Wednesday, December 3: The Discerning Viewer

Pushing Daisies: A scene from last week's episode, in which Ned shows off his talent for waking the dead -- but only for one minute.

by Linda Holmes

Join the final stages of grief: ABC recently pulled the (apparent) plug on Pushing Daisies (as it did with Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money), but there are still a handful of new episodes left. Tonight, a chef turns up dead at a cook-off. (ABC, 8 p.m.)

It's beginning to look a lot like tourists from Ohio: Last year at this time, I was actually working in Rockefeller Center, and believe me, it may be the most wonderful time of the year, but not if you are trying to get a peppermint mocha at the Starbucks in the underground concourse next to the skating rink. If you're doing that, it's nothing but a solid wall of people's backs. People who are not from New York, and therefore don't understand the Step Aside Rules, the Keep It Moving Rules, or the You Can't Just Stand There Where People Need To Walk Rules.

What I'm saying is that tonight's Christmas At Rockefeller Center (NBC, 8 p.m.) will not give you the real feeling of Christmas at Rockefeller Center, despite the efforts of Harry Connick, Jr., the Jonas Brothers, and American Idol champ David Cook.

More of tonight's TV, after the jump...

Baby, you're a rich man: Fox premieres its ill-conceived reality show Secret Millionaire tonight. Rich people pretend to be working-class people and then hand out money to the wonderful working-class heroes they have met along the way! Isn't that great? It's all about giving back, if you are the Fox network. (FOX, 8 p.m.)

Elvis...the other one: The Sundance Channel also has a new series tonight called Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... Unsurprisingly, it features Elvis Costello sitting down with various interesting people for in-depth chats about art and such. Here's a clip from tonight's discussion with Elton John:

A future episode will feature Costello chatting with The Police, which I am really looking forward to, because I seem to recall a great line from Costello about how Sting really needed to stop trying to sing in a "silly Jamaican accent." Which: true, that. (Sundance, 9 p.m.)

Laced with promise: Tonight, CBS brings you the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. So, if you are an underwear enthusiast with a lot of free time, have at it. (CBS, 10 p.m.)

Knife skills: It's not too late to get in on this season of Bravo's Top Chef, which is a pretty good show. Last week's Thanksgiving feast sent home the maker of the gross-looking banana s'mores (when the Foo Fighters compare your dessert to spit on a cracker, that's a sign you're headed home), and this week takes the chefs to the Today show for a demonstration. (Bravo, 10 p.m.)

8:53 AM ET | 12- 3-2008 | permalink

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