Series
This season's worst idea for a sitcom, Emeril (8 p.m., NBC), debuts. Gabby TV chef Emeril Lagasse plays a gabby TV chef named Emeril Lagasse. NBC could have saved a lot of money by simply picking up the feed to Lagasse's cooking-variety show on the Food Network. JAG (8 p.m., CBS) has its season premiere. Biography (8 p.m., A&E) has a new profile of Cal Ripken Jr. Undeclared (8:30 p.m., Fox), the new comedy from "Freaks and Geeks" producer Judd Apatow, debuts. Don't believe the Fox promos, which make it look like a cross between "Animal House" and "That '70s Show." "Undeclared" nicely fills the "Freaks" void with an askew comic tone that veers from the contemplative to the absurd. Jay Baruchel plays Stephen, a scrawny college freshman on the cusp of maturity. Seth Rogen (Ken from "Freaks and Geeks"), Charlie Hunnam (from the British version of "Queer as Folk"), Monica Keena, Carla Gallo and Timm Sharp are his dorm mates, and Loudon Wainwright III gives a deeply weird performance as Stephen's lonely dad. Listen for Jason Segel, who played Nick on "Freaks," in a telephone performance; Segel shows up in the flesh in later episodes, as does Samm Levine (who played Neil on "Freaks"). Can Haverchuck be far behind? Frasier (9 p.m., NBC) kicks off its new season with an hourlong episode featuring Frasier's past loves, including Diane (Shelley Long) and Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth). Trying again to make it out of port, Love Cruise: The Maiden Voyage (9 p.m., Fox) premieres. The new drama The Guardian (9 p.m., CBS) stars Simon Baker as an arrogant attorney busted for drugs and sentenced to perform community service at a child-advocacy legal service. Dabney Coleman co-stars. Kim Delaney gets her own Steven Bochco legal drama, Philly (10 p.m., ABC); she plays a scrappy defense attorney and divorced mom. Tom Everett Scott and Kyle Secor ("Homicide") co-star. Judging Amy (10 p.m., CBS) begins a new season with Amy having a change of heart toward contentious lawyer Stuart Collins (Reed Diamond, "Homicide").
Sports
Baseball:
Braves at Marlins (7 p.m., TBS)
Talk
Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) Robert Sean Leonard
David Letterman (CBS) TBA
Jay Leno (NBC) David Spade, Daunte Culpepper
Politically Incorrect (ABC) Ann Coulter, Eric Braeden
Conan O'Brien (NBC) Breckin Meyer, Ray Davies
Craig Kilborn (CBS) Jim Belushi, Diana Krall
All times Eastern unless noted.
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