Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Sunday, July 21. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Axe Cop/High School USA! (Fox, 9:30 p.m./9:45 p.m.): Next Saturday night marks the debut of Fox Animation Domination High-Definition, a late-night extension of the network’s signature cartoon cavalcade where the emphasis is most definitely on the first half of “high-definition.” Time will tell if it’s something worth forking over your Saturday night for, but the first taste of the bloc’s flagship series—the webcomic adaptation Axe Cop and the Dino Stamatopoulos-created, Archie-riffing High School USA!—is free. Erik Adams takes a clearheaded look at cartoons that should otherwise be seen through bloodshot eyes and few layers of pizza grease.
REGULAR COVERAGE
The Killing (AMC, 9 p.m.): How will the first half of this week’s TV Guide synopsis (“The hunt for the pornographer leads to an alarming revelation”) sit with the second half (“Twitch and Lyric find their dream home”)? If a horrible smell coming from the basement is the connective tissue between these two threads, Phil Dyess-Nugent would prefer advance warning.
True Blood (HBO, 9 p.m.): It’s looking to be a night of unsettling truths, as Eric makes a shocking discovery about the revived TruBlood. Burned once this week by the new Twinkie serving size, Carrie Raisler isn’t sure how much more of this kind of thing she can take.
Dexter (Showtime, 9 p.m.): With Dexter deeply engrossed in Dr. Vogel’s list of possible serial killers, it’s time to begin advancing a theory about Dexter’s final season: The show has been a BuzzFeed article this whole time. Joshua Alston, meanwhile, will neither confirm nor deny rumors that he’s actually just an animated GIF.
Falling Skies (TNT, 9 p.m.): In spite of its title, “Strange Brew” is not Falling Skies’ take on the “Doug and Bob McKenzie get sucked into a weird variation on Hamlet” film of the same name. Too bad, because Les Chappell could really see something like this fitting into the continuity of the show.
Ray Donovan (Showtime, 10 p.m.): Well this is the story / all about how / Ray’s life got flipped turned upside down / Now let him take a minute / Just sit right there / Sonia Saraiya will tell you how the Donovans fare in Bel-Air
The Venture Bros. (Adult Swim, midnight): If it seems like it was only seven Sundays ago that the Ventures came back into our lives, it’s because it was only seven Sundays ago that the Ventures came back into our lives. Zack Handlen hates to see them go, but he loves to watch them leave—because this show has a way with a finale. Not because he likes looking at cartoon butts. (Grow up, theoretical, besmirching-Zack’s-good-name reader.)
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Farscape (11 a.m.): While the world watches with bated breath for news of the royal baby, Alasdair Wilkins is sucked into a Farscape two-parter that’s also concerned with a monarchy’s DNA. He guarantees this will be more fun than constantly refreshing a Google search for “royal baby + birth.”
Saturday Night Live (1 p.m.): Barely a month after her debut appearance on the show, Candice Bergen becomes SNL’s first repeat guest, staking out an early claim on her spot in the Five Timers Club. Thinking back to the most recent version of that recurring bit, Phil Dyess-Nugent is having a difficult time looking at Dan Aykroyd this week.
The Simpsons (3 p.m.): Once more, The Simpsons asks “Is Bart bad, or is he just drawn that way?” Erik Adams thinks the answer will surprise you—as will Meryl Streep’s turn as schoolyard minx Jessica Lovejoy.
WHAT ELSE IS ON?
Fight For Life (Nat Geo Wild, 8 p.m.): Nothing we can write here will sell this nature series—about the development of young creatures in the wild—like this video of black-bear cubs striking out on their own. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
City Girl Diaries (Style, 9 p.m.): It’s just like Sex And The City! If Sex And The City gained an additional cast member, employed a reality-TV film crew, and didn’t have Kim Cattrall tossing off saucy commentary left and right. So, in reality, nothing like Sex And The City. ([Affects Kim Cattrall voice.] But what could be like sex and the city? [Haughty, self-satisfied laugh, followed by white-hot self loathing.])
Brother Vs. Brother (HGTV, 10 p.m.): The men also known as the Property Brothers go head-to-head in a home-improvement competition—because if there’s something that’s lacking from renovation work, it’s mountains of stress and arbitrary guidelines.
Tattoo Rescue (Spike, 10 p.m.): In which tattoo parlors get the Kitchen Nightmares treatment—and hopefully, maybe at least just once, the stars are called upon to pull a wax likeness of Hervé Villechaize out of a tight spot.
Mon Oncle (TCM, 8 p.m.): Prior to stranding his famed alter ego in the modernity cyclone of Playtime, Jacques Tati took aim at that film’s satirical targets (and one ridiculous, fish-shaped sculpture) on a more intimate scale with this Oscar-winning effort.
Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood (TV Guide Network, 9 p.m.): First secret: The true resting place of Jimmy Hoffa.
MLB Baseball: Yankees at Red Sox (ESPN, 8 p.m.): With the All-Star break at an end, the sounds of summer resume: The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the braying of Red Sox fans unaccustomed to being so many games ahead of the Yankees amid such stiff competition in the AL East.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The Twilight Zone: Zack Handlen invites the late Dennis Hopper and the ghost of Adolf Hitler over for a Saturday afternoon they won’t soon forget—as much as Zack may want to.