Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, April 10, and Saturday, April 11. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Marvel’s Daredevil (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., Friday): As the Marvel Cinematic Universe extends its spandex-ed reach to every broadcast medium (coming soon—The Champions, exclusively on your Zune!), Noel Murray checks in on Netflix’s first MCU effort, a moody, broody series about everyone’s favorite blind superguy, Daredevil. How’d they do? Noel gives it a B- for effort, but says there’s still good stuff to be found, especially if you like your heroes with a bit o’ grit:
Fans of the comics should appreciate the clear intent here to make a superhero series that doesn’t deviate too much from the source, or pull too many punches. This is a hard PG-13 (bordering on R-rated) Daredevil, with smatterings of profanity and near-nudity, and a level of blood and gore previously unseen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nearly every episode builds to a brutal action set piece, with either the masked Matt or some criminal lackey beating the snot of an adversary, in sequences choreographed and shot for maximum visceral impact.
Judge for yourself—there’s a clip below—and then check in with Oliver Sava’s daily coverage over the next couple of weeks.
Also noted
Grimm (NBC, 8 p.m., Friday): Nick and Hank investigate a mysterious series of deaths caused by the fact that the victims are all frozen to death and stuff. Les Chappell is no doctor, but he’s gonna go ahead and call “supernatural” on this one.
12 Monkeys (Syfy, 9 p.m., Friday): In the season finale of this surprisingly enjoyable time travel series, Cole and Railly head for the final confrontation with their mortal enemies, no doubt settling all their troubles forever. And then Emily L. Stephens is like, “Um, guys, you know that since this is a whole time travel thing, nothing is ever really going to be settled for good, right?” And then Cole and Railly slowly turn and stare at her until she shrugs and walks away.
Comedy Bang! Bang! (IFC, 11 p.m., Friday): The episode is titled “Jack Black Wears An Embroidered Cowboy Shirt And Ox Blood Sneakers.” David Kallison says, “Nice spoilers, guys.” At least the delightfully ubiquitous Paul F. Tompkins shows up as a fun surprise. Oh crap! Sorry, David.
Childrens Hospital (Adult Swim, 11:59, Friday): It’s a comedy love triangle, when Nurse Beth (Beth Dover) gets involved with both Ken Marino’s Doctor Glenn and Rob Heubel’s Doctor Owen. While LaToya Ferguson thinks that’s a bad idea on several levels, she’s comforted that it will all be over in 11 minutes.
Outlander (Starz, 9 p.m., Saturday): Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya was excited for Outlander’s return last week—until the show decided what we really need is to find out what a hunky Scotsman thinks about the show’s time-traveling heroine:
Nothing is more frustrating than when writers don’t seem to fully understand what makes their own show great. For Outlander, Claire’s position at the center of this time-travel universe has always been and will always be what makes the series smart and distinct. With “The Reckoning,” the writers seem to be answering the question “how does Jamie feel about all of this?” But did anyone really ask?
This week, Jamie’s hoping the Duke’s arrival will spare him from the headsman’s block. He should be more worried about Kayla and just get out of Claire’s way.
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m., Saturday): Kenan Thompson’s been refining his Terrence Howard impression all week in preparation for Empire’s Taraji P. Henson bringing her signature Cookie magic to Studio 8H. Mumford And Sons is the musical guest, which Dennis Perkins thinks is the least Empire musical guest SNL could have come up with.
Elsewhere in TV Club
Now that the A.V. Club’s crack team of movie experts has thoughtfully and conscientiously compiled their picks for the best 100 movies of the half-decade, let’s all snipe at their choices like jerks! You do it in the comments, and the rest of the A.V. Club will come at them from this week’s AVQ&A where we say what movies shouldn’t be on the list! Let’s get ‘em! After that, check in with a guy who’s got more than a few movies on said best-of list, as Will Harris scores a big, geeky get with his 11 Questions with Simon Pegg. Then, Mike D’Angelo, possibly pissed about all of us criticizing his movie picks, plays us for suckers with his Watch This review of the shifty, mesmerizing con-man documentary The Imposter.
What else is on
Classic MLB Baseball—Red Sox At Yankees (2004) (ESPN Classic, 3 p.m., Friday): Bloody sock game!
The Amazing Race (CBS, 8 p.m., Friday): Contestants head to Monaco, where every hotel concierge prays they have never heard of Archer:
Live From Lincoln Center—Norm Lewis: Who Am I? (PBS, 9 p.m., Friday): Broadway star Lewis sings his way through an evening of his favorite show tunes with a special titled just right for those who’ve never heard of him.
Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance (Showtime, 9 p.m., Friday): Friends and admirers get together for this portrait of some people’s favorite Elvis. And since we can’t mention Costello without hearing one of his songs, here’s a fairly deep cut for you:
Blue Bloods (CBS, 10 p.m., Friday): At the crime scene of a celebrity chef’s death, Tom Selleck’s mustache detects notes of cumin, cilantro…and murder.
International Jazz Day (PBS, 10 p.m., Friday): There’s a jazz celebration at the United Nations, and they’ve invited the likes of Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Hugh Masakela, Stevie Wonder, and Robert DeNiro, for some reason.
Helix (Syfy, 10 p.m., Friday): In this season two finale, the CDC team may have found a cure for the virus. Will it take? Only Syfy’s ratings will tell.
The Grace Helbig Show (E!, 10:30 p.m., Friday): Comedian Helbig welcomes comedian Nick Kroll to her new chat show. There may be comedy. Just goin’ out on a limb there.
Vice (HBO, 11 p.m., Friday): The news magazine show takes on recreational drugs and sex-change surgery in Iran.
MLB Baseball: Red Sox At Yankees (Fox Sports 1, 1 p.m., Saturday): Celebrate the official end of a long, brutal winter by watching two teams who really hate each other play on some green, green grass with socks free of blood.
Good Witch (Hallmark, 8 p.m., Saturday): Catherine Bell’s Cassie Nightingale tries to magic away a mystery ailment from one of the guests of her witch-y B&B. And, again, her name is Cassie Nightingale.
Text To Kill (Lifetime, 8 p.m., Saturday): The people at lifetime have heard about sexting, people. This TV movie is not a drill.
Kevin Hart Presents: Plastic Cup Boyz (Comedy Central, 11 p.m., Saturday): Ubiquitous comic Hart continues to lend his name to other comedians’ specials—in this case Joey Wells, Will Horton and Na’im Lynn—which is pretty nice of him, you have to admit.
The Vanilla Ice Project (DIY, 10 p.m., Saturday): It seems that Rob Van Winkle wisely did have a backup plan, as, in this reality show, he now runs a successful home improvement business.
In case you missed it
Louie: Louie’s back and the world is good again! Or is it? Brandon Nowalk says this groundbreaking show from Louis C.K. comes out of the gate slowly for its fifth season, asking, “So is ‘Pot Luck’ the story of a boring asshole? Sort of and not really.” Past history suggests C.K. will pull things together rather quickly, but one one thing, we can all agree—that was some damned fine-looking fried chicken.