Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Sunday, March 11. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Bob’s Burgers (Fox, 8:30 p.m.): Bob’s Burgers made a modest splash when it debuted in Fox’s Animation Domination bloc last winter, and The A.V. Club was happy to see that the suits at News Corp. had enough faith in the animated misadventures of the Belcher family to give its second season an additional nine episodes. (A lot of that happiness stemmed from seeing Home Movies co-creator Loren Bouchard put his name on a cartoon that wasn’t roundly dismissed by its original network home.) The show’s sophomore year opens with an epic (by Bouchard standards), as the Belcher kids go Goonies in their search for the lost treasure of a legendary taffy don. Rowan Kaiser will be there for every non sequitur that spills out of Gene’s mouth.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Once Upon A Time (ABC, 8 p.m.): Witness the birth of television’s newest crimefighting duo: Emma and Ruby, the latter of whom ditches foodservice for a new life of sleuthing. Oliver Sava thinks the team is no Cagney and Lacey—though they could give American Dad’s Legs and The Wheelman a run/roll for their money.
The Amazing Race (CBS, 8 p.m.): Surrounded by encased Italian meat (no, not Joey and Danny), The Amazing Race can’t pass up putting a dick joke in the title of this Turin-set episode, “Taste Your Salami.” Phil Dyess-Nugent can’t wait to hear the Parents Television Council’s blustery, overblown response.
The Simpsons (Fox, 8 p.m.): “Homer’s bed-wetting problem worsens” reads the episode description, the show’s way of subtly incepting fans into believing Homer’s newfound bladder dilemma is a recurring gag, and not the entry point to an Inception riff. Hayden Childs would call this out, but he’s distracted by a perpetually spinning top.
The Walking Dead (AMC, 9 p.m.): With season two coming to a close, there’s a threat to the farm lingering just beyond the perimeter. Given the way these things typically go, Zack Handlen is guessing the threat isn’t a surprise birthday party for our human heroes.
The Good Wife (CBS, 9 p.m.): If you’re going to create a recurring character who’s been accused of murdering his wife and sexual misconduct, best to put him in terrible turtlenecks and give the role to character actor Dylan Baker, an expert with creeps his Good Wife role, Colin Sweeney. David Sims thinks it’s a shame we never got to see The Lizard hidden beneath Baker’s eerily calm exterior in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies.
Family Guy (Fox 9 p.m.): As often happens to children in our media-saturated age, Stewie finds himself terrorized by an otherwise innocuous pop artifact: the cover of a Queen album. It has to be The Miracle, right? If not, Kevin McFarland has his money on the sweaty, hairy pile of arena rockers that coats Sheer Heart Attack.
Luck (HBO, 9 p.m.): Luck’s approaching the home stretch (HORSE-RACING METAPHOR) of its first season, and tonight’s episode lays on the setup mighty thick. Depending on your level of patience, you could give a fuck about whether Jerry gets into a poker tournament or who Gettin’ Up Morning’s new jockey will be. Todd VanDerWerff, meanwhile, knows these tiny details are building to something larger.
Celebrity Apprentice (NBC, 9 p.m.): This week’s barely business-related task comes to us courtesy of Buick. Buick: the United States’ longest-living make of automobile, reduced to playing a prop for Penn Jillette and Aubrey O’Day. Who says the bailout was too kind to automakers? Certainly not Margaret Eby.
Shameless (Showtime, 9 p.m.): Shameless is a relatively grounded program, so it’s intriguing that tonight finds Sheila and Jody convinced that Eddie’s ghost (sorry: Eddie’s g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-ghost!) is haunting the Gallagher house. If the show is starting to come untethered from reality, however, Joshua Alston humbly requests that none of the characters begin talking to an imaginary friend named “Gellar.”
American Dad (Fox, 9:30 p.m.): Roger’s military service in Afghanistan (?) creates a hole in the role of the Smith’s family therapist—a hole Klaus is all too eager to fill. You know, because he already has the German accent and everything, so the Sigmund Freud jokes pretty much writer themselves. Rowan Kaiser, however, thinks that sometimes an accent is just an accent.
Eastbound & Down (HBO, 10 p.m.): Following the disastrous events of last week’s episode, Kenny comes to the perfectly logical conclusion that Toby is cursed. Atrocities that can also be laid at Toby’s feet: The 1755 Lisbon earthquake (Toby’s curse obviously predates his birth), the discontinuation of Crystal Pepsi, and the fact that Nathan Rabin hasn’t followed in his hero Jay Sherman’s footsteps to secure the Pulitzer Prize for criticism.
House Of Lies (Showtime, 10 p.m.): This episode’s title name-checks Ouroboros, the legendary tail-eating serpent of legend (and Alan Parsons Project LP covers), meaning there’s a terrible self-fellatio joke buried deep within the script. Rowan Kaiser dons a hazmat suit and prepares to dig in and find it.
Life’s Too Short (HBO, 10:30 p.m.): After setting the matter aside for a couple of weeks, Warwick’s “massive tax bill” rears its ugly head—and ruins a video chat between Ricky, Stephen, and tonight’s special guest star, Steve Carell. Erik Adams knew there was one thing missing from Ricky Gervais’ cameo on the American Office—and it was obviously Warwick Davis.
Californication (Showtime, 10:30 p.m.): Hank takes a meeting with the female lead on his new movie—or, in Californication terms, “Hank sets a time to see some boobs.” Kenny Herzog can’t believe how deep into the gutter our minds are today—while also acknowledging that, yes, this seems like a cheap ploy for brief nudity.
WHAT ELSE IS ON?
Harry’s Law (NBC, 8 p.m.): The Peacock Networks knows the public loved Kathy Bates as a gun-totin’ lawyer on Monday and Wednesday nights—and it just knows that love will carry over to a new timeslot. Either that, or it’s burning off the second season of the show opposite a hot new drama (Once Upon A Time) and a proven contender (The Amazing Race).
Cupcake Wars (Food, 8 p.m.): The new season of the dessert-centric reality cooking competition kicks off with the cupcake chefs competing to get their wares served at a centennial celebration for the Girl Scouts of the USA. Somewhere, there’s a bunch of pissed-off cookie artists smarting from not getting what seemed like a no-brainer of a gig.
America The Wild (Nat Geo Wild, 8 p.m.): For too long now, the roles for animals at the center of nature documentaries have been shipped overseas, robbing the fauna of this great nation of countless opportunities for work. “No more!” says Nat Geo Wild, as it opens up its doors to the hard-working, blue-collar animals of North America.
Shahs Of Sunset (Bravo, 10 p.m.): Has it really taken this long for Ryan Seacrest to get in bed with Bravo? Probably aching from the fact that it never had a chance to secure the Keeping Up With The Kardashians franchise, Bravo finally earns the Seacrest seal of ick-pproval with the so-called “Persian Jersey Shore.” Obviously, it’ll be a huge hit,
The Undefeated (Reelz, 8 p.m.): In the interest of fairness (?), Reelz airs Stephen K. Bannon’s fawning documentary on Sarah Palin opposite HBO’s encore presentation of Game Change. Watch ’em both with picture-in-picture and play a drinking game where you take a shot every time The Undefeated presents something in a positive light that Game Change paints as a negative.
I Was A Male War Bride (TCM, 8 p.m.): When it comes to crossdressing screwball comedies, Some Like It Hot gets all the love. But a full decade before Billy Wilder used ladies’ fashions to hide Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon from the mob, Howard Hawks did an equally hilarious job of smuggling Cary Grant out of post-war Germany in an Army nurse’s uniform.
NHL Hockey: Kings at Blackhawks (NBC Sports, 8 p.m.): Despite the consistent potency of the Blackhawks offense, the Kings lead this season series 2-1, with their last meeting ending in a shutout in L.A. The Hawks try to even things up at the United Center
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Grimm (Friday): Have you been watching the freshman fairytale series that isn’t Once Upon A Time? No? Might you been enticed by some FIRE-DANCING? Yeah, that’s what we thought.