Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, May 11, and Saturday, May 12. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Fringe (Fox, 9 p.m., Friday): Aren’t you glad this isn’t the last you’ll ever see of this show? Well, you probably won’t be once you see whatever the cliffhanger is! To be clear: We have no idea what the cliffhanger will be, but it seems like this show has a fond habit of pissing off its viewers with its cliffhangers. So what will it be tonight? Will everybody die? Because Noel Murray would like to see just how the show’s writers make their way out of that one. Honestly, we’d love if the final season was just 13 hours of staring at the characters’ bodies lying on the floor and occasionally twitching.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Grimm (NBC, 9 p.m., Friday): “Hank sees something that’s clearly inexplicable,” says the episode summary, and we’re wondering if Hank has any idea what show he’s on. If he’s feeling like he needs stuff explained to him, Kevin McFarland recommends he try CSI: NY, which is a few networks over.
Supernatural (The CW, 9 p.m., Friday): In tonight’s episode, a character attempts a new ghost trick that’s clearly dangerous. If we know anything about ghosts, it’s that all they’re good for is stacking chairs on top of tables and shit. Poltergeist taught us that, and Phil Dyess-Nugent learned his lessons well.
Magic City (Starz, 10 p.m., Friday): We’ve given up on this one because we’re not as dedicated to our craft as Will Harris is, but the episode description for this one suggests that Jackie Kennedy herself is going to be a character in the show. What is this? The final season of Quantum Leap?
Young Justice (Cartoon Network, 10:30 a.m., Saturday): The young heroes of this show seem to always be fighting alien invasions. Is that all superheroes are good for anymore? Oliver Sava remembers a simpler time, a time when superheroes were known for having to fight their way out of gelatin.
The Legend Of Korra (Nickelodeon, 11 a.m., Saturday): Korra’s getting ready for the pro-bending championships, while the city is filled with a palpable sense of danger. We’re going to guess that these two things will intersect somehow, but Emily Guendelsberger thinks it’ll be all sunshine and flowers.
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m., Saturday): Will Ferrell hosts, with Usher there to be the musical guest. We just hope that Ferrell resurrects his classic character Phil Weston from 2005’s comedy hit Kicking And Screaming. David Sims just wants every sketch to be about Semi-Pro’s Jackie Moon.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Angel (1 p.m., Friday): Noel Murray was so distraught about what happened in the last two episodes of this show that he had to take last week off. Fortunately, this week’s episodes begin the complicated process of integrating a new character into the show and remind us all how great Amy Acker can be.
The Adventures Of Pete & Pete (3 p.m., Friday): Feeling festive? Marah Eakin is, so she’s happy that this Christmas episode of Pete & Pete is popping up now to put everybody in the holiday mood. Also, there’s an evil garbage man. Exciting! Just hear those sleigh bells ring-a-ling, ting ting ting-a-ling, too.
The Twilight Zone (1 p.m., Saturday): The end of season two fast approaches, and Todd VanDerWerff is excited to have an episode called “Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?” Those of you who are Martians, please identify yourselves in comments for, er, security purposes. Yeah. That’s right.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Shark Tank (ABC, 8 p.m., Friday): In tonight’s episode of our secret favorite guilty pleasure, the show checks in on a cat drawing business after its appearance on the show. Frankly, more of our favorite shows should have random drop-ins on cat drawing businesses. It would really improve Glee.
Craft In America (PBS, 9 p.m., Friday): PBS plays to the audience that’s home on Friday nights, which apparently consists of the people who visit Hobby Lobby with some amount of regularity. Tonight, the show checks out textile artists, and that sounds like the kind of fast-paced drama we need tonight.
Common Law (USA, 10 p.m., Friday): Will Harris checks out USA’s latest iteration of its apparently deathless formula, in which two detectives have to go to couples therapy at the behest of their captain. We’re betting there will be plenty of goofy scenes between the ones where the two solve crimes.
The Half Hour (Comedy Central, 11 p.m., Friday): Comedy Central launches its brand new standup showcase, which gives comics a half hour to make audiences laugh. This sounds vastly different from Comedy Central Presents, and we’re glad the network has shifted its focus so significantly.
Celebrity Ghost Stories (Biography, 8 p.m., Saturday): Fairuza Balk is among the celebrities who step before the camera to tell us stories of their meetings with g-g-g-g-ghosts! Honestly, if we were going to pick celebrities who have probably seen ghosts, Fairuza would be right after Harry Anderson on the list.
Mom Caves (HGTV, 8:30 p.m., Saturday): All of our writers are super-excited about this one, though they were unable to convince us that what the world really needed was a review of a show about moms making spaces where they can be themselves and do textile art. Except PBS has that market cornered.
Caddyshack (AMC, 8 p.m., Friday): It strikes us as sort of amazing that no one’s tried to remake this classic dumb comedy by gathering a bunch of current SNL cast members and making the gopher some sort of CGI creation that wears sunglasses and does comical performances of the Macarena.
Source Code (Showtime, 9:25 p.m., Friday): Though not perfect, this time travel action movie is a surprising amount of fun for a Jake Gyllenhaal star vehicle. It’s directed by Duncan Jones, the same guy who did Moon, so you know there’ll be some fun science fiction stuff going on around the edges.
Diabolique (TCM, 8 p.m., Saturday): Listen, if your wife and your mistress start spending lots of time together and talking about you, it’s probably time to get out of Dodge. On the other hand, if they kill you, see if you can get them to put you in a bathtub. You just might have a fighting chance then.
NASCAR Racing: Nationwide series in Darlington, S.C. (ESPN, 7:30 p.m., Friday): It’s the Sport Clips Help A Hero 200, won by Kyle Busch last year in a squeaker over Denny Hamlin, who’s won three times. And that’s the extent of our knowledge about this race, all of it taken from the TV Guide description.
MLB Baseball: Royals at White Sox (WGN, 7 p.m., Saturday): For a while there, we had hopes that the Royals, our favorite lost cause baseball team, just might do pretty well this season. Then the season actually started, and we realized they’ll probably lose this game to the equally pathetic White Sox.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The Vampire Diaries (Thursday): It’s not every day a series rolls out a season finale that’s so well-executed and so full of devastating plot twists that even Carrie Raisler—who’s deeply skeptical of some of those plot twists—has to applaud the sheer skill used to deploy them. Check this one out, folks.