Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, May 17, and Saturday, May 18. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Borgen (LinkTV, 10 p.m., Friday): In the last five years or so, there’s been a surprisingly large number of acclaimed dramas issuing from Denmark (and a bunch of acclaimed cop shows coming out of France, weirdly). The United States being what it is, we haven’t bothered importing any of them, choosing, instead, to just remake them into shows like The Killing and the upcoming The Bridge. One show we haven’t gotten our grubby little mitts on, though, is Borgen, which is all about politics or something. And now it’s airing in the U.S., thanks to the good folks at LinkTV! Todd VanDerWerff hopes it has subtitles.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Maron (IFC, 10 p.m., Friday): Marc hangs out with his estranged father in tonight’s episode, and said father has a get-rich-quick scheme that just can’t fail! But, then, Kyle Ryan knows from get-rich-quick schemes. Say, can he interest you commenters in buying up a bunch of land in the Everglades?
Doctor Who (BBC America, 8 p.m., Saturday): What is the name of the Doctor? Alasdair Wilkins will know once this episode is over, and he’s really hoping that the name of the Doctor is Alasdair Wilkins, because he’d be properly chuffed to be of such importance. But Alasdair is chuffed about lots of things.
Orphan Black (BBC America, 9 p.m., Saturday): Caroline Framke is out traveling tonight, so she’s appointed her clone, Dennis Perkins, to take over for her. Except we’re pretty sure Dennis isn’t her clone, since he’s, y’know, not a woman and also from Maine. Everyone knows clones don’t like Maine!
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m., Saturday): The show reaches its season finale with an appearance by Academy Award winning screenwriter and producer Ben Affleck, as well as Kanye West, who will hopefully sing that song about how he’s awesome. David Sims has no Academy Awards, sadly.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Babylon 5 (11 a.m., Friday): The Markab are threatened by a deadly plague. We’re pretty sure they should probably just go extinct simply because they’re called the “Markab.” Are we right or what? Nobody likes an alien race that sounds like a seed corn company, especially Rowan Kaiser.
The Twilight Zone (1 p.m., Saturday): Zack Handlen takes a look at “Little Girl Lost,” which, if nothing else, will be fondly remembered for being the basis for that episode of The Simpsons where Bart disappears into the weird wormhole in the wall, and then everything is computer-animated and stuff.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Dateline NBC (NBC, 8 p.m., Friday): NBC uses one of the last nights of the TV season to explore the “hidden side of the Internet,” which means that somebody from NBC News is in your comments section right now, people. We must find the mole! We must find the mole, shun it, and drive it out of our midst!
Nikita (The CW, 8 p.m., Friday): Feverish at the prospect of the next few months of not covering a new TV show every other night, Phil Dyess-Nugent is doing double duty tonight. First, he drops in on the third season finale—though thankfully not series finale—of The CW’s kicky and entertaining spy drama.
Shark Tank (ABC, 8 p.m., Friday): Then Phil Dyess-Nugent checks out the two—count ‘em, two!—hour finale of our favorite reality show not featuring drag queens. Though, actually, we bet that if some drag queens made a presentation to the Sharks, Mark Cuban would offer some sound investment advice.
Great Performances At The Met (PBS, 9 p.m. Friday): PBS, meanwhile, coasts into summer with a performance of Rigoletto set in ‘60s Vegas, perhaps just to rub it in to Michael Chiklis and Dennis Quaid that their CBS crime procedural set in the same era didn’t work, while this opera probably will.
The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2013 Induction Ceremony (HBO, 9 p.m., Saturday): This year’s class includes Public Enemy, Rush, and Randy Newman. We’re hoping that all three will perform a mash-up of “Tom Sawyer,” “Short People,” and “Don’t Believe The Hype,” but we’re not holding our breaths.
Surviving Zombies (Discovery, 9 p.m., Saturday): Good God, cable! How many pointless shows about preparing for a zombie apocalypse that will never happen can you put on the air? Discovery offers a look at a business that sells its products so that the people may prepare for the zombies. No. Seriously.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (HBO, 8 p.m., Friday): This is not the film for which Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Oscar, though wouldn’t it be fantastic if it was? Steven Spielberg could have given this material the heft and gravitas it needed, that we might believe in Lincoln’s struggle against the vampyr.
Cloverfield (Fox Movie Channel, 8 p.m., Friday): You remember the build-up to this movie? How excited so many people were to see the monster, which was so thoroughly hidden in all the marketing? And then we saw the monster, and he just sort of looked like a big ol’ butt? Yeah, watch it all over again!
Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga’hoole (Disney Channel, 8 p.m., Saturday): As renowned owl enthusiasts, you’d think this Zack Snyder film would be our favorite movie ever, but we actually haven’t seen it. Is it worth it? Is it basically 100 minutes of red-hot owl action? Because we could get into that.
College Baseball: Clemson at Florida State (ESPNU, 8 p.m., Friday): Sure, there are NBA playoff games on as well, but the TV Guide listings still have them as “to be determined,” and we’re too lazy to look them up. So would you buy that we really want you to watch this college baseball showdown? Really?
Stanley Cup Playoff: Game 3: Kings at Sharks (NBC Sports, 9 p.m., Saturday): The all-California series continues, with the Kings currently leading the Sharks two games to zero. However, the action moves to San Jose, so maybe the Sharks can count on some home-ice advantage. Probably not though. Go Kings!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Elementary (Thursday): The Sherlock Holmes CBS procedural closes out its first season with some surprisingly elegant character work and a twist that does some intriguing things with the character’s mythology. Plus, it has Natalie Dormer. Myles McNutt thinks that all TV shows should have Dormer.