Those who have long ago dismissed singing competitions as little more than network are vindicated now with the new“Karaoke Battle USA” (ABC, 9 p.m.). Joey Fatone hosts the compettion, which jumps around to different House of Blues restaurants across the country (Houston, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles but not Boston) looking for the beest male and female karaoke singers.
Judges include Carnie Wilson, writer Joe Levy and the 2009 National karaoke near me Champion Champion Brian Scott (that you never heard his name indicates how important that title is).
Anyway, after semifinals, the last few contestants will go to the finals in Los Angeles where a King and Queen of Karaoke will be crowned. The action in the two hour premiere occurs in Las Vegas.
Cinemax has long been presenting late night series on Fridays, but usually don’t do much to promote them, since they are usually like the soft core fare they often present at night.
But since the new “Strike Back” (Cinemax, 10 p.m.) is an anti-terror series featuring violence, some mixed martial arts and, yeah, a little sex, they’re bringing a little more promotional effort into it.
Sullivan Stapleton of “Animal Kingdom” and Philip Winchester of “Fringe” star as a pair of agents in a shadowy intelligence agency aiming to fight the bad guys in Pakistan. Explosions are planned in the 10-episode season.
“Whale Wars” (Animal Planet, 9 p.m.) ends its season with a victory. In lieu of a reunion special, Lisa Ling interviews the cast to review the season in “Whale Wars: War Stories” (Animal Planet, 10 p.m.).
Another couple of episodes are burned off in the comedy series the network gave up on before it even started, “Friends with Benefits” (NBC, 8 and 8:30 p.m.).
It’s a Steve Carell double play (sort of) with “Despicable Me” (HBO, 7:15 p.m.) and “Dinner for Schmucks” (HBO, 9 p.m.).
But the star on Turner Classic Movies is Claudette Colbert, featured in “Midnight” (8 p.m.), “It’s a Wonderful World” (10 p.m.), “It Happened One Night” (11:30 p.m.), “Since You Went Away” (1:30 a.m.) and “Outpost in Malaya” (4:30 a.m.).
Daytime Talk
The View: Fran Drescher, Jackie Evancho, David Foster (rerun). The Talk: Jennifer Garner, Marcela Valladolid. Ellen DeGeneres: Kate Hudson, Romeo, Chelsie Hightower. Wendy Williams: Billy Baldwin, Tamera Mowry (rerun).
Late Talk
David Letterman: Roseanne Barr, Regis Philbin, Tom Felton, Blake Shelton (rerun). Jay Leno: Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Banks, Mana. Jimmy Kimmel: James Franco, in McMillan & James Goodfellow, Coldplay (rerun). Jimmy Fallon: Julia Stiles, Jenni “Jwoww” Farley, Tame Impala. Craig Ferguson: Simon Helberg (rerun). Tavis Smiley: Don Cheadle (rerun). Carson Daly: David Sirota, Mona (rerun). Chelsea Handler: Mary McCorkack, Josh Wolf, Loni Love, Ryan Stout (rerun).