Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, May 24, and Saturday, May 25. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Orphan Black (BBC America, 9 p.m., Saturday): Over a holiday weekend so quiet that even TV Club Classic is mostly taking it off, BBC America is plunging ahead with an all-new Orphan Black. And not just a new episode, either! It’s actually the penultimate episode of the whole season, following up on a fairly thrilling cliffhanger from last week. We’re letting you know it’s new, because we’re assuming all of you live in 1992 and don’t have DVRs or, indeed, extended cable packages. Caroline Framke will be over to check out your sweet Pogs collection later.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Borgen (LinkTV, 10 p.m., Friday): This week’s episode is called “Count To 90.” Why are we counting to 90? We don’t know, and since we haven’t seen this episode yet (and are avoiding spoilers), we’re going to guess that once Birgitte reaches the number 90, Todd VanDerWerff will explode in a shower of color.
Maron (IFC, 10 p.m., Friday): When Marc finds out his ex-wife has had a baby, he decides it’s high time he jump back into the dating pool, because finding someone new will wipe away all the existential angst and fill the gaping void in his soul. Kyle Ryan hopes the episode is just Maron browsing OKCupid profiles.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Babylon 5 (11 a.m., Friday): Rowan Kaiser would like to let you know that this week’s episode is absolutely, positively his favorite of the whole series. We’d love to tell you more about what that means, but we’d inevitably get it wrong, so, instead, let us distract you with kittens: kittens, kittens, kittens.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Invasion (Animal Planet, 8 p.m., Friday): Sadly, Animal Planet isn’t re-airing the one-season wonder starring William Fichtner that you may or may not remember. (It started slowly, but it was really good by the end!) Instead, this is something about an invasion of mutant pigs, which sounds almost as good, no?
The Sopranos (HBO Signature, 8 p.m., Friday): If you’ve never seen “Pine Barrens,” perhaps the most famous episode of this show ever made, here’s your chance to see what happens when Paulie and Christopher take a man out into the wilderness to kill him. Naturally enough, nothing good happens.
Live From Lincoln Center (PBS, 9 p.m., Friday): We don’t want to spoil the series finale of Smash for you, but we will tell you that one of the nominees for Best Actress in a Musical at the Tonys in the Smash-iverse is one Audra McDonald, who offers you the perfect start to summer in this concert special.
Rock Center With Brian Williams (NBC, 10 p.m. Friday): Despite canceling this show, Brian Williams still has to do a certain number of episodes of it (presumably stipulated in his contract), so he and everybody else involved is working tonight. That’s pretty cold, NBC. Let Brian Williams have fun at the beach!
Sanjay & Craig (Nickelodeon, 10:30 a.m., Saturday): Nickelodeon debuts its major new kids show for the year today, after an all new SpongeBob. It’s about a charming young boy and his best friend, who just happens to be a snake. Marah Eakin presumes the snake is charming, too, but who knows, really?
Ultimate BBQ Cookout Countdown (ABC, 9 p.m., Saturday): We’ll use the excuse of this program and this weekend to ask y’all a favor. We’ll be traveling to Austin in a couple of weeks for the Austin TV Festival (and several of your TV Club favorites will be there). Which barbecue joints should we hit?
Wayne’s World (Fuse, 9 p.m., Friday): Our dad didn’t even see this movie, and he’ll still “hilariously” say “Not!” when he wants to indicate that he is, perhaps, saying something ironically or sarcastically, as if to underline the subtext. And we have Mike Myers and Dana Carvey to thank for that. So, thanks, guys!
Network (Sundance, 10 p.m., Friday): Sadly, our dad doesn’t start randomly screaming, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” at family gatherings, though if he did, we’d hope he just stuck to the script and didn’t immediately undercut himself with a witty, well-placed “Not!”
Friendly Persuasion (TCM, 8 p.m., Saturday): Here’s Gary Cooper starring as a pacifist Quaker during the Civil War, who’s gradually won over to supporting the war because he hates the evils of slavery. Based on a popular book, William Wyler directed. Ronald Reagan gave this movie as a gift to Gorbachev. Okay!
Stanley Cup Playoff: Game 5: Senators at Penguins (NBC Sports, 7:30 p.m., Friday): We have no particular dog in this hunt—Ottawa and Pittsburgh being our favorite teams in their conference, so far as we deign to care about these things—so we will merely note that the series continues. Please enjoy.
NBA Playoff: Game 3: Spurs at Grizzlies (ESPN, 9 p.m., Saturday): After unexpectedly knocking out both the Clippers and Thunder, the Grizzlies have struggled with the Spurs, dropping the first two games to the higher-seeded team. We’ll see if home-court advantage gives Memphis any additional boost.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Does Someone Have To Go? (Thursday): The summer TV season has begun, which means lots and lots of trash TV. Fox gets things started off “right” with a show where workers compete to not be fired. Joshua Alston would laugh ghoulishly at all of this, but it just sort of made him feel depressed instead.