TV on Tap: George Takei is a "Hawaii 5-O" Fan, Justin Long Meets "The New Girl", and an ABC Family Star Makes a "Big Bang"

Another season of design drama comes to a close with tonight's Flipping Out finale.

News

It turns out that George Takei is a big fan of the new Hawaii 5-O and star Alex O'Loughlin. He doesn't mention O'Loughlin's abs or the hoyay between him and Scott Caan as reasons he loves the show, but I'm sure they help.

Here's something to make you feel the march of time. When Nick at Night launched, one of its programs was The Donna Reed Show, which had been off the air for 19 years at the time. Today, The Golden Girls has been off the air for 19 years.

I've been feeling mixed about Fox's upcoming comedy The New Girl. The promos leave me uninterested, but the cast does have Max Greenfield, who showed us on Veronica Mars that he can totally out-adorable The New Girl star Zooey Deschanel when he tries. Here's one more reason for me to check it out: Justin Long will appear in a four-episode story arc. (Watch out for spoilers at the link.)

From the department of "There are too many shows to choose on Thursdays at 8 PM and this just makes it harder!", Switched at Birth's Katie Leclerc will appear on The Big Bang Theory in a storyline involving Raj (again, spoilers).

Is James Gandolfini getting ready for a return to HBO? The Sopranos star is working on a drama, Big Dead Place, about life at a research base in Antarctica.

This takes a little bit of the sting out of a "conservative comedian" joining The Talk panel. Molly Shannon will be guest-hosting for the month of September.

In ratings news that makes me sad, Thursday's episode of Jersey Shore was a repeat of the episode that aired before the MTV Video Music Awards, and both airings drew a huge audience.

On the other hand, TiVo gathered data on the ten most-recorded shows since the company started compiling stats in October 2007, and the only unscripted show in the bunch is American Idol.

Listings

The Nate Berkus Show (syndicated) Check local listings
Relationship advice author Lisa Oz appears with advice for empty nest couples trying to figure out how to reconfigure their lives, and Nate has easy tips to remake a room.

Flipping Out min-marathon (Bravo) starting at 2:00 PM ET
Bravo is leading to tonight's Flipping Out season finale with six hours, starting with the point where the season starts getting dramatic, Sarah's bachelorette party in Vegas.

Carson Nation (OWN) 8:00 PM ET
OWN gives Carson Kressley's makeover show an hourlong finale on a special night, as the Queer Eye alum helps a recently divorced man in Beaver, Utah and a corrections officer seeing to feel more in touch with her feminine site in Roswell, New Mexico.

Flipping Out (Bravo) 9:00 PM ET
When Jeff learns that a home he flipped is under foreclosure, it gets him to realize his desire to settle into a long term home with Gage. However, he's not sure if he sees Jenni in that future.

The Rachel Zoe Project (Bravo) 10:00 PM ET
Celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe is back for another season of literally preparing for photo shoots and literal red carpet appearances, as well as saying literally a lot. Too bad her adorable assistant Brad has moved on to his own spin-off.

Awkward. (MTV) 11:00 PM ET
After Jenna throws a big bash, she wakes up hung over and unable to remember the night before, except that she kissed someone.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC) 11:35 PM ET
Wanda Sykes will be joining Jay for a chat tonight. I'm not much of a Leno fan, but Sykes is a reliably solid guest.

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS) 12:35 AM ET
Lisa Kudrow and Richard Engel are on the guest list tonight.

What will you be watching tonight? Please share in the comments!

Tomorrow's Preview

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC) 11:35 PM ET
Wednesday's show gets pretty musical with Chris Colfer and Kristin Chenoweth slated to appear.

Want the extended outlook for TV listing suggestions? Check out this week's Appointment Viewing.