Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee (ESPN) — When I lived in the sports blogosphere, I was always surprised by how much sports fans loved watching nerdy Indian kids spell obscure words. Nevertheless, as a former undersized nerdy spelling champ, it’s nice to see the word dorks get their moment in the sun.

Love Bites (NBC) — Series premiere. Josh Kurp went over the series’ pitfalls in our Summer Preview, but here’s a recap: the hour-long comedy was scheduled for a fall 2010 premiere, then Jordana Spiro dropped out to stay on “My Boys” and star Becki Newton, — whose character was supposed to be a virgin — got pregnant. No wonder the episode order got dropped from 13 to nine.

Children’s Hospital (Cartoon Network) — Season premiere. I wish Adult Swim would just hurry up and get its own channel; I’m tired of making the distinction between Cartoon Network and the cool part of Cartoon Network. Also: more shows should be 12 minutes long and aired without commercial breaks. Like, say, “American Idol” results shows.

NY Ink (TLC) — Series premiere. Just as Kat von D left “Miami Ink” to star in “LA Ink,” so too has Ami James, who despite the name is not a woman but actually a tough Israeli dude.

LATE NIGHT GUESTS: Jason Sudeikis and Piers Morgan on Kimmel; Dick Van Dyke on Ferguson; Tim Tebow (!) on “The Daily Show”; reruns.

Desperate to stay ahead of the curve on geeky monster crazes, Syfy has acquired the rights to “Lost Girl,” a supernatural drama about a bisexual woman who discovers that she’s a succubus (watch the trailer below).

The network is adding to its lineup two seasons of Lost Girl, starring Anna Silk (The Ghost Whisperer) as Bo, a demon seductress who feeds off sexual energy. Raised by human parents, Bo had no idea she was any different until she accidentally “drained” her first boyfriend to death.

She hits the road and discovers she’s a member of a group that feeds off human energy, and she must choose between joining the light and dark clans. [EW]

So let me get this straight. The show’s about a sexy bisexual sex monster played by someone named “Anna Silk,” and it’s NOT a porn? I hope someone got fired for that creative oversight.

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Apparently today is Nerd Christmas, because this photo is getting passed around the Geekosphere with remarkable alacrity. It’s Dirk Benedict and Katee Sackhoff having a cup of coffee in a cafe together. Or, in “Battlestar Galactica” fanboy parlance: Starbuck and Starbuck drinking Starbucks in Starbucks. You’ll notice that Benedict is drinking the original hot coffee, while Sackhoff opted for the newer, sexier iced coffee. I like to think that their entire conversation was “Malkovich? Malkovich. MALKOVICH!”

Relevant:

[Topless Robot / BuzzFeed / imgur]

Michael Podniestranzki, 23, was arrested after he threw his cousin into a window when an altercation about “Game of Thrones” turned violent. And since you’re about to ask: why yes. Yes, this did happen in Florida.

As will happen during shows “based on medieval times,” Podniestrzanski and his cousin “got into a verbal altercation” over which of the cable program’s characters was going to win, according to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office report. [Because fighting is easier than reading the book. -Ed.]

With the argument between Podniestrzanski and Joshua Ross escalating, Podniestrzanski allegedly “took a swing at” his kin. After scuffling for a bit, Podniestrzanski’s cousin “ended up getting thrown in to the front window during the altercation.” [The Smoking Gun via Gawker]

Ross, who is also Podniestranzki’s roommate, opted not to press charges. Instead, he shall seek his vengeance in the next jousting tourney! To the RenFaire! Squire, fetch me my stallion! *sigh* Yes, the station wagon is my stallion. Now hand me the keys. And try to stay in character, will you?

The Peabody Award winners were announced this week, which is something I would usually classify under “Nerdy stuff that nerds care about.” Then I would make out with a cheerleader and do a sick burnout in the principal’s front yard because SENIORS RULE FOREVER THESE ARE THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES OR SOMETHING. But this year, the Peabody’s have piqued my interest by recognizing the certifiably badass in every way “Justified.” (Official announcement here. Other winners include “The Pacific,” “Men of a Certain Age,” and “The Good Wife.”)

I can’t stress to you in strong enough terms how much I support this. While the show was awesome pretty much from the first episode, it really kicked into high gear around the midpoint of the first season when it moved away from being a “bad guy of the week” procedural and started tying all its plotlines together. Same with this season, culminating in last week’s town hall meeting. The show has become incredibly strong, and a must watch for fans of serialized TV drama, so it’s really nice to see it garner some high-falutin’ accolades.

Also, I’m no Peabody historian, but I’m fairly confident “Justified” is the first recipient of the prestigious award to prominently feature someone getting tased in the balls — a precedent I firmly support.