Tonight’s Top 10 Shows: Friday, July 20

Friday, July 20

It’s National Lollipop Day! I’ve heard that Sees Candy stores are giving away free lollipops today in honor of this important national holiday.

20/20 (ABC 9pm) The hourlong broadcast includes insightful interviews with notable figures from the worlds of news, politics and entertainment, hosted by Elizabeth Vargas and Chris Cuomo. A revolving team of journalists from ABC News also contribute investigative stories.

Translation: “We plan to half-assedly throw a show together at some point before it goes on the air, but the majority of our regular viewers are non compos mentis anyway, so no harm, no foul.”

Dateline (NBC 9pm) Nearly two decades after a woman is gunned down in the back of the comic store she owns with her husband, police make an arrest.

Did you know that Sweden has a 25 year statute of limitations for murder?

Whale Wars (Animal Planet 9pm) Sea Shepherd locates the Nisshin Maru, and must run an eight-mile gauntlet against two harpoon ships to reach its target.

Here’s a fun article from 2007 about the Sea Shepherd being innocent of setting the fire that destroyed the Nisshin Maru (so either the Japanese have commissioned a new ship with that name or Whale Wars is running about four years behind with their footage.) In short, the article basically says, “Look, we may have harassed the Nisshin Maru and done our best to get in the way of her whaling, but that’s pretty much where our skill set ends.”

Mobsters (The Biography Channel 9pm) Premiere: Frank Calabrese Jr., son of mobster Frank Calabrese, flipped against his father, and nearly brought down the vaunted Chicago Outfit.

Those are some seriously sad eyes.

Louisiana Lockdown (APL 10) Finale: The convicts prepare for the final rodeo of the season; inmate James learns that he has been granted early release from Angola.

According to an article I read about the Angola rodeo, “The most popular contests are unique to the prison and would get someone fired at another rodeo.” For example, “Convict Poker,” in which four convicts sit around a table in the ring, and whoever remains seated for the longest amount of time after a bull is let loose wins. So much for treating the convicts with respect and dignity.

Gangsters: America’s Most Evil (The Biography Channel 10pm) Premiere: The First Kingpin — Juan Raul Garza.

As opposed to “Gangstas: America’s Most Likely to Trip Over Their Own Blue Jeans.”

Chasing UFOs (The National Geographic Channel 10pm) The team investigates reports from hundreds of people concerning a triangular formation of lights in the skies over Phoenix, Ariz.

It’s because of something they were doing at Luke Air Force Base. Every time anybody sees anything odd in the skies of Phoenix, it’s because of something that is happening at Luke Air Force Base. Now sit down and stop asking questions.

Lost Girl (SyFy 10pm) Bo agrees to The Ash’s interim request to kidnap a Genie, finding herself involved with an unlikely partner.

If the Genie they kidnap is anything like this guy, I foresee this episode quickly taking a “The Ransom of Red Chief” turn.

Randy to the Rescue (TLC 10pm) Randy finds a dress that makes Tabitha feel like a woman.

Had Tabitha known that a $3000 dress would provide the emotional and psychological peace that she had so desperately been looking for, she probably would have held off a little longer on her gender reassignment surgery.

Common Law (USA 10pm) Wes and Travis stake out the apartment of a novelist suspected of helping in a prison break.

Stuck in a car together, Wes and Travis are unable to avoid facing the fact that their relationship is crumbling. “We’ve got nothing in common!” Wes cries. “No common ground to start from! And we’re falling apart….” Travis nods sadly, but as he opens his mouth to suggest that they go their separate ways forever, a thought suddenly occurs to him. “What about Breakfast at Tiffany’s?” he asks. “I… I think I remember that film,” Wes gasps. “And as I recall, I think we both kind of liked it.” “Well,” Travis shrugs, “That’s one thing we’ve got.”

What will you be watching tonight?