Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, May 6, and Saturday, May 7. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Adele Live In New York City (NBC, 9 p.m., Friday): Sure, it’s a rebroadcast of Adele’s Radio City Music Hall concert from back in December. But this is the extended version—a full 90 minutes of Adele, with five additional songs not included in the original special. That’s 13 full Adele numbers, people. (Plus, it’s bumping Grimm for the night, so you should watch it just to justify the money it’s costing regular Grimm reviewer Les Chappell. Or set up a Kickstarter for him.) And while this Lorne Michaels-produced special includes yet another emceeing appearance by Jimmy Fallon (for such is the law, apparently), let’s all take Saturday Night Live’s lesson to heart—Adele brings all peoples of the world together as one.
Ali Wong: Baby Cobra (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., Friday): It’s a new standup special from comic and Fresh Off The Boat writer (and very pregnant person) Ali Wong. Either that or she’s showing off an actual baby snake. Which would be cool, too. Would Netflix turn over an hour of time so that a talented and funny comedian can goof around with a tiny reptile? They have been tossing a lot of money at comedians’ passion projects lately. Hmm. Nope—we’re, like, 80 per cent certain this is an Ali Wong standup special. 80, 85 per cent.
Premieres and finales
Adam DeVine’s House Party (Comedy Central, 12:30 a.m., Friday): Has it been a whole season of this hybrid standup and sitcom series from Workaholics’ Adam DeVine? Well, how many times has DeVine been shown comically falling down? Okay, and how many drinking binges? Right, and has he eaten feces at least once? Gotcha. [Adding up.] Yup—sounds like it’s time for tonight’s third season finale all right. Brandon Wardell, Vladimir Caamano, and Jak Knight are the standups on hand to close the party out—and to resuscitate DeVine, who, according to reports, appears to be dead, possibly from alcohol or feces poisoning.
Grace & Frankie (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., Friday): Screen legends (and 9 To 5 costars) Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda continue their superstar team-up as the complete second season of this saucy septuagenarian sitcom drops in the wee hours of Friday. Back also are Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston as the duo’s former husbands, now happily hooked up with each other, and new, perhaps even more grizzled Fonda love interest Sam Elliot. As ever, our own Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya is on hand to run down the series’ cozy, pastel-colored mix of comedy and drama, with her reviews coming out at 6 p.m. daily. (And don’t forget about Caroline Siede’s pre-air review that suggests in pretty strong terms that the show’s only gotten better.)
Blue Bloods (CBS, 10 p.m., Friday): In the “ripped from the all-too-frequent headlines” sixth season finale of this cop show (about Tom Selleck’s Commissioner Frank Reagan and a police precinct filled with the fruit of his mustachioed loins), the people of New York are on the verge of rioting when the courts fail to indict a cop accused of shooting a teenager. Then a protester shoots a cop in retaliation because it’s CBS, the home of blameless, holy police characters, and we’re off to the races.
Regular coverage
The Vampire Diaries (CW, 8 p.m., Friday)
Banshee (Cinemax, 10 p.m., Friday)
Outlander (Starz, 9 p.m., Saturday)
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m., Saturday)
Streaming pick
“Slapstick,” The Wire (HBO GO, HBO NOW): No offense to Blue Bloods, but, when any cop show decides to tackle a divisive issue like police violence, it’s never a bad idea to see how The Wire took it on. In this heartbreaker from the show’s third season, perpetual screwup Detective Pryzbylewski makes one final, tragic mistake. Jim True-Frost made Prez’s five-season journey from dimwit, borderline racist cop to dedicated educator a wrenching but ultimately hopeful portrait of an essentially decent guy who just should never have become police.