Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, March 2, and Saturday, March 3. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Angel (1 p.m., Friday): Like a long-missing champion, Noel Murray is returning to the Joss Whedon arena to finish out coverage of the last season of Whedon’s supernatural detective series, Angel. This is the year when the vampire and his plucky pals get to take over Wolfram & Hart (aka, the best year of the show), and it’s also the year when everything is sunny all of the time, and you sort of wonder how David Boreanaz can stand it. Also, James Marsters! Join Noel on an 11-week march to the end of the last Whedon season to get coverage here… that is, until we cover Firefly this summer.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Grimm (NBC, 9 p.m., Friday): Sweeps is over, so most networks are hibernating, only intermittently leaving their dens to snuffle around and look for new episodes of Big Bang Theory. Grimm bucks the trend with an episode title containing the word “Fuchsbau.” Kevin McFarland thinks that sounds dirty.
Portlandia (IFC, 10 p.m., Friday): Christian Williams can’t believe Carrie and Fred would try to get the mayor to ban the Olympics. Honestly! Who doesn’t love a good, old-fashioned summer Olympiad, particularly in the general Portland area, with plenty of room for modern pentathlons and archery?
Spartacus: Vengeance (Starz, 10 p.m., Friday): We sort of can’t believe this show has a character named Glaber who’s not an insane time-traveling German. Doesn’t that name just sound like it should belong to an insane time-traveling German? To be fair, we think that’s true of Ryan McGee’s name, too.
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m., Saturday): Lindsay Lohan mounts her umpteenth comeback in this week’s edition of the program, and David Sims, longtime fan of Herbie: Fully Loaded, is there to let you know if she’s finally ready to get back into the swing of things or if she’s just as messed up as ever.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Veronica Mars (11 a.m., Friday): One of the two episodes Rowan Kaiser covers this week is called “President Evil,” and though that’s a video game pun, it just reminds us of the time 24 had that evil vice president, whom we insisted on referring to as “Vice President Evil.” We were annoying back then.
The Twilight Zone (1 p.m., Saturday): Todd VanDerWerff knows there’s only one thing that could make any given episode of The Twilight Zone better: the condensed cheese that is William “The Shat” Shatner. This week, he watches the ham’s first appearance on the series in “Nick Of Time.” Go, Shat!
Cowboy Bebop (3 p.m., Saturday): This week, Simon Abrams brings his long Cowboy Bebop journey to an end, with the movie that wrapped everything up. Or didn’t. We’re not entirely sure where it’s supposed to fit in the show’s chronology. But it was made last, and that has to count for something.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
The Break (MTV, 8 p.m., Friday): The network takes a look at homelessness among young people, taking a break from its usual reality drivel for a show that might raise awareness about a problem much of its young audience wouldn’t think about. That or they’re trying to turn this into another Jersey Shore. Yikes.
FRED: The Show (Nickelodeon, 8 p.m., Friday): We’re almost certain the coming of this program was foretold in the Book of Revelation, but we can’t quite make the prophecy work with just who Fred is supposed to be. Ohhhh… wait… he’s probably the giant army of locusts that tortures humanity, huh?
Ghost Adventures (Travel, 9 p.m., Friday): The team reminisces about some of its spookiest adventures, in an episode that sounds like every other episode of these ghost-hunting shows. Seriously, how much time do ghost hunters spend on talking about their old exploits? Find some ghosts, dammit! Now!
Dateline NBC (NBC, 10 p.m., Friday): Chris Hansen, the man who brought you To Catch A Predator and the one actually funny sketch on Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, has turned his sights toward a new target: day care centers. We’re just hoping he doesn’t try to re-prosecute the McMartin trial.
The AquaBats! Super Show?! (The Hub, 11 a.m., Saturday): We’re pretty big fans of clever and creative punctuation here at TV Club, and we’re also fans of Yo Gabba Gabba, whose creator has moved on to this new kooky, kitschy kids contraption. (We so wanted to spell that with a K.) Will Harris investigates.
We’ll Take Manhattan (Ovation, 8 p.m., Saturday): Don’t know where Ovation is on your television dial? Well, neither do we, but we might be tempted to find it for this movie, in which Karen Gillan plays a fashion model. It’s not Karen Gillan Ryan McGee is tuning in for. It’s the modeling. He’s a big fan.
The Right Stuff (TCM, 8 p.m., Friday): This Philip Kaufman version of the Tom Wolfe nonfiction classic is an involving, exciting look at the early days of the United States’ space program, with lots of epic sweep and great performances to spare. Settle in with some popcorn and spend the whole evening on it.
The Bank Job (IFC, 10:30 p.m., Friday): We haven’t seen this one, but we’re told it’s surprisingly gritty and fun. Jason Statham stars (of course) as a guy who, well, needs to pull a bank job. We’re going to assume that not everything proceeds according to plan and he has to improvise. Because we’re psychic.
Hanna (HBO, 8 p.m., Saturday): Saoirse Ronan continues her battle to be named the most credible teen girl action star with this Joe Wright-directed film about a teen girl assassin. All we want to know is why we never knew any teen girl assassins in high school. This is unconscionable, and we won’t stand for it!
NBA Basketball: Warriors at 76ers (ESPN, 8 p.m., Friday): Last week, some guy was all, “Why can’t the A.V. Club hire people who know about sports?!” because we dared to joke about the rookie-sophomore game. We’re going to piss him off now: Watch the Washington Warriors play the Boise 76ers! Tonight!
College Basketball: North Carolina at Duke (ESPN, 7 p.m., Saturday): College basketball winds its way toward March Madness, which inevitably means lots of games where great rivals play each other. And because we hate Duke here at What’s On Tonight, we thought we’d highlight this one. Booooo, Duke!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The Office (Thursday): Myles McNutt checks out an interview with executive producer Paul Lieberstein, in which the man who plays Toby insists the show will be better next year, even if it’s been uneven this year. Then he watches the episode and says next year can’t get here soon enough.