Chino 411

The O.C.
Thursday 11.2 Fox
Season Premiere: Now facing off against CSI and Grey’s Anatomy, right after the returns of ‘Til Death and Happy Hour—can’t spell obviously canceled without O and C. Despite the timeslot of doom and last season’s looming shadow of suck, how’s the O.C. gang holding up? Not as well as the rest of us after the death of Marissa: Mom Julie’s in a pills ‘n’ power tools funk, broodier-than-ever Ryan’s joined a fight club, Seth’s on a narration kick, Summer’s become a stringy-haired college hippie (!) and, worst of all, some music intern apparently just loooves Placebo’s “Running Up That Hill.” Still, the fourth-season premiere (which debuted on MySpace last week) really does feel like that series “reboot” creator Josh Schwartz has promised is coming … so we’ll address the Taylor Townsend problem later.

Totally Awesome
Saturday 11.4 VH1
A “lost” movie from the ‘80s that’s actually a parody of every ‘80s movie VH1 has already analyzed ad nauseam through about 395 too many Weren’t the ‘80s Fucking Great? specials. Me, I’d prefer a Saturday night with a bottle of Smirnoff 100 and a (preferably VHS) marathon of Private School for Girls and Avenging Angel. Know what those two flicks have in common? Write/comment now and you might win something cool.

The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XVII
Sunday 11.5 Fox
Once again, five days after Halloween. This year’s trilogy: “Married to the Blob,” with Homer as an expanding fat-mass who can’t stop eating people—who else talk sense into him but raging pantload, er, guest star Dr. Phil? “You Gotta Know When to Golem,” wherein Bart spreads mischief via a Jewish folklore monster (Richard Lewis). “The Day the Earth Looked Stupid,” featuring the voice of Maurice LaMarche (The Brain of Pinky &) broadcasting The War of the Worlds to 1950s Springfield before real aliens Kang and Kodos take over … again. Yeah, South Park’s “Hell on Earth 2006” Halloween episode last week was better. Biggie Smalls, Biggie Smalls, Biggie Smalls …

American Dad, Family Guy
Sunday 11.5 Fox
Post-Baseball Returns: Stan joins forces with gay Republicans, then Chris and his rock band score a hit single with “Evil, Evil Monkey.” Sold!

Frisky Dingo
Sundays Cartoon Network
From the twisted melons behind Sealab 2021: The toxic tango of Killface, a supervillain whose plot to destroy the earth hinges on the execution of a killer branding campaign and pricey media buys, but after expenses can only afford postcards (“The dry-hump of marketing strategies”) and Awesome X, a superhero who needs a new nemesis to justify draining the assets of his billionaire playboy alter ego’s corporation (trés Iron Man). Frisky Dingo just might be Adult Swim’s first true love story. Or something.

Election Coverage
Tuesday 11.7
Only real political junkies care about tonight—it’s the SAG Awards to the presidential election’s Oscars (substitute the Source Awards and the BET Awards if you must). ABC, CBS and NBC are each bumping an hour of programming; Fox and The CW, not so much. The real coverage, though, is happening on cable—no, not CNN, Fox News or MS-whatever: HBO’s Hacking Democracy doc about the “security” of electronic voting repeats tonight, followed by a four-episode marathon of Da Ali G Show to make you feel even worse about being an American. As always, the most incisive election reporting is happening on Comedy Central, this year with The Daily Show & The Colbert Report Present the Midterm Midtacular. Seriously. Courage.

DVD
Acapulco HEAT: Season 2
The Hemisphere Emergency Action Team (based in, natch, Acapulco) launched the syndicated action-jiggle genre in ’93 with a hottie cast that included Fabio (!), but lasted only one gloriously stupid season—until it returned as a Serious Drama. Mitigating factor: Still had Alison Armitage. MillCreekEnt.com

Ghost Whisperer: Season 1
First impressions painted Ghost Whisperer as Touched by an Angel 2.0, but Jennifer Love Hewitt’s supernatural drama skews slightly more creepy than weepy (hey, could have gone the tears/fears route, so shut up). Not as results-driven as Medium, but Season 1 ended on a doozy. Shhh!
Paramount.com

Kissology Vol. 1: 1974-77
Or, the only years that matter. Most hardcore Kiss Army members have seen at least some of this classic concert and TV footage (including the infamous ’76 Paul Lynde Halloween Special), but as a DVD package it’s about as definitive as that tightwad Gene Simmons is ever going to allow. VH1Classic.com

Mission: Impossible 3
Before Tom Cruise jumped the crazy train, he had a killer action flick in Mission: Impossible 3—even if he’s almost upstaged by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Sure, there’s barely a story (a lost Weapon of Mass Destruction … where have we heard that one before?), but who cares? Happy retirement, Tom! Paramount.com

More New DVD Releases (10.31)
Baywatch: Seasons 1 & 2, CSI: Miami: Season 4, The Kids in the Hall: Season 5, The Hitchhiker Vol. 3, Party at The Palms: Season 1

BROADBAND
The Daily Show: Indecision Flashback
Election Day is upon us—take a Motherload trip though The Daily Show’s coverage of the 2000, 2002 and 2004 races while telling yourself it can’t possibly happen again. Of particular note is an ’04 report on electronic voting, “combining the confusion of a 1700s electoral system with the utter lack of accountability of 21st century technology.” ComedyCentral.com