Gravity Falls finishes a first season that seems to have lasted for several decades
Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, August 2, and Saturday, August 3. All times are Eastern, unless otherwise noted.
TOP PICK
Gravity Falls (8:30 p.m., Friday): Disney bids farewell to the first season of Gravity Falls with an episode that airs a half-hour earlier than normal and isn’t marked as new on TV Guide’s listings, which many DVR program guides use to select which episodes they will and won’t tape. So you might want to check and make sure that you’re getting this one, is all we’re saying. Or, rather, you might want to check if you still watch television on a television, which is, we understand, increasingly a thing that nobody but us does. Alasdair Wilkins watches television on his Google Glass headset.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Magic City (Starz, 9 p.m., Friday): With just a couple of episodes left in the season, no one even knows if there will be more Magic City to write about come 2014. Will Harris would appreciate Starz renewing the show, but he’d also be fine with being cast as one of the pirate extras in Black Sails. It would be cool.
Comedy Bang! Bang! (IFC, 10 p.m., Friday): Both David Cross and Bob Odenkirk appear in this episode. Will there be a tearful reunion of the whole Mr. Show cast, like the Beatles reunion that happened on Saturday Night Live in an alternate universe? Only David Sims knows, but he isn’t telling us just yet.
Borgen (LinkTV, 1 a.m., Saturday): This week’s episode is called “In Brussels, No One Can Hear You Scream.” Todd VanDerWerff was intimidated by that title—and busy with the Television Critics Association press tour—so Sonia Saraiya actually learned Danish to make sure he had someone to fill in.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Babylon 5 (11 a.m., Friday): The Shadow War begins in earnest, and Sheridan needs to rally a force to take on the enemy. Honestly, though. Shadows? That seems like a pretty weak enemy to have. The easiest way to beat them is to turn off the lights! And Rowan Kaiser keeps recommending this to us!
The Larry Sanders Show (1 p.m., Friday): Larry makes fun of the network on his show, and he gets in trouble good for doing so. That’s ridiculous! David Letterman has been making japes about his network for years, and Kyle Ryan never lets a microphone pass him by without ripping on The A.V. Club!
Wonderfalls (3 p.m., Friday): Jaye and Eric go on their first date, but she realizes that she’s actually a “man eater,” and not in the fun, Hall & Oates sort of way. Also: Does anyone still use the term “man eater”? Les Chappell does, but he uses it only when describing his five pet Siberian tigers, of course.
The Twilight Zone (1 p.m., Saturday): Robert Duvall pops up as a dude who discovers the figurines of a museum’s 19th century-era dollhouse start coming to life. This was shortly after he played Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird, so Zack Handlen is sure that he could handle playing somewhat of an oddball.
Doctor Who (Classic) (3 p.m., Saturday): The Fifth Doctor heads into the 17th century where he meets up with a Tereleptil fugitive. What the hell is a Tereleptil? We sure don’t know, because we’ve seen very little of this original series. We’re counting on the intrepid Christopher Bahn to tell us just who that is.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
America’s Next Top Model (The CW, 8 p.m., Friday): The series begins its 20th season with an onslaught of attractive women and men, in a last-ditch attempt to regain the prominence it once held in the reality TV zeitgeist. We won’t be covering it at all, but maybe you wanted to know it was back to set your DVR.
Full House (Nickelodeon, 9 p.m., Friday): Nick at Nite takes us back to a simpler time. A time when Rebecca was pregnant with twins and Danny had to sit with her at the bedside as she prepared to give birth. Watch this episode to prep for extensive TV Roundtable coverage of the series, coming this fall!
Great Performances (PBS, 9 p.m., Friday): Or sure, you could check out this two-hour concert from the Vienna Philharmonic. If you wanted to feel cultured or whatever. We’re content to just sit and watch the two-part Full House arrival of Nicky and Alex, because we understand the value of television history!
Saint Hoods (Discovery, 10 p.m. Friday): Discovery heads into Boston’s underworld for a new series examining criminal activity of all kinds. The whole thing starts with a look inside the sordid world of sports betting, and if you think you’re going to bet against the Milwaukee Bucks, think again, dammit.
Hunt For The Labyrinth Killer (Lifetime, 8 p.m., Saturday): This new movie focuses on a serial killer who kills women who wander through a labyrinth into his lair. First of all, this just seems horribly inefficient. Second of all, who the hell is going to wander into a labyrinth they just find in the middle of nowhere?
Zero Hour (ABC, 8 p.m., Saturday): ABC rattles off the final two hours of its crazy, clock-lusting series. What will the ultimate mystery of the series end up being? We know, and we also know it’s just crazy enough to be potentially fun. But it’s also possible the execution will let it down—as often happens.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (TNT, 8 p.m., Friday): The best of Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings films—yes, you heard us correctly—creates that wonderfully detailed Middleearth world that it was so easy to remain lost in over the next two films. It’ll be even better with ad breaks!
Tootsie (Encore, 8 p.m., Friday): Revisit one of the warmest, wittiest screen comedies of all time, with Dustin Hoffman and a great ensemble telling the story of an actor who finally makes it—as a woman. Or just go rewatch that video where Dustin Hoffman breaks down talking about his work in this movie.
Rise Of The Guardians (HBO, 8 p.m., Saturday): Normally, we’d be super-excited about a team-up among the great heroes of popular folklore, where Santa Claus is a mad Russian and the Easter Bunny throws boomerangs, but unfortunately, this movie is mostly a big, boring piece of crap. Too bad!
X Games Los Angeles: Moto X, bicycle motocross (ESPN, 9 p.m., Friday): It’s day two of the extreme sports showcase that was supposed to supplant the Olympics in the eyes of Generation X, according to several magazine articles in the ‘90s. While that didn’t happen, you can enjoy the extremity tonight.
International Champions Cup Soccer: A second-round match (Fox, 8 p.m., Saturday): We don’t know which teams will be featured, nor do we know the importance of what might happen. What we do know is that some soccer will be played, it will air on the Fox network, and it will broadcast from Los Angeles.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Please Like Me (Thursday): Phil Dyess-Nugent took a look at this intriguing Australian dramedy—used to launch the new cable network Pivot—and he liked what he saw. Josh Thomas plays a young man who comes out to his mother and discovers all the unforeseen circumstances that result. The whole thing is streaming online.