Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Thursday, June 25. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Under The Dome (CBS, 9 p.m.): Under The Dome is back with a two-hour third season premiere that, confusingly, features at least a few members escaping the dome over Chester’s Mill. How will the show go on if it’s now possible to leave the dome? Will the title be changed to Outside The Dome? The premiere’s synopsis promises, “The Dome begins to reveal its ultimate agenda.” Does that mean the dome is actually a sentient being? IS THE DOME GOD? Dexter’s Tim Schlattmann is taking over as showrunner this season and he’s promised to put more emphasis on the show’s sci-fi elements. But in order to find out whether his efforts will actually reenergize the series, Scott Von Doviak will have to go… under the dome.
Also noted
Wayward Pines (Fox, 9 p.m.): The most recent episode was a game changer that (probably) explained the truth behind the mysterious town of Wayward Pines. So now the audience will get to watch with a smug sense of superiority as Ethan and Theresa try to figure out what’s going on. But as much as things change, they also stay the same; Alex McCown is still convinced clones have to be involved somehow.
Hannibal (NBC, 10 p.m.): A thousand Fannibal hearts broke upon hearing the news that NBC won’t be renewing Hannibal for a fourth season. We suggest showing the network just what they’re missing by tuning in en masse to tonight’s episode in which Dr. Chilton tries to use Will as bait to catch Hannibal. Molly Eichel will file her review as soon as she gets 100 more signatures for her #SaveHannibal petition.
Graceland (USA, 10 p.m.): USA’s enjoyable undercover agent drama returns for a third season. The fact that Aaron Tveit’s Agent Mike Warren was left for dead last season means this is the perfect time for Graceland to do a musical episode and let Tveit show off his pipes as he shares the fact that he’s still alive:
TV Club Classic
Futurama (10 a.m.): The crew wrestle with freedom and flag desecration in “A Taste Of Freedom.” Then Bender lands a TV gig and brings forth the wrath of Fathers Against Rude Television, a.k.a. F.A.R.T. Futurama argues “Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV,” but Zack Handlen couldn’t disagree more.
Elsewhere in TV Club
Noel Murray takes a walk down memory lane to examine American Gladiators’ “First Half Highlight Show” in a new entry of A Very Special Episode. According to Noel, this midseason recap special “stands now as a document of American Gladiators in its nascent form, before anyone involved knew that they were making one of the biggest syndicated TV hits of the 1990s.”
Elsewhere, we’ve got a new Random Roles with Mad Men’s Eric Ladin going up at 9 a.m. And at 8 a.m., Emily L. Stephens weighs in on AMC’s spooky new robot series Humans, which she calls, “a domestic drama, a sci-fi thriller, and a meditation on alienation, all wrapped up in one sleek package.” Or at least that’s what her robot overlord forced her to write.
What else is on?
Regular Show (Cartoon Network, 6 p.m.): Regular Show’s week of new episodes hits a major event: Muscle Man’s wedding! Of course given that the episode’s title is “Dumped At The Altar,” things might not end up working out so well for the green groundskeeper.
Boom! (Fox, 8 p.m.): Liked the Hurt Locker but felt it needed more comedy? Then boy does Fox have a game show for you! In Boom!—an adaption of an Israeli series—teams have to “defuse” a “bomb” by answering trivia questions. If they fail, the “bomb” goes off and they get sprayed with stuff like maple syrup or pizza sauce. Never has a violent device been repurposed for this much fun!
The Astronaut Wives Club (ABC, 8 p.m.): The Astronaut’s Wives Club continues to reminisce about all your favorite scenes from The Right Stuff. Like that time The Shepards got a parade. Or when Annie Glenn had to manage her stutter.
The Comedians (FX, 10:30 p.m.): In this two-part season finale, Billy Crystal overhears Josh Gad and his friends making fun of him.
Between (Netflix, 11:30 p.m.): Netflix’s experiment with weekly releases comes to an end with the debut of the final episode of Between. The fact that this series failed to earn much buzz might have less to do with the week-to-week format and more to do with the fact that it’s absurdly boring.
Field Of Dreams (AMC, 8 p.m.): Inside Out taught us the importance of embracing sadness in our lives, so get your weekly cry in with Field Of Dreams. “Hey Dad, you wanna have a catch?”
Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (TCM, 8 p.m.): This 1967 film casts Sidney Poitier and Katharine Houghton as an interracial couple whose engagement startles her progressive parents played by Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Isn’t it interesting to look back nearly 48 years ago to a time before America had settled all of its issues over race?
NBA Draft (ESPN, 7 p.m.): The NBA Draft: It’s just like picking teams in gym class only with slightly higher stakes.
In case you missed it
WWE NXT: When LaToya Ferguson covers professional wrestling, she gets to write stuff like this: “Enzo, Cass, and Carmella are a bunch of loudmouth cartoons, and yet, they’re legitimately the realest guys in the rooms. It’s something that’s hard to teach in the Performance Center. It may sound ridiculous to talk about reality in terms of a scripted, predetermined sport (outside of Total Divas), but it’s true. This week’s NXT brought back the realness, and it was refreshing.” Kyle Fowle tapped in for LaToya for last night’s installment of NXT, but he also gets to write stuff like that when covering professional wrestling.