Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Monday, July 8. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Defiance (Syfy, 9 p.m.): It’s a jam-packed week in TV land, which means that Syfy’s weird video-game-television-show hybrid experiment Defiance is ending its first season as all science fiction shows must: with a mayoral election. Thrill to the depiction of several alien races casting the vote! Get excited at the prospect of potential electoral skullduggery! Weep when you realize you’re more invested in this mayoral election than the one for your own city’s mayor! Shake your head as Rowan Kaiser attempts to work in Alexis de Tocqueville somehow, because who’s read Alexis de Tocqueville, are we right?
REGULAR COVERAGE
Switched At Birth (ABC Family, 8 p.m.): Of all of the shows we expected to have an alternate universe episode, this was at or near the bottom, yet here we are. What would have happened if Regina revealed the switch when she first learned of it? Carrie Raisler never thought to ask, but she’s going to find out!
Teen Wolf (MTV, 10 p.m.): Scott and his pals get stranded at a weird motel in the middle of nowhere, and while there, they undergo strange experiences, perhaps designed to cover up the budgetary-saving nature of the episode’s very premise. Phil Dyess-Nugent writes this from a haunted Motel 6 in Amarillo.
Under The Dome (CBS, 10 p.m.): Junior adapts the solution of every dog that’s ever been penned into the backyard in his attempts to escape the dome: He tries to dig under it. What will he find? We’re betting that cache of bones he forgot he stored there last winter. Scott Von Doviak’s cache is in his attic.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
The IT Crowd (11 a.m.): All shows are improved by the appearance of a “mysterious, blind, Irish sorcerer,” so we’re stoked to hear that this week’s second episode—the second series’ finale—will bring just such a character into the picture. Caroline Framke actually is a mysterious, blind, Irish sorcerer.
Justice League (1 p.m.): Wonder Woman teams up with superhero brothers Hawk and Dove, who just so happen to be voiced by Wonder Years brothers Fred Savage and Jason Hervey. Oliver Sava wishes that he had a brother who could review this episode for him. He would rather sleep all day.
Scrubs (3 p.m.): Guess what, everybody? It’s Michael J. Fox, making his triumphant return to television after the reveal of his Parkinson’s diagnosis, as a doctor who hands out wisdom like candy. Myles McNutt thinks it’s a good thing Fox agreed to play the role. It could have been torturous otherwise.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Get Out Alive With Bear Grylls (NBC, 9 p.m.): NBC continues its attempt to come up with its own version of Survivor with yet another new show where a bunch of contestants are tossed into the middle of nowhere and forced to survive and thrive, this one hosted by Bear Grylls, formerly of Man Vs. Wild.
Gasland Part II (HBO, 9 p.m.): The original looked at the dangers of hydraulic fracturing—or “fracking,” in the popular terminology—but apparently there was a whole other movie’s worth of material left over, because here’s a sequel. If you want to know why the environment sucks, here’s another example.
Dangerman: The Incredible Mr. Goodwin (BBC America, 10 p.m.): Meanwhile, BBC America offers up its own “person gets into terrifying situation and has to get out” series, as the titular Mr. Goodwin attempts insane stunts, including one that baffled Houdini himself. Ryan McGee reviews from the ocean’s floor.
God, Guns, & Automobiles (History, 10 p.m.): Sadly, History’s new series isn’t about God running an elite arms smuggling unit out of a used car dealership in Spokane, like it would be if we were writing it, but it is a reality series about the goings-on at a vintage auto emporium in Missouri. Oh, well.
21 Jump Street (Encore, 8 p.m.): We thought this unexpectedly comedic update of the ‘80s undercover cop show—starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill—was surprisingly entertaining. As it turns out, others disagreed, but we’d be quick to remind them that they are wrong for thinking the way they do.
Some Like It Hot (TCM, 9 p.m.): Is this wacky cross-dressing farce from director Billy Wilder the funniest movie ever made? Well, whether you agree with that premise or not hinges entirely on whether you’ve seen the Denis Leary/Sandra Bullock rom-com Two If By Sea, but you’d be forgiven if you haven’t.
MLB Baseball: Nationals at Phillies (ESPN, 7 p.m.): Despite the Nationals’ red-hot season last year, both of these teams have struggled to keep up with the Braves, though they’re at second and third in their division respectively. This would be a good chance for either to gain ground on the other.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dexter (Sunday): America’s favorite serial killer—or so Showtime would like you to think of him—came back with a pretty lackluster season première, but Joshua Alston is amazed at how this show can will itself back from the brink at a moment’s notice, as seen in a much improved second episode.