Off the Wall: Asta stars in 'Thin Man'

Off the Wall goes to the dogs.

ASTA FOR PRESIDENT! As much as I love William Powell and Myrna Loy as witty, rich detectives in 1934's original "The Thin Man" (Saturday night at 9:05, WNET/13), I'm also in serious like with their playful pup, Asta, who tags along as his companions slug back martinis in saloons. No gender or species discrimination here! No wonder it's a classic. Sneak a peek at thirteen.org/reel13.

REALITY PREMIERES So many this week, we can't list 'em all! But we wouldn't forget to mention the too-cute smackdown "Puppies vs. Babies" (Saturday night at 10, Animal Planet). Also big: Oprah's relaunch of her OWN cable channel, with the cookfest "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" (Saturday night at 9), featuring a former Ikette, and "Don't Tell the Bride" (Saturday night at 10, both on OWN), in which the groom has to plan the wedding; plus the celeb portrait "Visionaries" (Sunday at 8 p.m.), premiering with Tyler Perry, and "Ask Oprah's All-Stars" (Sunday at 9 p.m., both on OWN). New York matchmaker Siggy Flicker helps answer "Why Am I Still Single?!" (Monday at 9 p.m., VH1), while "Clean House New York" (Monday at 8 p.m., Style) explores messy Big Apple dwellings.

FRIGHT FESTIVALS Halloween-ery ramps up! The ultra-tense second-season premiere of "The Walking Dead" (Sunday at 9 p.m., AMC) kicks off AMC's 15th annual FearFest of scare cinema through Oct. 31. (First, watch Season 1 "Dead" marathon Sunday 2:30-9 p.m.) A prequel dose of "Pretty Little Liars" (Wednesday at 8 p.m., ABC Family) launches this year's ABC Family 13 Nights of Halloween, after Wednesday's "PLL" marathon 11 a.m.-8 p.m. And a new holiday "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Friday at 8 p.m., Nickelodeon) begins Nickelodeon's 10 Nights of Frights. Watch creepy B-flicks online ("White Zombie"!) at amctv.com/videos.

iSPECIAL "MythBusters" guys Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman host "iGenius: How Steve Jobs Changed the World" (Sunday at 8 p.m., Discovery), exploring the techno-cultural innovations of the Apple co-founder who died Oct. 5. More at discovery.com.

'WHAM! BAM! ISLAM!' That's the title of the season premiere on "Independent Lens" (Sunday at 11 p.m., WNET/ 13), documenting the obstacles faced by the Kuwaiti creator of the Muslim superheroes comic book "The 99." Preview at pbs.org/independent lens.

MUSIC PORTRAITS Spanning decades and formats, we get "Harry Belafonte: Sing Your Song" (Monday at 10 p.m., HBO), profiling the celebrated singer-actor-activist; "Invitation Only: Martina McBride" (Monday at 10 p.m., CMT), an intimate performance/Q&A by the country star; and "Pearl Jam Twenty" (Friday at 9 p.m. on PBS/13; Oct. 23 at 3:30 p.m. on WLIW/21), where "American Masters" documents the group's two decades. Clips at pbs.org/americanmasters.

AWARDS ALERT Robert Downey Jr. and Nicolas Cage are among the honorees at the sixth annual "Scream Awards" (Tuesday 9-11 p.m., Spike) for horror, fantasy, sci-fi and comic books. There's also a special tribute to the Harry Potter franchise. Categories and more at scream.spike.com.