Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Tuesday, February 11. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Dads (Fox, 8 p.m.): Look, we’re not going to pretend like Dads was ever going to win a “Father Of The Year” award. (The closest it ever came was being named 2013’s worst new series by The A.V. Club.) But Dads still played an important role in our development—if only to give us something to rebel against. And though we won’t be dignifying its all-too-certain cancellation with a review, we will feel a certain pang of longing the next time someone looks at us askance for telling an off-color joke. Because there won’t be a show there to hear us say “We learned it from you, Dads! We learned it from you.”
ALSO NOTED
Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family, 8 p.m.): Caroline Siede drops in on the show’s tribute to ’40s noir. We’d write “Just like that one Moonlighting,” but since no one on Pretty Little Liars was even born when “The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice” debuted, we’ll resort to other methods of feeling ancient.
2014 Winter Olympics (NBC, 8 p.m.): Tonight’s tape-delayed coverage features two triumphant returns: Shaun White, seeking to nab his third-consecutive gold medal on the halfpipe; and Phil Dyess-Nugent, seeking to wrap his head around the snowboard halfpipe event for the fifth straight Winter Olympics.
Justified (FX, 10 p.m.): Alasdair Wilkins tries not to do much divining based on Justified episode titles—but if he had to guess, “Kill The Messenger” will feature the unexpected death of at least one messenger.
REGULAR COVERAGE
New Girl (Fox, 9 p.m.)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox, 9:30 p.m.)
Kroll Show (Comedy Central, 10 p.m.)
Justified (FX, 10 p.m.)
Cougar Town (TBS, 10 p.m.)
ELSEWHERE ON TV CLUB
With the show’s second season receiving the DVD treatment, Todd VanDerWerff takes a look at how Newhart came back as one show in the fall of 1983 and headed into the summer of 1984 as a totally different (and completely improved) show.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Nick News (Nickelodeon, 8 p.m.): The long-running kids’ news program investigates the perpetuation of school segregation nearly 60 years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision.Considering some of the headlines on the program’s website (“More Dead Whales Found in Florida”), this might be the least bleak topic for Linda Ellerbee and crew to explore.
138th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (USA, 8 p.m.): “You know what would be funny? I don’t know if they could do this—just an idea off the top of my head. Why didn’t he take the bloodhound, put on one of those Sherlock Holmes hats, and put a little pipe in his mouth. Are they ever allowed to do anything like that? Dress up a dog in a funny way?”
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (FX, 6:30 p.m.): It’s funny: We would’ve thought Shia LaBeouf would wear a bag over his head at the premiere for this extra-long cinematic jerk-off session.
Attack The Block (The CW, 8 p.m.): If the U.K. is serious about upping its medal count in future winter games, perhaps its Olympics Committee should suggest the “grassroots defense against alien invasion” events displayed in Joe Cornish’s crackerjack big-screen debut.
College Basketball: Michigan at Ohio State (ESPN, 9 p.m.): Rivalry night in Columbus, Ohio, featuring the most-heated Columbus-related rivalry since “Christopher Columbus Vs. Flat Earth Theory, 1492.”
NEW ON DVD
In the finest show of 1980s fashions this side of the many sweaters in Mary Frann’s Newhart wardrobe, season one of The Americans is now yours to own on DVD. Tell whoever approved this that the special feature “Perfecting The Art Of Espionage” (Step one: “Wigs! Wigs! Wigs!”) is a gift from us to them. SHOW THEM THE SPECIAL FEATURE! SHOW IT TO THEM!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Rick And Morty: No, you didn’t miss a new installment of Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland’s sci-fi mindfuck—we’re just performing our own mindfuck by time-warping Zack Handlen back to the series’ first three episodes.