Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Thursday, June 27. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Monty Python’s Flying Circus (11 a.m.): Zack Handlen’s four weapons are surprise, alarm, ruthless efficiency, and summertime TV Club Classic reviews that’ll make you see one of the Internet’s most frequently dissected and homaged TV shows in an entirely new light. Four weapons—Five! Five weapons: surprise, alarm, ruthless efficiency, summertime TV Club Classic reviews that’ll make you see one of the Internet’s most frequently dissected and homaged TV shows in an entirely new light, and… the cushions!
REGULAR COVERAGE
Hannibal (10 p.m.): We couldn’t quit Dr. Lecter and company so quickly—not when the season finale left us with so many questions! None of which will be answered by the episode that NBC pulled from its broadcast schedule at Bryan Fuller’s request, but still—Molly Eichel’s seen the thing, and she doesn’t think she can go until next spring with thoughts about it bottled up inside her.
Wilfred (FX, 10 p.m.): In tonight’s Wilfred twofer, Ryan has a bad feeling about his sister’s new girlfriend—probably because he’s giving off similarly creepy vibes by enrolling Wilfred in an obedience class in order to impress a romantic prospect. Takes one to know one, Rowan Kaiser would say, if he were given to spouting such clichés.
Graceland (USA, 10 p.m.): The episode’s called “Pizza Box,” one of the investigations involves a weed farm—we’ve seen television before, so we think we know where this is going. Genevieve Valentine, meanwhile, just wants to know where that pizza is going.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Gilmore Girls (1 p.m.): The Stars Hollow Gilmores are terrorized by termites. David Sims bet those termites have a way with an Algonquin Roundtable allusion. He also bets they can eat all the wood they want and never gain a pound. Damn termites.
Friends (3 p.m.): Sonia Saraiya and Joe Reid invite you to strap on your Thanksgiving pants (and please leave any poster implying that you have VD at home) and join them for the first celebration of Friends’ most important holiday. It’ll be a while until Brad Pitt shows up, but look! Ugly Naked Guy has an Ugly Naked Gal!
WHAT ELSE IS ON?
The Willis Clan (GAC, 8 p.m.): Look: Having a recklessly large family is no longer enough to get a television deal. You want to get yourself and your dozen kids on the small screen? Those little fuckers better bring it in terms of musical performance, like the egg-carton-full-of-country Willis Clan here.
Funniest Commercials: Summer Countdown (TruTV, 8 p.m.): Your What’s On Tonight? correspondent was going to bemoan the state of Funniest Commercials host John Henson’s career, but then he remembered Henson has a pretty cushy gig hosting Wipeout. Sometimes your What’s On Tonight? correspondent just misses old-school Talk Soup is all.
Parks And Recreation (NBC, 8:30 p.m.): Filibusters! They’re so hot right now. Revisit Patton Oswalt’s epic Star Wars staller in this Parks And Rec repeat, and wait for a photo of Texas Senator Wendy Davis (D-Awesome) to show up in Leslie’s office next year.
Small Town Security (AMC, 11 p.m.): The second season comes to an end, so if you want to make it into a future promo by prompting Joan Koplan to nearly punch her way through a desk, get in your dickish comments now.
A Bridge Too Far (TCM, 8 p.m.): Getting a jump on the 4th of July—quite literally. Like, dozens of dudes jumping out of planes in the service of recreating the largest airborne mission of World War II with the biggest stars of 1977 (Robert Redford! Gene Hackman! Anthony Hopkins! Maximilian Schell—hey, someone has to play the Germans!)
Independence Day-saster (Syfy, 9 p.m.): Why wait for those long-promised Independence Day sequels that Will Smith is too expensive for (you can get a Bill Pullman and a Jeff Goldblum for cheap, though) when the production house that brought you both Tommy And The Cool Mule and that questionably necessary remake of I Spit On Your Grave took the basic components of Independence Day—alien invasion, endangered president, a big date on a page-a-day calendar—and made a newer, cheaper alternative? Hey, wait, where are you going?
CFL Football: Montreal at Winnipeg (NBC Sports, 9 p.m.): Or, as it’s known in Manitoba, “foutbaull.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Freaks And Geeks: Todd VanDerWerff stops ignoring the “Geeks” half of the show’s titular divide long enough to take in a nice porno with Sam, Bill, and Neal. And now he’ll feel uncomfortable for a good week-and-a-half.