Calling Doctor (Neurotic) Love

Still smarting from the abrupt removal of In the Motherhood and Samantha Who? from ABC's Thursday night line-up, we went as far as to sign up for the text alerts for those programs. Tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy should not be as painful as receiving a 4 a.m. text alerting us to new online content.

Grey's Anatomy [9 PM, ABC]

Parental drama is all over Seattle Grace, as Sharon Lawrence guest-stars as Izzie's (Katherine Heigl) mother visiting Seattle Grace and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Lexie's (Chyler Leigh) newly sober father (Jeff Perry) shows up unexpectedly. Meanwhile, Meredith and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) continue with their wedding preparations. Does anyone else DVR the show so they can fast-forward through the Cristina (Sandra Oh) parts?

Starring Denzel Washington [8 PM, TCM]

TCM celebrates the career of Denzel Washington tonight by airing four of his films: Glory, Philadelphia, A Soldier's Story and The Mighty Quinn. The fest goes until 5 AM. Our preferred lineup would have included Man on Fire and He Got Game. We like it when he yells at people.

30 Rock [9:30 PM, NBC]

The sweeps tradition continues as Elaine Stritch returns as the strange, estranged mother of Jack (Alec Baldwin) to torture him with stories of his father's abandonment. Jenna (Jane Krakowski) experiments with motherhood by adopting a pet gibbon. Sometimes this show is so funny that instead of laughter, we just nod approvingly.

Free Radio [11 PM, VH1]

The phrase "improvised comedy" gets thrown around a lot these days, but Free Radio is the only fully improvised show that makes us laugh. Sure, you probably aren't watching it, but you might want to check out tonight's episode as the struggling station hires a special needs intern. Tony Hawk, Nick Cassavettes and Bree Turner guest-star and try to keep up with Lance Krall & co.