Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Patton Oswalt: Talking For Clapping (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., Friday): Whether you admire Patton Oswalt’s skills as a standup, character actor, author, filibuster-er, animated rodent, or Twitter provocateur extraordinaire, his new standup special is here for your literately nerdy enjoyment. In his review, Dennis Perkins says it’s Oswalt at the top of his game, with an extended rant about a certain animated universe that vies with that Parks And Recreation riff for the most Patton Oswalt thing ever.
The Toxic Avenger Earth Day Marathon (El Rey, 8 p.m., Friday): Celebrate the symbolic saving of the Earth alongside Tromaville’s greatest, grossest, eco-friendly, family-unfriendly superhero The Toxic Avenger (Toxie, to his pals) as El Rey runs all four Toxic Avenger movies in a row. (Along with the “hard to believe this existed” Toxic Crusaders animated kids’ show. (You know, for kids!) Saving the planet has never been so disreputable. (Usual disclaimer: El Rey, like The A.V. Club, is owned by Univision Communications.) (Added disclaimer: Neither El Rey nor Univision have any input, nor interest, in anything your What’s On Tonight writers do.)
Amy Schumer Presents Rachel Feinstein: Only Whores Wear Purple (Comedy Central, 11 p.m., Friday): And once your laughter has subsided from that Patton Oswalt standup special, steady yourself for another dose from comic (and “thanks for the loan of your name” pal of Amy Schumer) Rachel Feinstein. In her review of the special, Emily L. Stephens says of the always brash comic, “Feinstein’s acute observation creates memorable, silly, sympathetic characters with a shift of tone, a turn of phrase, or a gesture, and it keeps her exquisitely, if subtly, attuned to her audience.” She may have also mentioned the term “lopsided starter tit” in there somewhere, so it’s not all subtlety.
Premieres and finales
Thunderbirds Are Go (Amazon, 3:01 a.m., Friday): In this reboot of the legendarily puppet-y sci-fi adventure series from the 1960s, the puppets are a lot less puppet-y. Will that un-puppet your enjoyment of it? Who can say? Is “un-puppet” a word? The A.V. Club copy desk says, ”Of course not. Do not be dumb. See us, please.”
Last Man Standing (ABC, 8 p.m., Friday): It’s the fifth-season finale of this sitcom about Tim Allen’s he-man conservative husband and dad trapped in a house full of women, including his Hillary Clinton-supporter wife Nancy Travis. Way back in 2011, our reviewer offered up pretty much the dictionary definition of faint praise, saying, “There’s skill and craft at work here, and skill and craft can keep multi-camera sitcoms, if not good, at least vaguely tolerable. If your kids somehow get sucked into this show (and please keep them away from it), you probably won’t want to shoot yourself after.” Shockingly, ABC did not adopt “You probably won’t want to shoot yourself after!” as a catchphrase.
Dr. Ken (ABC, 8 p.m., Friday): When this sitcom starring undeniably funny but heretofore best-in-small-doses Ken Jeong was announced, people asked if his signature manic shtick would be sustainable over an entire season as a main character. And now, with the first season coming to an end, the answer is a resounding, “Kind of!” In the season finale, Ken’s standup comic college pal (Jeff Ross) encourages the good doctor to hop up on stage to pursue his own dreams of standup stardom.
Time Traveling Bong (Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m., Friday): Man, time flies when you have a time-traveling bong, as this three-episode miniseries from Broad City buddies Ilana Glazer and Paul W. Downs wraps up tonight. Will these intrepid, impaired time travelers smoke their way back home, where, presumably, they will smoke even more weed? And, even if they do, will their woozy, weed-happy actions have repercussions beyond dry mouth and a serious need for spicy buffalo wings? Sure, James Franco had to try to save a president and all, but did he have to cope with the munchies at the same time? No, didn’t think so. Point: Glazer and Downs.
Regular coverage
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
The Vampire Diaries (CW, 8 p.m., Friday)
Grimm (NBC, 9 p.m., Friday)
Banshee (Cinemax, 10 p.m., Friday)
Adventure Time (Cartoon Network, 7 p.m., Saturday)
Outlander (Starz, 9 p.m., Saturday)
Streaming pick
Buffy The Vampire Slayer, “This Year’s Girl”/“Who Are You?” (Netflix/Hulu): Since it looks like we’ll finally be meeting new guest puncher Eliza Dushku on this week’s Banshee, why not warm up with perhaps her finest outing as rogue Slayer Faith in the famous body switch double-episode of Buffy? Sure, she’s no Tatiana Maslany (by the way, how great would a reboot of Dollhouse be with Maslany?), but Dushku does stellar, surprisingly subtle work when violent “cleavage-y slutbomb” (Willow’s words) Faith is forced to walk around in the skin of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s do-gooder Buffy Summers (and vice-versa). Oh, she’s still really good at the punching, as well.