Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Thursday, June 16. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Orphan Black (BBC America, 10 p.m.): In Orphan Black’s hour-and-a-half fourth-season finale, the uneasy alliance between Sarah and Rachel reaches a breaking point. Neolution makes a move, Cosima is cut off from the rest of the Clone Club, and Sarah decides to take down her enemies for good. After last year’s dinner party and that dance party from season two, Lisa Weidenfeld is most looking forward to seeing what multi-clone visual spectacle Orphan Black dreams up for this finale.
Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central, 10 p.m.): Meanwhile, for its own season-four finale, Inside Amy Schumer goes the clip-show route. Hosted by Andy Cohen, the cheekily named “Rubbing Our Clips” features highlights from the show’s past four seasons. That kind of makes it sound like this episode was designed as a series finale, but Emily L. Stephens would like to point out that Inside Amy Schumer has already been renewed for a fifth season.
Lip Sync Battle (Spike, 10 p.m.): Normally Lip Sync Battle is enjoyable if formulaic fun (though not according to Bo Burnham). But tonight’s matchup takes the whole show to a bizarre new level: Not only is Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Rachel Bloom stopping by the series, but she’s also going up against none other than the inscrutable Michael Shannon. Just what is the respected thespian and former General Zod doing on Spike’s lip-synching competition? A little birdie tells us he’ll be tackling a beloved Pixies tune.
Premieres and finales
Home Free (Fox, 9 p.m.): Fox’s feel-good reality show returns for a second season with Tim Tebow as its new co-host. Nine couples help build homes for deserving families only to learn that they are the deserving families getting the homes. The second season promises a “brand new twist” on the format, which may or may not involve the Heisman-winning co-host “Tebowing.”
Aquarius (NBC, 9 p.m.): Gather your snacks and limit your fluids, because Aquarius returns for its second season with a three-episode, commercial-free premiere. Charles Manson and his cult move into the home of their new benefactor. Elsewhere, David Duchovny’s Detective Hodiak tackles a new case involving yet another missing young woman—a brand-new, never-before-seen subject matter for a TV show to explore!
Huang’s World (Viceland, 10 p.m.): In the season finale of his culinary travel show, Eddie Huang journeys to Chengdu, China, to hang out with panda bears, meet hip-hop artist DJ SuperBestFriend, and eat pig-brain mapo tofu.
TV Club Classic
Battlestar Galactica (11 a.m.): Zack Handlen makes the FTL jump into Battlestar Galactica’s third season and the “one year later” future of the series. The New Caprican resistance isn’t quite so eager to welcome their new Cylon overlords in “Occupation.” Then in “Precipice,” Battlestar humanizes the New Caprica Police and challenges Starbuck with motherhood.
Streaming pick
Scrubs, “My Musical” (Netflix): The absurdity of this week’s Lip Sync Battle would pair perfectly with the exuberance of Scrubs’ musical episode. In our 2013 Scrubs roundtable, Erik Adams called the episode, “a Muppet production performed by people rather than puppets.” What’s not to like about that?