Someone (me) decided to come up with this completely vain (me) idea to share with you what piece of television we just have to watch this week — and therefore, we (me) think you should watch as well.

This is TV With NoWhiteNoise. (Get it? Not only is it the name of the blog but it’s also television without white noise! Ha! Ain’t that clever? No?) Here are the list of shows we’re watching this week; there are plenty others we’ll be catching online, on demand, or — ahem — that we’ll download, but these are the shows we need to see “live.”

(This is our first time, we’ll hopefully be a bit more selective next week.)

Monday

Alcatraz | 8/7c (Fox)

It’s the series premiere of JJ Abrams’ new procedural with a very familiar twist — it’s a supernatural procedural. Apparently, years ago, every prisoner in the ever-famous prison Alcatraz escaped, vanished into thin air. And now, they’re back… with a mission of some sort it seems. Every week, our team will be on the lookout for another former prisoner who’s causing present day damage.

Gossip Girl | 8/7c (The CW)

It’s been only a month (well, five weeks) but what an arduous month it was! Everyone’s favorite New York socialite group is back. Last we saw them, Blair and Chuck had suffered a bad car accident after resolving to spend the rest of their lives together. Relax, Chuck is alive — but Blair’s decided to go through with her wedding to Louis. Time has passed, but through flashbacks we learn why she chose to do so and how everyone else has recovered from the accident. Meanwhile, Lily hires a private detective to investigate of Charlie’s whereabouts after Ivy told Rufus she’s a fraud… and then left.

How I Met Your Mother | 8/7c (CBS)

It’s the outstanding achievement one hundred fiftieth episode of How I Met Your Mother and hopefully it’ll be legen — wait for it… wait for it… — dary, legendary! Lily and Marshall officially move out to the suburbs, but Lily’s bossy father won’t move out. Uh oh. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang copes from their absence by going to a strip club… in good, old How I Met Your Mother fashion that is. In fact, it may cause some of us to flip channels between this and Gossip Girl as it’s being aired!

2 Broke Girls | 8:30/7:30c (CBS)

Max and Caroline are suspicious of the new upstairs neighbor who moves in after the old tenant dies. And guess who’s playing the upstairs neighbor — Jennifer Coolidge, who just happens to be hilarious.


Castle | 10/9c (ABC)

When a woman is found dead in a car belonging to the mayor’s motor pool it spells trouble for his administration and for Castle and Beckett. It was originally under the mayor’s approval that Castle and Beckett were allowed to partner up, but what will happen to Castle once Beckett decides to do her job at all costs?

Tuesday

90210 | 8/7c (The CW)

90210 returns from its winter hiatus! Naomi embarrasses herself in front of her boss Rachel in an attempt to get over her break-up with Austin. Dixon and Adrianna are booked to perform at a club, where they realize that working together might be a bad idea. Meanwhile, Silver takes her relationship with Greg to the next level and a party Annie throws ends up being a disaster because she is too distracted by Liam’s new relationship.

Wednesday

Happy Endings | 9:30/8:30c (ABC)

Jane convinces Penny to stop changing herself for every guy she dates, and instead to change the guy to suit her needs. Penny’s first experiment is Jeff (guest star Ryan Hansen), a slacker who is 30 going on 20. Meanwhile, when Brad overhears Jane bragging to Penny about how she completely made him over after they met, he rebels, and starts walking, talking and dressing like his college-era self. And Alex and Max stage an “in-T-vention” to stop Dave from his obsession with v-necked T-shirts.

Revenge | 10/9c (ABC)

Last week, Emily (aka Amanda Clarke) finally found another target and the show returned to its Takedown of the Week format for just a little while. In the B Plot, Daniel had resolved to propose to Emily, figuring why waste time (especially if it means he inherits shares of his father’s company). Well episode 13, “Commitment,” gets its name for a very important reason: Daniel plans to propose to Emily and figuring from the promotional photos — and, you know, the plot as flashforwarded in the pilot — she’s going to say yes. Oh, and there’s one other, little thing: Charlotte may be Amanda’s half-sister.

Thursday

The Big Bang Theory | 8/7c (CBS)

How I Met Your Mother isn’t the only CBS sitcom with a milestone episode taking place this week, that’s because The Big Bang Theory is about to celebrate it’s one hundredth episode! And everything might change when Leonard offers Penny a spur of the moment invitation to a romantic dinner for two.

The Vampire Diaries | 8/7c (The CW)

There may be an actual, human, crazy person on the loose in Mystic Falls… who’s getting quite close to Alaric; Jeremy’s finally gone to Denver; and will Damon and Elena get closer? Who knows, but what is for sure: we’ll be meeting Bonnie’s mother after two and a half seasons. Bonnie’s recurring nightmares lead her to believe she knows how he can be killed… but she needs a little help from her mother, in the form of Girlfriend‘s Persia White. Elsewhere, Damon is suspicious of the mysterious Dr. Fell, Tyler turns to an unlikely ally to help with his siring to Klaus, and Stefan and Klaus continue to play where’s-my-dead-family?

Grey’s Anatomy | 9/8c (ABC)

Richard performs his 10,000th surgery on a pair of bickering sisters who come into the hospital for a liver transplant; Derek and Lexie take on a neuroblastoma case that has been previously deemed inoperable; Teddy and Cristina cross the line when they go against Owen’s orders and try to steal a case from Alex and Dr. McQueen; Ellis Grey’s shadow looms as Meredith searches for a specialty; meanwhile Adele is brought into the hospital after she is found wandering the streets.

The Secret Circle | 9/8c (The CW)

The mysterious boathouse fire that happened sixteen years ago… none of our circle witches knows what happen, but everyone’s itching to find out. And it seems, we may finally get to the bottom of it. In the previous episode, Jake returned (just as Cassie and Adam were making out!) and in this episode he’ll offer Cassie a way to find out what happened — but Adam and Diana don’t trust him. Shocking. Meanwhile, Dawn and Charles try to bring Lee in as a potential ally.

Private Practice | 10/9c (ABC)

Just as Violet’s personal life takes a turn for the better with Scott, the paramedic, Joanna (the abused woman she met at the airport months earlier) arrives in need of urgent medical attention, being both pregnant and badly beaten; Cooper, Charlotte and Amelia all counsel Erica on the toughest decision of her life; and Addison and Jake meet with potential surrogates.

Friday

Chuck | 8/7c (NBC)

The previous episode had one of the more shocking twists of the series ever. After being placed between a rock and a hard place, Sarah had to upload the Intersect to get herself out of a room full of bad guys with guns. Tough call. But the Intersect has a trojan horse that will be rotting Sarah’s brain! And with just two episodes of Chuck left (this one and next week is a 2 hour installment): how will they wrap it all up? In “Chuck vs the Bullet Train,” Team Bartowski and the man that the Intersect was meant for go head-to-head. So much for quitting the spy life and starting a family life, eh?

Fringe | 9/8c (Fox)

Peter’s visit to the other side intensifies as the alternate Fringe division faces off against a formidable new foe in a harrowing race against time.

And there you have it. What shows are you dying to watch this week?