Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Outlander (Starz, 9 p.m., Saturday): In the spring premiere of this rousing, sexy Scottish time-travel drama, Caitriona Balfe’s temporally displaced WWII nurse continues to cope admirably with life in eighteenth-century Scotland. Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya is back too, although not, to her enduring regret, back in time.
Also noted
Grimm (NBC, 8 p.m., Friday): Nick and Hank investigate a guy with a death touch. Meanwhile, Grimm attempts to avoid the critical death touch of Les Chappell. He’s killed shows before—it’s not pretty.
12 Monkeys (Syfy, 9 p.m., Friday): Tonight’s episode is called “Paradox,” to which Emily L. Stephens says, “Yeah, no kidding. It’s time travel—every damned thing is a damned paradox!” And then she wanders away muttering to examine her massive 12 Monkeys alternate timeline whiteboard.
Comedy Bang! Bang! (IFC, 11 p.m., Friday): Joseph Gordon Leavitt is Scott’s guest. He’s trying to poach Reggie Watts from the show, apparently unaware that that British bastard James Corden beat him to it. LaToya Ferguson’s on hand to keep an eye on that wily JGL anyway.
Childrens Hospital (Adult Swim, 11:59 p.m., Friday): A looming DNA test has everyone on pins and needles for a full 11 minutes. LaToya Ferguson predicts that, somehow, everyone at the hospital is the biological parent of everyone else.
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m., Saturday): With Michael Keaton hosting for the third time, expect one, unbroken 90-minute sketch, only interrupted by the cast dropping their customary five lines. Carly Rae Jepsen sings, if that’s your thing. Dennis Perkins isn’t here to judge you. Although he is here to judge the show. Such is his destiny.
Elsewhere in TV Club
Mad Men week continues in full force on Friday! First up is John Teti, asking the age-old question “to pee or not to pee?” with a look back at John Slattery’s tinkly role on Sex & The City. After that, some of your favorite AV Clubbers reveal the other works that Mad Men has inspired them to seek out. Then some more of your favorites look back at some of Mad Men’s Rosencrantzes and Guildensterns with their picks for five episodes that highlight some of the best moments from the show’s minor characters. Then, Mike D’Angelo analyzes the sweet sounds of victory with a Scenic Routes on the soundtrack to Peggy‘s escape from SCDP. Then Joshua Alston pulls the same stunt with a Hear This, examining the sneaky use of the Cranberries in season one’s ”Ladies Room.” As if all that weren’t enough, cap of your Mad Men week with Marah Eakin’s 11 Questions with actor Christopher “Henry Francis” Stanley. There—that should have you sufficiently whipped into a frenzy for Sunday’s final season premiere.
What else is on
Derek Special (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., Friday): It’s like Ricky Gervais took all the criticism that he was too smug and mean-spirited way, way too seriously when he created this series starring the former David Brent as the most cloyingly sweet mentally challenged guy since Forrest Gump. In this hour-long special, everyone’s favorite nursing home orderly helps prepare for a wedding while saying things intended to be adorably inspiring.
The Amazing Race (CBS, 8 p.m., Friday): Mismatched couples chasing trinkets around the globe. Here’s a clip!
Backstreet Boys: Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of (VH1, 9 p.m., Friday): They’re back! That band! You know the one! They sing and stuff!
Meet The Smiths (TBS, 9 p.m., Friday): Former NBA-er Kenny Smith enters the fading celebrity reality show race as he invites cameras into his home to capture his family’s most completely unscripted intimate moments.
Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live In Concert (PBS, 10 p.m., Friday): Former Eurythmic Lennox lends her legendary pipes to a collection of standards. She’ll probably slip “Here Comes The Rain Again” in there, too, don’t worry. Although this song from The Eurythmics comeback album would be a nice present, if she gets around to it.
Helix (Syfy, 10 p.m., Friday): The CDC team searches for the Mother Tree, which sounds very science-y.
The Grace Helbig Show (E!, 10:30 p.m., Friday): Comedian and Youtube star Helbig gets her own comedy/talk show. One of her inaugural guests is Archer’s Aisha Tyler, which is a solid get.
The Jack & Triumph Show (Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m., Friday): Jack gets tricked into filming a commercial in Siberia, no doubt allowing Triumph the opportunity to make jokes at the expense of people waiting in line for things.
Hot Package (Adult Swim, 12:30 a.m., Saturday): If Tim & Eric were the biggest stars in the world, this fake celebrity news show would make them the top story every night.
NCAA Men’s Tournament: Final Four! Final Four! Final Four! Final Four!
- Michigan State vs. Duke (TBS, 6:09 p.m., Saturday)
- Wisconsin vs. Kentucky (TBS, 8:49 p.m., Saturday)
Killer Crush (Lifetime, 8 p.m., Saturday): The Network For Women continues its campaign of yellow journalism against women under 30 in this TV movie about a young (under 30!) women who plots to kill the bedridden wife of the hunky professor she’s been hired to care for. And she’s played by the woman who voiced Lilo in Lilo & Stitch, if you want to make your childhood cry a little bit.
A Bone to Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (Hallmark, 9 p.m., Saturday): Candace Cameron Bure stars in a TV movie based on a mystery series by the person who wrote all those True Blood books. Sadly, airing on Hallmark, there’s precious little hope of a head-twisted-backwards sex scene.
In case you missed it
Elementary: Sherlock looks for the murderer of an Uber driver. Myles McNutt isn’t sure, but he thinks it’s based on the Arthur Conan Doyle story “Sherlock Holmes And The Case Of The Murdered Ad Hoc Conveyance Operator.”