Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Sunday, October 27. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Metalocalypse (Adult Swim, midnight): The members of Dethklok don’t do half measures. If they’re going to do a one-off special that pays off the cliffhanger ending of Metalocalypse’s fourth season, they’re going to do it in the most metal way possible: A one-hour rock opera with guest voices including Jack Black, Mark Hamill, and a dude from Cannibal Corpse. Phil Dyess-Nugent isn’t sure he can type a full review with his fingers permanently locked in a double sign of the horns.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Once Upon A Time (ABC, 8 p.m.): Captain Hook seeks a way to get out of Neverland—but he won’t succeed if Gwen Ihnat has anything to do with it! (Just wait until ol’ Hooky gets a load of all the right-turn signs she flipped to read as left turns!)
Revenge (ABC, 9 p.m.): If Revenge learned anything from the primetime soaps that came before it, it’s that a big magazine launch is the perfect place to stage a big character reveal. Still, given the current shape of the publishing industry, Carrie Raisler can’t figure out why all these fictional people are pouring their money into print.
The Walking Dead (AMC, 9 p.m.): With the prison no longer the safe refuge it once appeared to be, the survivors split—with one group headed out to hunt down supplies. Though Zack Handlen isn’t entirely convinced they won’t just stand around and talk about going to get supplies for the full hour.
Boardwalk Empire (HBO, 9 p.m.): Todd VanDerWerff says Boardwalk Empire is more invested in satisfying its audience than any other show on TV—which is why there are so many goddamn characters and plotlines packed into each episode. That Genevieve Valentine keeps a trace on each and every one of them makes her weekly reviews that much more impressive.
Homeland (Showtime, 9 p.m.): “A mysterious man enters the country at the U.S.-Canadian border,” reads the synopsis. Is it? Could it be? Has Todd VanDerWerff’s old friend Santa Claus come to pay him an early visit because he knows reviewing Homeland has been more of a chore this year?
The Good Wife (CBS, 9:30 p.m.): David Sims thinks this week’s Good Wife just might be one of the best episodes of the series. Given the screenshot that’s running atop the review, What’s On Tonight is inclined to agree with him.
Eastbound & Down (HBO, 10 p.m.): April and Kenny go to couple’s therapy, though it seems like Kenny and Stevie ought to be the ones having a little mediated heart-to-heart. Scott Von Doviak hopes those crazy kids make it after all—talking about Kenny and Stevie there, of course.
Masters Of Sex (Showtime, 10 p.m.): Speaking of couple’s therapy, of a sort: Masters and Johnson expand their research to include preexisting pairings tonight. Sonia Saraiya is a professional, goddammit, so all eyebrow waggling and elbow nudging is being done strictly on the part of What’s On Tonight.
Hello Ladies (HBO, 10:30 p.m.): POOL PARTY AT STUART’S! TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS! BYOB! MOLLY EICHEL’S MAKING JUNGLE JUICE, THOUGH, SO TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION RE: HOW MUCH B YOU B! WOOOOOOOOO!
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Saturday Night Live (Classic) (1 p.m.): Phil Dyess-Nugent concludes classic SNL coverage with reviews of two episodes the show inexplicably dropped into NBC’s mid-summer lineup—a gambit it would never attempt again (much like the gambit of hiring Kris Kristofferson to host).
The Simpsons (Classic) (3 p.m.): Talkin’ out of turn: That’s a paddlin’. Lookin’ out the window: That’s a paddlin’. Not readin’ Erik Adams’ review of “The PTA Disbands”: Ooo, you better believe that’s a paddlin’.
WHAT ELSE IS ON?
Young Doctor’s Notebook (Ovation, 8 p.m.): Ovation revisits the full first series of Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe’s time-hopping medical adventures in the Soviet Union, giving you the opportunity to revisit Kate Knibbs’ review of Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe’s time-hopping medical adventures in the Soviet Union.
Halloween Wars (Food Network, 9 p.m.): With Halloween just around the corner, the experts of this seasonal Food Network series build a comical “R.I.P. Season Three” tombstone.
Making Monsters (Travel Channel, 9 p.m.): Same for this show that’s also perennially pegged to All Hallow’s Eve—though its tombstone refers to a second season (and is also a giant hydraulic monster with an evil laugh that shakes the dirt beneath its feet).
The Governor’s Wife (A&E, 10 p.m.): The network that brought you Duck Dynasty goes rooting through bayou mud once more, looking for cable’s next docuseries phenomenon. Near as Phil Dyess-Nugent can tell, this search turned up the worst people in Louisiana—and that’s not counting the former politician who’s married to the titular wife, who did 10 years in prison on racketeering charges.
Hiring Squad (Spike, 11 p.m.): Employees are tasked with selecting their new boss, somehow don’t select “no boss.”
Hocus Pocus (ABC Family, 8 p.m.): Halloween programming brings you two tales of comic covens, beginning with this Disney goof that hasn’t lost any of its power to enchant in the two decades since its release.
The Witches Of Eastwick (Encore, 9 p.m.): Then there’s this decidedly more adult take on similar subject matter, in which Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer band together to defeat the world’s greatest evil: 1980s Jack Nicholson.
World Series: Game 4: Red Sox at Cardinals (Fox, 8 p.m.): Thanks to a rallying Cardinals squad, this series’ second game in St. Louis isn’t the decisive matchup it looked to be at the height of an 8-1 Red Sox rout in Game 1.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Borgen: Aw, look at that cute piglet in the screenshot. Wait, they’re going to do what with the pig? Don’t worry: Hog-farmer’s son Todd VanDerWerff is here to make sure all the gripping tail-docking action is handled in a humane fashion.