Best Bets: "Sparkle," farewell to "The Closer" and an early look at "Grimm"
(CBS News) TV is getting its groove back this week after two weeks of non-stop Olympics coverage.
"America's Got Talent," preempted by NBC's Olympics coverage, returns with 12 acts seeking the top prize. Fox's "So You Can Think You Can Dance," which showed two weeks of reruns against the Olympics, also resumes competition.
NBC is hoping for a post-Olympics boost for "Stars Earn Stripes" and season two of 'Grimm." The boot-camp type reality show premiering tonight already has generated controversy with Sharon Osbourne leaving "America's Got Talent," because she claims her son, Jack, was booted from the show for health reasons.
NBC also has scheduled an early premiere for season two of "Grimm" with three new episodes airing for the next three Monday nights. Also premiering this week is Fox's "Hotel Hell" with chef Gordon Ramsay, and the second season of the acclaimed Kelsey Grammer series "Boss" on Starz.
This week also sees the season finale of the lawyer show "Franklin & Bash, the ballet show "Bunheads" and the police procedural "Rizzoli & Isles."
Monday marks the end, after seven seasons, of TNT's "The Closer," giving Emmy-winning star Kyra Sedgwick time to pursue other projects. But in an unusual twist, its spinoff, "Major Crimes," premieres in the hour following the finale. Though it is billed as a spinoff, it seems to be the same old LAPD squad with a new leader, Mary O'Donnell as Capt. Sharon Raydor, and a new focus, major crimes, that is likely to yield a larger pool of cases.
Moviegoers have been waiting for the premiere Friday of "Sparkle" since its star Whitney Houston was found dead in February in her Los Angeles hotel room. Jordin Sparks and Derek Luke also star in the drama about fame ripping apart a close-knit family of Motown singers.
Also premiering Friday is Robert Pattinson's "Cosmopolis," the action-adventure "The Expendables 2" and the animated film "ParaNorman." Opening Wednesday is Jennifer Garner's quirky tale "The Odd Life of Timothy Green."
Out on Blu-Ray and DVD Tuesday is "The Royal Tennenbaums" and the Steven Spielberg 1975 classic "Jaws" as well as season three of "Community" and season six of "Dexter." The blockbuster adventure "The Hunger Games" comes out for home audiences on Saturday.
Debuting Tuesday is "Based on a T.R.U. Story," the first album for rapper 2Chainz and "Southern Air," the latest release for Florida alt-rockers Yellowcard.
"Sixteen Candles" actress Molly Ringwald is the author of "When it Happens to You: A Novel in Stories" to be published Tuesday by It Books.
Also out Tuesday is "The Kingmaker's Daughter," an historical novel by best-selling author Philippa Gregory, who wrote "The Other Boleyn Girl," which was made into a movie starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson.