Saturday Night Live asks if you're ready to say goodbye to these (featured players)
Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, May 18, and Saturday, May 19. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m., Saturday): It looks like the end of an era for Saturday Night Live, as some of the show’s biggest stars are reportedly out at the end of this season. Will this be the last time anyone sees a digital short as part of the show? Will it be the last time that Jason Sudeikis gets all Sudeikis up in the faces of the TV viewing audience? And will it be the last time any of us see Gilly? Okay, we haven’t seen Gilly in a while, but David Sims still has a Gilly alarm that he’ll pull, just in case he even thinks she’s going to show up. Better safe and alive than sorry and having had to see Gilly.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Grimm (NBC, 9 p.m., Friday): The episode is called “Woman In Black,” so it’s fitting that a woman in black shows up to make life difficult for the characters. Also, everybody hunts for more gold coins, and the show turns into that reality show about pirates so gradually Kevin McFarland doesn’t even realize it.
Supernatural (The CW, 9 p.m., Friday): The episode description for this one lists a character as “Leviathan Dick Roman,” but we read it as “Leviathan Dick,” which, if you wanted to add it onto our long pile of nicknames, well, we wouldn’t say no. Phil Dyess-Nugent prefers “Behemoth Wang,” actually.
Magic City (Starz, 10 p.m., Friday): “Who’s The Horse, And Who’s The Rider?” asks this week’s episode title, and we’re sort of confused as to why the show wouldn’t understand this. See… the horse is always the one who’s being ridden, while the rider is… the one who rides? We guess? Will Harris? Help?
Young Justice (Cartoon Network, 10:30 a.m., Saturday): It’s a Nightwing episode. We were hoping we’d get a Nightwing episode. Of all of the characters with some sort of ancillary tie to the Batman universe, he’s definitely somewhere in our top 1,000. Good ol’ Nightwing. Oliver Sava won’t stand for our heresy.
The Legend Of Korra (Nickelodeon, 11 a.m., Saturday): Emily Guendelsberger can’t believe that Korra might ally with the Equalists. Honestly, we’d have trouble believing it, too, if we ever got around to clearing the backlog of episodes we have on our DVRs. Not a good time of year for us TV critic types.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Angel (1 p.m., Friday): It’s the next-to-last Angel review ever, and Noel Murray is already feeling the sorrow, as Angel and Spike head off to Italy to track down a certain blonde slayer that both of them have some degree of affection for. You’ll spot Noel from afar, dancing in a club like he just don’t care.
The Adventures Of Pete & Pete (3 p.m., Friday): It’s also the next-to-last Pete & Pete review ever. We’d like to say that this was all great planning, and we’d always scheduled these two features to end at the same time, but, really, we just got lucky. This week, Big Pete cares about a girl other than Ellen. Bastard!
The Twilight Zone (1 p.m., Saturday): And, hey, here we are at the end of the second season of this show, and Zack Handlen and Todd VanDerWerff will be giving this feature a bit of a break to take up with The X-Files again. But not before Zack digs his teeth into the second season finale, that is.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Nikita (The CW, 8 p.m., Friday): A show we’ve been told got really good this season got an unexpected reprieve and will receive a third season. Naturally enough, we’re sending in Phil Dyess-Nugent to check out what’s going on and hopefully tell us that all of the things we’ve heard about the show are true.
Shark Tank (ABC, 8 p.m., Friday): We’ve been playing coy about our love for this show all season long, so it’s finally time for us to drop in again and give you a review of America’s favorite show about rich people being dicks. Todd VanDerWerff does the honors, as he so very often does.
Who Do You Think You Are? (NBC, 8 p.m., Friday): For a while, this celebrity genealogy show was one of NBC’s minor hits, but now, it’s been unceremoniously canceled. The series finale features Paula Deen learning about a “sad event connected to the Civil War.” As opposed to all the happy ones.
Tron: Uprising, Beck’s Beginning (Disney Channel, 9:30 p.m., Friday): In its latest desperate attempt to keep the Tron franchise alive, Disney has created a new animated series set in the world of the two movies. The actual series will air on Disney XD, but Kevin McFarland will review this prequel to it.
The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:37 a.m., Saturday): Craig’s been in Scotland all week, and it’s been a good time. Phil Dyess-Nugent has been watching diligently and will let you know his thoughts on the on-location talk show at some point on Saturday. We’re not precisely sure just when.
The Suze Orman Show (CNBC, 9 p.m., Saturday): We’re a little in awe of the topics in this one episode: “Applying for scholarships; lending a large sum of money without telling one’s spouse; affording Louis Vuitton luggage; buying a Bernina sewing machine.” That all sounds so informative. Thanks, Suze!
American Graffiti (TCM, 8 p.m., Friday): Celebrate George Lucas Friday with us by checking out the film that made him a big enough name in Hollywood to convince someone to let him make Star Wars. That said, it’s a pretty great teen movie, and we’re betting you haven’t seen it in a while. Check it out!
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (Spike, 8 p.m., Friday): Or you could check out one of Lucas’ worst films! We say “one of” because we’re going to do that thing where we say something dumb and suggest that Attack Of The Clones is actually significantly worse than this one. Though they’re both bad.
Miss Congeniality (WGN, 8 p.m., Saturday): You’ve had a hard week, average A.V. Club reader. You deserve a break today, and that break comes in a Sandra Bullock-shaped package, and then she’s going to go undercover in a beauty pageant for your edification and entertainment. You’re welcome, readers.
NBA Playoff: Game 4: Celtics at 76ers (ESPN, 8 p.m., Friday): After the first two games were split between the two teams in victories of only one point, the Celtics dominated in game three to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Will they extend that lead even more tonight? We’re going to guess… sure!
Skateboarding: Street League (ESPN2, 9 p.m., Saturday): We’re going to be honest and admit that we have no clue what the fuck this is supposed to be, but if you enjoy skateboarding, particularly at the street league level, well, tonight’s your lucky night. Sean Malto and Nyjah Houston are riding!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Scandal (Thursday): This new Shonda Rhimes political drama burned through a ton of plot in its first season of just seven episodes. Ryan McGee drops into the finale to make sense of what’s happened. Does he leave scratching his head? We don’t get why Kerry Washington signed on either, Ryan.