who are admittedly more easygoing and optimistic, are feeling the strain of the now familiar complaints posted over and over by this other group of fans. Which led to the question: why are they still watching? From an objective point of view, a lot of these people don’t appear to even like the show they’re spending so much time arguing about, so why do they continue? At what point do you throw in the towel on a show that no longer pleases you? The answer is subjective, but here are the three signs for when it’s time for me to stop watching a show.

1. It’s a chore to watch. I have not watched Fringe since about 3/4 of the way through season 1. All of the episodes were on my DVR up until December, but I had no desire to watch them because it felt like work. Despite my hope that I would love the show, it never hooked me, so those episodes wasted away in digital limbo until I finally acknowledged that this just isn’t something I’m interested in. The last couple of seasons of Gilmore Girls were also a chore, as were a couple of seasons of Buffy, but when you’ve already invested five years in a show, it’s difficult to cut the ties.
2. It requires more of a time commitment than you can afford. Yes, Lost, I’m looking at you. I gave up on Lost toward the end of season 3 simply because I did not have the time to spend deciphering and analyzing each episode. I finally decided to wait until the series ends, then rewatch the whole thing on DVD, just to save my sanity.
3. It’s no longer entertaining. That is the fundamental point of television shows, right? To entertain us? I don’t mean every episode has to be laugh out loud funny or give me the warm fuzzies, but if, when the final credits roll, I don’t feel like what I saw was worth the time, then it needs to be cut. Of course every show has an “off” episode now and then, so I’ll give a show with a proven track record, like Chuck, a chance. But if the “off” is more frequent than the “on,” then sayonara Heroes!

What about you? When do you decide to cut a show from your watch list? Or do you stick with it to the bitter end?

NGTV Guide: Thursday, March 4

Oddly, most of our Thursday shows are still on hiatus. Enjoy it while you can, Nice Girls!

The Mentalist – CBS 10/9c
“Red Herring” – Jane and the team investigate the murder of an arrogant chef during a cooking competition in Napa Valley.

Burn Notice – USA 10/9c – SEASON FINALE
“Devil You Know” – Michael’s worst fears come to life when a world class terrorist is unleashed on Miami, threatening to detonate a bomb if Michael doesn’t give him what he wants. John Mahoney and Garret Dillahunt guest-star.

NGTV Guide: Wednesday, March 3

We’re adding Modern Family and The New Adventures of Old Christine to our Wednesday lineup because they feature hilarious women (and men) we can’t help watching.

The New Adventures of Old Christine – CBS 8/7c
“Sweet Charity” – When Christine and Barb find their business unexpectedly profitable, Christine undergoes a personal crisis – deciding whether to spend her share of the newfound money on herself, or follow Barb’s lead and give it to charity. Ed Begley Jr. guest stars as a pastor whom Christine turns to for guidance.

Modern Family – 9/8c
“Fears” – When Phil and Luke embark on a discovery expedition underneath the house, Phil tries not to let his fear of the dark and of creepy crawlies get the best of him. Meanwhile, Claire takes a nervous Haley to the DMV for her driver’s test, Manny’s sudden illness before a friend’s amusement park birthday party makes Gloria suspicious, and Cameron and Mitchell invite Lily’s pediatrician over for what turns out to be an anxiety-ridden brunch.

Cougar Town – ABC 9:30/8:30
“What Are You Doin’ In My Life?” — Laurie needs a co-signer to buy her first condo and finds her less than stellar, absentee mother (guest starring Beverly D’Angelo as Sheila) no help at all. Meanwhile, Bobby is mugged by a woman and Travis comes to Barb’s aid after her latest cosmetic surgery procedure.

Psych – USA 10/9c
“The Head, the Tail, the Whole Damn Episode!” – After Lassiter takes a page out of Shawn’s book and claims a shark attack victim was actually murdered, the guys must then scramble to find the fish and prove him right. Jeri Ryan guest stars.

New Dancing With the Stars Cast Announced; Nice Girl Finally Lured Into Watching

When the latest round of Dancing With the Stars competitors were announced, I went to skim through as usual, expecting to draw a blank on most of them, a chuckle on a couple, then shrug and not think about the show again until the next cast list was announced.

I’ve never watched a single episode of DWTS, but ABC got me this time. Here’s pretty much how it went down: Oh look, Kate Gosselin, that should be terrible. Pamela Anderson? Ew. Who is Jake Pavelka? Buzz Aldrin, that’s pretty cool, but can he dance? Evan Lysa…WHAT?!?!? <censored for non-Nice Girl language>

That’s right, the ABC juggernaut snagged my Olympic boyfriend, Evan Lysacek, for this round of dancing. And you know he’s got the moves, so he’ll probably be around for a while. If they’d announced this in another week or so, I probably would have been able to shrug it off, but this soon after the Olympics? Still crushing on the gold medal winner? Well played, ABC, well played. DWTS will get a season pass on my DVR, but just so you know, I’ll be fast forwarding to Evan’s performances and skipping everything else. Except maybe Buzz Aldrin. A Nice Girl’s gotta have standards, after all.

DWTS premieres Monday, March 22. Watch Chuck first, then feel free to join me in cheering for Evan and/or mock my crush.

Below, Evan Lysacek presents the Top 10 list on last night’s Late Show With David Letterman:

NGTV Guide: Tuesday, March 2

White Collar’s season finale is coming up quickly, and The Good Wife’s drama is heating up while TNT welcomes new episodes of Southland.

White Collar – USA 10/9c
“The Front Man” – The daughter of a man from Neal’s past goes missing, leading Neal to volunteer and help find her. But little does anyone realize the kidnapper is an old enemy of Neal’s, and is leading him right into a trap.

The Good Wife – CBS 10/9c
“Bang” – While Peter gets acclimated to life at home and works on a comeback strategy with his political team, including Eli Gold (Alan Cumming “Cabaret,” “The L Word”), Alicia and Diane wrestle with spousal privilege laws in a murder case that hinges on their ability to get a wife to testify against her husband. Gary Cole (“Entourage,” “The West Wing”) guest stars as Kurt McVeigh, a rugged ballistics expert who Diane finds herself attracted to.

Southland – TNT 10/9c – SEASON PREMIERE
Lydia and Russell’s replacement, Rene Cordero, investigate a possible abduction of an elderly man by a known drug addict. Nate and Sammy investigate a freeway shooting and wind up threatening the integrity of a major undercover operation. And Chickie finds herself in the middle of a mini-riot after her new partner shoots at a 13-year-old boy.

Coming Out of the Olympic Haze

Between the Olympics hogging all my DVR space and handling the fallout from the last episode of Chuck, I feel like the last couple of weeks have been time warp. Now comes the run up to the crazy mad season finales in just a couple of weeks. Oh, and PaleyFest is going on right now – Nice Girls Louise, Tiffany and Rueben are covering the festivities – which always brings in fun stuff. Things I’m looking forward to in the next few weeks:

• Chuck returns (tonight)!
• The much discussed 100th episode of Bones.
• Vampire Diaries returns.
• Glee returns (finally)!
• The Psych and White Collar season finales (next week).
• Booking flights for Comic Con, Part Trois!
• Some really cool TV-related giveaways we’ll be launching soon.
• Did I already mention GLEE RETURNS?!

Welcome back, TV!

Nice Girls News Round-Up: Friday Night Lights, Alex O’Loughlin, Royal Pains

We’ve been so busy with our sister sites, True-Blood.net and ChuckTV.net, that we’ve been sadly remiss in reporting news about our favorite shows and actors. In the interest of catching up quickly, here are some tidbits that have us excited:

• NBC just launched their new Friday Night Lights website in advance of the April 30 season premiere. In related news, sources confirm that the fifth season, debuting on DirecTV next autumn, will be the show’s last.
• Alex O’Loughlin has been signed on as Det. Steve McGarrett in CBS’ remake of Hawaii Five-O. Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim and Battlestar Galactica’s Linda Park co-star. The pilot is being written & produced by Fringe’s Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, along with CSI: NY’s Peter Lenkov.
• Henry Winkler will recur on USA’s Royal Pains when the show returns for it’s sophomore season this summer. Winkler will play Eddie R. Lawson, the so-far unseen father of Mark Feuerstein’s Hank and Paolo Costanzo’s Evan, who appeared to have cleaned out the HankMed bank accounts at the end of season 1.
• Season 3 of In Plain Sight premieres on USA March 31 with a slew of familiar faces lined up to guest star. Rita Moreno, Allison Janney, Steven Weber, Tess Harper, and Josh Cooke will all show up in various capacities likely to irk Mary.

Did we miss anything else pressing?

NGTV Guide: Monday, March 1

The Olympics are over and sweeps month begins tonight. Get ready for some stellar episodes of our favorite shows!

Chuck – NBC 8/7c
“Chuck vs. the Fake Name” – Chuck promises to cook dinner for Hannah (guest star Kristin Kreuk), Ellie and Awesome  but must first assume the identity of the world’s most dangerous assassin for his latest mission. Meanwhile, Sarah  is determined to keep her relationship with Shaw (guest star Brandon Routh) strictly professional.

Life Unexpected - the CW 9/8c
“Crisis Unaverted” – In the midst of feeling like he is being pushed out of Lux’s life by Cate and Ryan, Baze wins the chance to compete against Ryan in a radio station contest and is determined to be the last man standing. Cate contemplates finally telling Ryan the full truth about Baze, but can’t bear the thought of what might happen if she does. When Tasha (guest star Ksenia Solo) tells Lux she may have to move three hours away to a new foster home, Lux decides to help Tasha track down her mother who is still living in town.

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