What's on TV? 'Smallville' begins Season 8, 'Closer' ends for the summer
What's on TV? 'Smallville' begins Season 8, 'Closer' ends for the summer

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By Penny Soldan

Published: September 14, 2008

Goodbye "Smallville.” Hello Metropolis.

The CW's modern retelling of the Superman legend isn't over, but Clark Kent (alias Tom Welling) will be spending less time in his hometown and more time in the big city during Season 8.

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The premiere episode, airing at 7 p.m. Thursday, takes place a few weeks after the collapse of Clark's arctic Fortress of Solitude. Three members of the Justice League — Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), Black Canary (Aliana Huffman) and Aquaman (Alan Ritchson) — come to his rescue.

Future episodes will feature even more D.C. Comics characters, including Plastique, the heroine-to-be with an explosive personality, and Doomsday, the only character who is able to kill Superman.

Also this season, Clark takes a job at the Daily Planet and begins exploring his dual identities as a reporter and a superhero.

Other programs worth watching:

SUNDAY

•"Play it Back: '80s Game Shows” (6 p.m. on GSN): Host Carolina Rhea ("Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”) spotlights favorite 1980s game shows, including "Super Password,” "Tic Tac Dough,” "Love Connection,” "Family Feud” and "Wheel of Fortune.”

•"The Red Shoes” (11 p.m. on Sundance): Director Yong-gyun Kim's new take on the Hans Christian Anderson classic features a pair of high heels that march havoc into the lives of an optometrist and her daughter.

•"Secrets of the Dinosaur Mummy” (8 p.m. on Discovery): This high-definition special documents the discovery of a 77 million-year-old dinosaur with 90 percent of its body still covered in skin. The young Brachylophosaurus was found in 2000 by paleontologists exploring Malta.

MONDAY

•"The Closer” (8 p.m. on TNT): In the summer finale, the Major Crimes Division races against the clock to prevent an explosive massacre.

•"Dora the Explorer” (9:30 a.m. on Nickelodeon): Season 5 of the animated preschool series features new play-along adventures and a new voiceover cast. Caitlin Sanchez, whose parents are Cuban-American, is the new voice of Dora.

•"History Detectives” (8 p.m. on OETA-13): Among the items being examined are a World War II veteran's souvenir record promoting a musical created for soldiers, and a silver bar from the wreck of the 17th-century Spanish ship Atocha.

•"The Martha Stewart Show” (11 a.m. on KOCO-5): To open Season 4, Martha Stewart opens the gates of her 153-acre property in Bedford, N.Y., and takes viewers on a tour of her farmstead.

•"My Family's Got Guts” (7 p.m. on Nickelodeon): Film critic Ben Lyons and Australian TV personality Asha Kuerten will co-host this new competition series that celebrates sports and fun.

•"Two and a Half Men” (8 p.m. on CBS): This epsiode, originally broadcast in May, was written by "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” staff writers and features a cameo appearance by George Eads (Nick on "CSI”).

•"Where We Stand: America's Schools in the 21st Century” (9 p.m. on OETA-13): Judy Woodruff ("Frontline”) hosts this special that examines the major challenges for U.S. schools in the face of global competitiveness.

TUESDAY

•"Big Brother 10” (8 p.m. on CBS): After 71 days in the house, the winner will be announced on the live finale. It will be up to the seven sequestered jury members to determine who will win the $500,000 grand prize.

•"The Biggest Loser: Families” (7 p.m. on NBC): In the sixth season of this competitive reality series, two-person teams made up of either husbands and wives or adult children and parents vie to see who can lose the most weight with the help of diet and exercise experts.

•"The Cleaner” (9 p.m. on A&E): Isaiah Washington ("Grey's Anatomy”) guest stars as a traditional interventionist who has been retained by a mother trying to save her daughter from heroin addiction.

•"House” (7 p.m. on Fox): Season 5 opens eight weeks after the death of Amber, Wilson's girlfriend. He is still mourning her death, and his relationship with his best friend, House, is shattered. So Wilson resigns from Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital.

•"Lincoln Heights” (7 p.m. on ABC Family): In the third season of the NAACP Image Award-nominated series, the Sutton family meet new neighbors who propose better things for the inner-city community.

•"Wipeout” (7 p.m. on ABC): The season finale features a countdown of the most memorable moments with never-before-seen footage, extended scenes and interviews with some of the most popular contestants.

WEDNESDAY

•"America's Got Talent” (7 p.m. on NBC): The Top 10 acts perform live for a chance to win $1 million. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, the five finalists will be revealed.

•"Bones” (7 p.m. on Fox): "The Dog Whisperer” Cesar Millan guest stars as himself. The team asks him to help connect the forensic canine evidence from an illegal dog fighting ring with a killer dog and its owner.

•"Live From Lincoln Center” (7 p.m. on OETA-13): The New York Philharmonic's 2008-09 opening night concert marks the philharmonic's 167th season and Lorin Maazel's last as the orchestra's music director. The program will open with the "Roman Carnival Overture” by Hector Berlioz and conclude with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4.

•"Los Lonely Boys Cottonfields and Crossroads” (8:30 p.m. on OETA-13): This new documentary tells the story of three Mexican-American brothers from San Angelo, Texas, who created a signature music style they call "Texican.”

•"MANswers” (10 p.m. on SPIKE): The trivia show for men returns for a second season with back-to-back episodes. Questions that will be answered include how to go a year without washing your underwear and how a chicken can improve your sex life.

THURSDAY

•"Dragons' Den” (8 p.m. on BBC America): Five multimillionaires looking to invest in new ideas hear pitches for a Bollywood board game and a special lightbulb for the elderly.

•High School Football: Choctaw vs. Putnam North at 7:30 p.m. on Cox.

•"Supernatural” (8 p.m. on CW): The terrifying journey of the Winchester brothers continues in the show's fourth season. It's four months later, and Dean wakes up in a pine box.