NY Times Highlight – Independent Sources

Our very own highlight on the TV page and in “What’s on Wednesday” in the TV section online.  The columnist knew about all four stories, but pulled out the first one.We also got a special “New or noteworthy program” dot in the Times grid next to the series title. Catalin is Independent Sources’ director.

What’s on Wednesday

By KATHRYN SHATTUCK
Published: October 23, 2013

8 P.M. (Sundance) LAUREL CANYON (2003) Jane (Frances McDormand, above), an aging, hard-partying Los Angeles record producer, opens her California dwelling to her snobbish son (Christian Bale) and his fiancée (Kate Beckinsale), both Harvard Medical School graduates. Alessandro Nivola plays the lead singer of the rock band whose album is being overseen by Jane, who has a history of sleeping with the musicians she produces. This situation is no exception, and soon the entire family is led into temptation. “Having set up its domestic conflicts, the movie doesn’t know exactly where to go or how far, but when the inevitable emotional explosions erupt, the mutual recriminations carry a sharp sting,” Stephen Holden wrote in The New York Times about this film, written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, who said she was partly inspired by Joni Mitchell’s album “Ladies of the Canyon.”

Arts & Entertainment Guide

A sortable calendar of noteworthy cultural events in the New York region, selected by Times critics.

11:15 A.M. (MoreMax) RUBY SPARKS (2012) Zoe Kazan, below, wrote and stars in this variation on the Pygmalion myth. She plays Ruby, a smart, saucy 26-year-old redhead from Dayton, Ohio, who magically appears in Los Angeles, seemingly without much control over her emotions. Paul Dano, Ms. Kazan’s real-life partner, is Calvin, a literary whiz kid turned blocked writer who breathes life into Ruby, a figment of his imagination, and then directs her every move. Chris Messina is Calvin’s worried older brother, Harry, who finally confirms to Calvin — now concerned that he has gone crazy — that Ruby is not a hallucination. “ ‘Ruby Sparks,’ directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the team behind ‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ has the same zany and sweet tone laced with just enough hardheaded wisdom to keep it grounded in psychological truth,” Stephen Holden wrote in The Times.

8 P.M. (ABC) THE MIDDLE In this 100th episode, the town of Orson, Ind., celebrates its centennial. Frankie (Patricia Heaton) and Mike (Neil Flynn) drive a giant cow float in the parade; Axl (Charlie McDermott), Sean (Beau Wirick) and Darrin (John Gammon) set up a V.I.P. viewing area; and Brick (Atticus Shaffer) tries to earn a place in Orson history by coming up with the motto the town will use for the next 100 years. In “Modern Family,” at 9, Gloria (Sofia Vergara) hires a male nanny (Adam DeVine) who’s too good to be true. Phil (Ty Burrell) and Jay (Ed O’Neill) help a visiting Frank (Fred Willard) get his groove back. And Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cam (Eric Stonestreet) hire Pepper (Nathan Lane) to plan their dream wedding.

8:30 P.M. (CUNY) INDEPENDENT SOURCES “Hurricane Sandy, One Year Later” looks at New York City’s decision to no longer pay for hotel rooms for about 300 people left homeless by the storm.

9 P.M. (NBC) LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT Accusations of sexual misconduct threaten the campaign of a mayoral candidate (Vincent Laresca). In the final episode of “Ironside,” at 10, Detective Ironside (Blair Underwood) and his squad investigate the murder of an N.Y.U. honor student before a plea bargain sets a hit man free.

9 P.M. (Esquire) THE GETAWAY The chef José Andrés nibbles his way through San Juan, P.R. In “Boundless,” at 10, Simon Donato and Paul Trebilcock test their limits during a 12.8-mile mountain bike race in Utah.

10 P.M. (CBS) CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION In this 300th episode, Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) returns to help solve a cold case that has haunted the team for 14 years.

10 P.M. (ABC) NASHVILLE Jeff (Oliver Hudson) demands that Juliette (Hayden Panettiere), Will (Chris Carmack), Layla (Aubrey Peeples) and Scarlett (Clare Bowen) amp up their sex appeal in advance of a benefit concert starring Edgehill performers.

10 P.M. (Comedy Central) SOUTH PARK After a Goth kid is sent to a camp for troubled children, her friends find her changed in a disturbing way. Now it’s time for some drastic action, with the help of the Vamp kids.

10 P.M. (Ovation) A YOUNG DOCTOR’S NOTEBOOK A morphine-addicted Russian doctor (Jon Hamm, far right, with Daniel Radcliffe), accompanied by his younger self (Mr. Radcliffe), relives stories of being sent to a country hospital in 1916, in this adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s autobiographical short stories. This final episode finds the doctors immersed in a game of wits between right and wrong, dreams and reality, and past and future. KATHRYN SHATTUCK

 

A version of this schedule appears in print on October 23, 2013, on page C7 of the New York edition with the headline: What’s On Wednesday.