When she appeared to introduce somebody at the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday, Chelsea Handler looked like somebody’s mom, coming to pick up Traci from the rave.
That’s not why she’s signing off for good tonight on “Chelsea Lately” (E!, 11 p.m.). Constantly complaining about how she’s treated on the talk show that gave some ratings and slight respect for the flimsy entertainment channel (though her ex used to run the place) Handler is moving on to slightly green pastures, if you can call a series of comedy specials and an eventual talk show on Netflix that.
For her last hurrah on cable for how, she welcomes 30 different stars, from Jennifer Aniston to Sandra Bullock, including yet another ex-, 50 Cent. Also: Justin Theroux, Selena Gomez, Sammy Hagar, Gerard Butler, Minnie Driver, Kristin Chenoweth, Buzz Aldrin, Kathy Griffin, Joe Manganiello, Melissa McCarthy, Avril Lavigne, James Van Der Beek, Helen Hunt, David Hasselhoff, Johnny Knoxville, Tim Gunn, Vanessa Hudgens, Allison Janney, Kevin Nealon and Marlee Matlin. And Miley Cyrus will be on hand to sing “It’s Over.” Or she’ll send the runaway guy to do it. Replacing Handler starting tomorrow at 11: same-day repeats of the super-terrible “E! News.”
Back for a victory round is “The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.) which won an Emmy last night despite being called the “Colbort Report” by Gwen Stefani. Colbert and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (Comedy Central, 11 p.m.) haven’t been on for more than two weeks, and there’s a lot of news for them to catch up on.
The first new episode of “Tosh.0” (Comedy Central, 10 p.m.) since May is on. He apparently follows a school year too.
The conclusion of of the “two day event” for “Bachelor in Paradise” (ABC, 8 p.m.) (which essentially means: No conclusion to Monday’s two hour show) hints of a new, clothes optional visitor and a threesome. Not including Chris Harrison I mean. If you think the Emmys were long, this week’s “Bachelor in Paradise” will top out at four hours.
One of the more annoying aspects of the MTV Video Awards Sunday was the big outdoor performance by Maroon 5, featuring Adam Levine’s increasingly grating Sting impersonation. Now they star on a music special, “The iHeartradio Album Release Party with Maroon 5” (The CW, 8 p.m.).
But catch this, on another network, Foo Fighters play for an hour! No, wait, that’s “Food Fighters” (NBC 8 p.m.).
The excellent “Frontline” (PBS, 10 p.m.) investigation with the New York Times on how police departments protect their own focuses on a chilling case of a dead woman in Florida, a boyfriend of a deputy sheriff who insists she shot herself.
Another dozen perform on “America’s Got Talent” (NBC, 9 p.m.), with four wild card acts returning to competition.
“Planet Earth” (BBC America, 10 p.m.) gets a rerun, as it will continue to do for decades. Hope they’re using original narrator Richard Attenboroughand not Oprah Winfrey, who was dubbed in for Americans.
It used to be, the day after the Emmys, it was the start of the fall TV season. No such luck this year, with no new season for weeks and a night chock of reruns of “NCIS” (CBS, 8 p.m.) to “New Girl” (Fox, 9 p.m.).
The first season of “Tyrant” (FX, 10 p.m.) ends with the consideration of a coup. More drama happened behind the caeras, as the Tel Aviv location had to move to Istanbul for the last two episodes when bombs started to fall this summer.
Sophia Loren all day can’t be bad on Turner Classic Movies. It includes “Pride and the Passion” (6 a.m.), “Lady L” (8:30 a.m.), “Quo Vadis” (10:45 a.m.), “Operation Crossbow” (1:45 p.m.), “Brass Target” (4 p.m.), “More Than a Miracle” (6 p.m.), “Two Women” (8 p.m.), “The Key” (9:45 p.m.), “Arabesque” (midnight), “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” (2 a.m.) and “Ghosts – Italian Style” (4:15 a.m.).
Two “Time Team America” (PBS, 8 and 9 p.m., check local listings), back to back, looks for the site of a Civil War POW camp in Georgia and a lost Pueblo community that thrived over 1,400 years ago.
What would the characters of “The Wizard of Oz” look like if they went beyond the looking glass in “Alice in Wonderland”? The contestants on “Face Off” (Syfy, 9 p.m.) have to figure it out.
It’s always bad form when competing agents crash open houses to put down the house. It happens on “Million Dollar Listing: Los Angeles” (Bravo, 9 p.m.).
A Boston heat wave hits “Rizzoli & Ives” (TNT, 9 p.m.). Relax, it’s fiction!
Daytime talk
Kelly & Michael: Dwayne Johnson, Michael Douglas. The View: Amy Brenneman, Bone Hampton, Amy Robach, Alicia Menendez (rerun). The Talk: Taye Diggs, Thea Andrews, Kim Wayans, Marie Osmond (rerun). Ellen DeGeneres: President Barack Obama, Lauren Graham, Shaun White, Derek & Julianne Hough (rerun). Wendy Williams: Mekhi Phifer (rerun).
Late Talk
David Letterman: Howie Mandel, Rachel Maddow, EMA. Jimmy Fallon: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Taylor Schilling, Ed Sheeran (rerun). Jimmy Kimmel: Idris Elba, Tim Gunn, the White Buffalo. Seth Meyers: Michael Fassbender, Allison Tolman, Joshua Ferris (rerun). Craig Ferguson: Michael Sheen (rerun). Tavis Smiley: Dr. Peniel E. Joseph, Martina McBride (rerun). Jon Stewart: David Rose. Stephen Colbert: Jeff Bridges, Lois Lowry. Arsenio Hall: Marlon Wayans, Jared Harris, Gabriel Iglesias, Joe Satriani (rerun). Conan O’Brien: Jack White, Amber Stevens (rerun). Chelsea Handler: 50 Cent, Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock.