Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Sunday, November 23. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
The Good Wife (CBS, 9:30 p.m.):
CHICAGO (THOUGH IT LOOKS EERILY LIKE NEW YORK)—Activity in the city is winding down due to the approaching Thanksgiving holiday (and the end of November sweeps). But at the Cook County Courthouse, the event of the season is just getting underway: Attorney Cary Agos, partner at the young firm Florrick/Agos (where he practices alongside current state’s attorney candidate and first lady of Illinois Alicia Florrick), faces drug charges following a September arrest. (Was it September? Who knows with the timeline of this show. When’s the state’s attorney election?) As Agos’ date in court finally arrives, A.V. Club reporter Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya will be on the scene, covering the plea deal allegedly offered to Agos, as well as any bad-ass lawyer moves pulled by Florrick.
And now, a special presentation of the What’s On Tonight original series, Just Judges
If David Paymer is to appear in this episode as Judge Richard Cuesta, he demands a higher chair, as well as a court summons for whomever was styling Julianna Margulies’ hair in season three.
Also noted
Mulaney (Fox, 7:30 p.m.): Mulaney’s slow, sad 7:30 funeral march begins with tonight’s episode, which hasn’t even been afforded the dignity of an NFL lead-in.
The Wizard Of Oz (TBS, 8 p.m.): The film for which the phrase “And now, a special presentation” was invented, The Wizard Of Oz receives its customary November broadcast. TBS, accordingly, puts its usual Big Bang Theory repeats on hold to air this other story about a young woman from the heartland who lends a hand to a group of guys without heart or courage (though this trio needs an assist in the brains department, too).
Richard Pryor: Icon (PBS, 8:30): After it airs a ceremony in which Jay Leno wins a prestigious comedy prize, PBS offers an apology in the form of this hour-long documentary about the greatest stand-up comic of all time.
Regular coverage
The Simpsons (Fox, 8 p.m.)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox, 8:30 p.m.)
The Walking Dead (AMC, 9 p.m.)
The Newsroom (HBO, 9 p.m.)
Homeland (Showtime, 9 p.m.)
Bob’s Burgers (Fox, 9:30 p.m.)
The Comeback (HBO, 10 p.m.)
The Affair (Showtime, 10 p.m.)
TV Club Classic
The Simpsons (Classic): Rowan Kaiser doesn’t hate anything: Not even mosquito bites (“Sure are fun to scratch,” he says) or fluorescent lights (“They hum like angels”). And certainly not “Hurricane Neddy,” though he sees the episode as indicative of the creeping desperation of season-eight Simpsons. But it’s still better than the service at the post office. Or his parents—lousy beatniks.
What else is on
Battlestar Galactica (BBC America, 7 p.m.): The A.V. Club’s BSG reviews may be in a temporary cryogenic hibernation, but BBC America isn’t subject to our editorial whims, and tonight it’s airing both parts of the miniseries that kicked off the franchise’s 2000s reboot.
Sofia The First (Disney, 7 p.m.): “The Curse Of Princess Ivy” sets up a major crossover in the Disney Princess universe, as kiddie monarchs Sofia and Amber require assistance from Rapunzel to banish an evil usurper. (And hey, who knows, maybe they’ll even find a way to cram the Frozen princesses in there, too.)
Jay Leno: The Mark Twain Prize (PBS, 7 p.m.): “And now it’s time for ‘Headlines,’ folks. Have you seen this, have you read about this?
‘Jay Leno wins a prestigious comedy prize.’ Bet nobody won a prize in proofreading that day, huh Kev?”
[Kevin Eubanks cracks up, segues out of segment with ripping blues riff.]
American Music Awards (ABC, 8 p.m.): Music’s second-biggest night is being hosted by Pitbull, but What’s On Tonight thinks we can all agree that this would be more fun if it was being hosted by browser-game sensation Pitbull Party.
Eat: The Story Of Food (NGC, 9 p.m.): The end of NatGeo’s three-night culinary history descends the classic food pyramid, starting at the tippy-top with processed foods, then winding up at the base with beer, bread, and other delectable uses for grains.
The Cabin In The Woods (Syfy, 7 p.m.): The most riotous violence of this Joss Whedon-Drew Goddard collaboration will be edited out of this basic-cable telecast, but there’s no stifling those comedic dynamos Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins, or their white board of classic horror creatures.
Seasons Of Love (Lifetime, 9 p.m.): Before she moves on to Empire, Taraji P. Henson goes to work with another hip-hop dynasty: This holiday-themed Lifetime original co-starring Method Man, which is the most likely reason for why it’s taken so long for that new Wu-Tang Clan album to come out.
Sunday Night Football: Cowboys At Giants (NBC, 8:20 p.m.): Like the serious eater who stretches out their stomach in the weeks leading up to Turkey Day, the 7-3 Cowboys warm up for Thanksgiving by taking on a team of opposite fortunes: The 3-7 Giants, for whom a home stadium not buried in snow is the only reason to be thankful this week.
Tomorrow in TV Club
With Utopia proving it wasn’t the promised land, and nearly every reality franchise this side of The Voice going bust or showing signs of old age, Libby Hill takes you back to a time when American reality TV still had some promise: The unsurpassed heyday of Trading Spaces. You might not like the remodeling that subsequent shows have done, but host Paige Davis and her TLC team had such good intentions!
In case you missed it
Hello Ladies: The Movie (Saturday): Stephen Merchant’s big solo outing for HBO was never the stud it wanted to be, but LaToya Ferguson thinks this wrap-up movie is the type of series finale you could take home to meet the folks (even if they didn’t see the eight-episode first season that came before it).