This week, TV was filled with surprise appearances. Tommy returned on Brothers & Sisters. Rihanna spoke about ex Chris Brown. The JFK assassination was front and center on Mad Men. Kate Hudson distracted Fox cameramen during the World Series. And the pilot episode of V taught us that appearances can deceive. Welcome to this week's Top Moments: Screen Time Edition.
10. Worst Return: Guess who's back on Brothers & Sisters? Prodigal son Tommy, who we last saw abandon his family to join a hippie commune in Mexico. What's he up to now? ...
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Food Network Challenge
9/8c Food Network
A Christmas favorite receives a Halloween makeover in this episode from 2007, as four renowned pastry chefs build haunted gingerbread creations, ranging from spooky houses to a slime-filled cave and even a Spanish galleon manned by skeleton soldiers. Let's just hope that these edible works of art taste a lot sweeter than they look.
Read on for previews of the World Series, Robin Hood, Suze Orman Show and The Locator.
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Modern Family
9/8c ABC
Remember the first day of school? It was an opportunity to make new friends, start fresh and look forward to another year of learning. But since it's the Pritchetts we're talking about, you can throw all that schmaltzy stuff out the window. Instead, Phil and Claire get off on the wrong foot once the kids are out of the house, and Jay and Gloria disagree on Manny's choice of attire. And speaking of firsts, Mitchell and Cameron are beside themselves when Lily gets her first bump on the head.
Read on for previews of the World Series, Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space and Dinner: Impossible.
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Fox's World Series coverage kicked off with an average of 13.9 million total viewers (14.6 mil for the game proper) and topped the demos in almost every half-hour. That gave Fox its most-watched Wednesday night since the American Idol finale (5/21/2008). Elsewhere....
8 pm
CBS' Old Christine (eight million viewers, up 260K) and Gary Unmarried (7.85 mil, +140K) both hit season highs. Knight Rider slowed down by 430 thou, yet still placed third with 7.23 mil. After a one-week respite, Pushing Daisies resumed its sad slide, slipping 10 percent (to 5.67 mil). Top Model (4.38 mil) gained 500 thou from its last regular episode.
9 pm
Criminal Minds bested baseball in total viewers (delivering 14.72 mil, down seven percent week-to-week). Private Practice (7.78 mil, up 520K) edged out Deal or No Deal (7.6 mil) to claim third. The CW's Stylista (premiering to 2.46 mil) sewed up 56 percent of the Top Model audience.
10 pm
CSI: NY topped the hour with 14.24 mil, down 10 percent from last week. Behind baseball, Dirty Sexy Money did 5.86 mil, slipping a hair. Lipstick Jungle fell 12 percent, to 4.2 mil.
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The World Series begins Wednesday with the turnaround Tampa Bay Rays hosting the Philadelphia Phillies. Fox's Tim McCarver says the team that excels at the basics will be the one to enjoy baseball's ultimate champagne bath. "Base-running, for instance, is a major part of the game that's not talked about a lot," says McCarver, who was a part of three Series-winning St. Louis Cardinals teams in the 1960s. "Also, one's ability to turn a double play. These hidden things add up to wins or losses ...A lot of people lump all that in the category of 'doing the little things well.' The little things are not little. They're the difference makers."
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