Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Wednesday, September 4. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Futurama (Comedy Central, 10 p.m.): And just like that, the show is over again, though we sort of suspect it will be re-resurrected as either a series of 18-second episodes that play on the back of cereal boxes in the year 2025 or as a touring band of theatrical players in the post-apocalyptic wasteland, also of the year 2025. (There are two ways this could go, people; let’s make sure to choose the one that still involves boxed cereal.) If we know this show, it will find a way to tug our heartstrings as it heads into the great beyond, and with Fry proposing to Leela while the fabric of time itself rips apart, we suspect we’re right. Zack Handlen will provide a Kleenex.
REGULAR COVERAGE
MasterChef (Fox, 9 p.m.): Our main summer reality squeeze steps into overdrive as it realizes just how little summer it has left, going from a top four to a top three and a top three to a top two over the course of a two-hour episode. Phil Dyess-Nugent will be whittling all of you down to a top two as well.
The Bridge (FX, 10 p.m.): This week’s episode is called “The Beetle,” and that could mean just about anything, up to and including the first appearance of DC Comics superhero The Blue Beetle on the show. Is that unlikely? Probably. But Molly Eichel would be down with finding a mystical outer space scarab.
Broadchurch (BBC America, 10 p.m.): A “new piece of evidence could lead to the killer,” says TV Guide, and we’re betting that… nope… still several episodes to go, so probably not. That said, Gwen Ihnat is all about hoping the case is cracked by episode five and the rest of the show is just people drinking tea.
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (FXX, 10 p.m.): The only thing that trumps the season première of one of our biggest shows is the series finale of another. Otherwise this would be the top pick. Don’t get mad, Sunny fans! No! Please stop egging Dennis Perkins’ house just because he’s the new reviewer. Sigh.
The League (FXX, 10:30 p.m.): This show is also returning. We always mean to just blitz through the whole thing on Netflix and see if we can’t get into it after watching a bunch of episodes at a time, but we never have. We fortunately have Pilot Viruet to keep track of the thing for us, so we don’t have to.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Freaks And Geeks (1 p.m.): Lindsay tries pot for the first time, then has to babysit in the episode that is—perhaps not coincidentally—the final episode to air as a part of the regular NBC schedule. (Later episodes were summer and cable burnoffs.) Todd VanDerWerff will mourn its cancellation all over again.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Digfellas (Travel, 8 p.m.): In college, we always had this friend who would say, “Hey, What’s On Tonight! Do you know what Digimon are?” And then after an appropriate pause, he would say, “Digital monsters!” Well, it would seem this show is about digital fellas. Oh dig fellas? Well, that’s boring!
Luther (BBC America, 9 p.m.): Here’s a reminder that BBC America is burning off the four episodes of this season of the Idris Elba vehicle over the course of four straight nights. Phil Dyess-Nugent will let you know how it all was Friday night after the whole damned thing is over. Let us never speak of it again.
Bermuda Triangle: New Evidence (Discovery, 10 p.m.): Is the “new evidence” the fact that the number of people who get lost in the Bermuda Triangle isn’t larger than the number of people who get lost elsewhere at sea in any statistically significant sense? Probably not? That’s cool, Discovery. That’s cool.
Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell (FXX, 11 p.m.): FX’s thoroughly enjoyable late-night talk show with a slight flavor of political commentary makes the move to a new network and the move to a nightly program. Pilot Viruet will take a look at the first handful of episodes and let you know if it works.
From Russia With Love (Encore, 8 p.m.): Encore is airing a bunch of Bond movies again, and here’s Sean Connery in one of the finest of the films in the franchise’s history. If you haven’t seen this one, you might be surprised it’s a Bond film, but it’s filled with great moments and some of Connery’s best work.
Pulp Fiction (AMC, 8 p.m.): We’re guessing Quentin Tarantino’s wildly successful 1994 mash-up of all of the bits of pop culture he’d always loved will play even better when split up with commercials and censored a bit due to the strictures of basic cable. Because aren’t all movies better that way?
MLB Baseball: Tigers at Red Sox (ESPN, 7 p.m.): The teams with the two best records in the American League—and two of the top five records in all of Major League Baseball, respectively—face off in a series that could offer a preview of the ALCS. Or maybe they’ll both lose to the Indians or something.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Suits (Tuesday): Have you checked in on Carrie Raisler’s Suits reviews lately? Well, you should, because the current season has been enjoyable and so have her reviews. Also, when you read these reviews or watch the show, you should be wearing a suit. It’s only proper to do so, don’t you think?