Series premiere of The Chicago Code (Mon.)

Fox hopes you'll ride along

Premiering Monday night after House is The Shield creator Shawn Ryan’s latest TV outing, The Chicago Code (Fox, 9pm), which stars Jason Clarke (Brotherhood) and Jennifer Beals (Flashdance) as cops struggling with Windy City corruption. The excellent Delroy Lindo (Clockers) also stars as a shady alderman. Ryan’s last outing was the excellent but recently canceled Terriers on FX; with luck, good advance reviews for Code may indicate that the show will garner a sizable viewership and avoid the same fate.

Check out previews and more at the official website.

Season 2 premiere of Justified (Wed.)

Olyphant marshals 13 new episodes to FX

Laconic U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) is back for another season of the Elmore Leonard-based series Justified, which earned strong reviews for its first season. Premiering Wednesday night at 10pm on FX, the first episode, “The Moonshine War,” was written by series creator Graham Yost and has Givens facing off against a Harlan County crime family. Season 2 sees the return of Givens’ childhood friend and currently unhinged livewire Boyd Crowder (The Shield’s Walton Goggins), and Jeremy Davies (Lost’s Daniel Faraday) shows up as a new criminal scourge for the Stetson-wearing lawman.

See more about the man with the hat at the series website.

Zonoscope by Cut Copy (Tue.)

They come from a land down under

Melbourne’s Cut Copy release their follow-up to 2008’s In Ghost Colors on Tuesday with their third full-length album. The atmospheric dance-rock vibe the band is known for is here, along with what seems to be a conscious effort to open up the sound and dial down the brooding to reach an even larger audience. Poppy single “Take Me Over” (listen below) sounds like it has the possibility of crossing over and increasing the fan base, much like Phoenix’s “Lisztomania” from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. You can stream the album before the Tuesday release date by sharing the link on Twitter.

Get zoned at the official website or the band’s MySpace page.

Mario Sports Mix (Mon.)

The picture says it all

After putting out games featuring Mickey Mouse and Donkey Kong, Nintendo returns to its Mario comfort zone with this Monday’s game release. Mario Sports Mix blends the Mario franchise with the top-selling Wii Sports. Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Peach, Bowser, and others compete in volleyball, hockey, basketball, and dodgeball, only with flying shells, invincibility stars, and Bob-ombs to make things more interesting. A four-person multiplayer option, as well as exhibition, party, and tournament modes, aim to make the game a sale and not a rental, though early reviews may dictate otherwise.

Mix it up at the official website.

Cedar Rapids (Fri.)

Helms gets out of the office

Out Friday in limited release, Cedar Rapids stars Ed Helms as a repressed small-town insurance salesman trying to save his company while attending a convention in the bustling metropolis of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. While there, he runs into a collection of quirky characters played by the likes of John. C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Rob Corddry, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. (making a funny meta-The Wire joke in the trailer since he was IN the show). The acclaimed indie comedy screenplay is directed by Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl, Youth in Revolt).

Get your bucolic funny on at the official film website.

HBO's The Sunset Limited (Sat.)

A limited cast

Tommy Lee Jones returns to the director’s chair for the first time since his underrated and underseen 2005 film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. His latest production is a made-for-HBO adaptation of the 2006 Cormac McCarthy (The Road, No Country for Old Men) two-character stage play The Sunset Limited. Debuting Saturday night at 9pm, the movie stars Jones as a suicidal man who is saved from trying to throw himself in front of a train by a stranger, played by Samuel L. Jackson. The two men spend the night in Jackson’s apartment debating life and the existence of God.

Find out more about the conversation at HBO’s website.

Closing the book on last week

	Weekend Box Office Champion (Estimated, U.S. only; source: Boxofficemojo.com)
	The Roommate 26	$15.6 million; 1st week at #1
	#1 Album on Billboard 200 (Source: Billboard.com/Nielsen SoundScan)
	Amos Lee: Mission Bell 64	1st week at #1
	Top-Rated Primetime Broadcast Show (Source: Nielsen)
	American Idol [Wed] (Fox)	25.3 million viewers; week of 1/24-1/30