Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Thursday, September 4. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Sunday Night Football (NBC, 8:30 p.m.): It still feels warm out, but summer is officially over, probably: The regular football season starts tonight, as it does every fall, as it will next fall. Years will turn and nations will collapse and there will still be a bunch of dudes kicking around a pigskin, for some reason. (Poor pig.) As you might have guessed, Sunday Night Football is airing on a Special Night for its 28th season opener, as the Green Bay Packers take on the Seattle Seahawks. We googled it, and it turns out there isn’t a great reason for why tonight isn’t just the first episode of Thursday Night Football, except that Sunday night is when all the prestige football happens, and NBC wants to make sure it looks prestigious.
The NBC press site for some reason has a whole lot of gorgeous high-res photos of football players posing in front of green screens, and because we love you, dear readers, we are providing some, chosen solely on how ridiculous the photos are and whether or not we recognize the name in the caption, but we probably won’t recognize the name in the caption, sorry:
Also noted
NFL Kickoff (NBC, 7:30 p.m.): Sunday Night Football will be preceded by this program, which might be just the kickoff happening in super slow-motion so that it lasts an hour.
#candidlynicole (VH1, 10 p.m.): Nicole and her hashtags are leaving us, for now. Bye, Nicole! Have fun being #candid #somewhere #else! Meanwhile enjoy tonight’s season finale, in which Nicole and her “gal pals” have a #weekend #getaway.
Regular coverage
Married (FX, 10 p.m.):
You’re The Worst (FX, 10:30 p.m.)
Other stuff that is on
Steven Universe (Cartoon Network, 6:30 p.m.)
The Quest (ABC, 8 p.m.)
The Honorable Woman (SundanceTV, 10 p.m.)
Garfunkel And Oates (IFC, 10 p.m.)
Satisfaction (USA, 10 p.m.)
Elsewhere in TV Club
Drew Fortune hung out with current Veep star and former one-handed Bluth Tony Hale at Atomic Records in Burbank, L.A., for another edition of Pop Shop. They appear to also sell DVDs, judging from the pictures. Here’s a bit we liked:
I did this film with Josh Radnor called Happythankyoumoreplease. That’s not typically what I do. That was really fun because—this sounds weird—but to have a normal conversation on-screen and not be paralyzed with anxiety, which is typically what Gary and Buster do—was a change. […] A lot of people who do comedy—it comes from places that you’ve had to laugh off in your life. You begin to learn the skill at a younger age of looking on the brighter side or finding the joke out of it or spinning it. When you’re given the opportunity to do something that’s a little—for lack of a better word—dramatic or authentic, you’ve got a lot to pull from.
TV Club Classic
TV Club Classic is taking a break today, everyone—Battlestar Galactica reviews take more time, and in a shortened week where Sonia Saraiya spent three days drinking tequila, lying in a hammock, and vaguely applauding the labor movement, that time is just harder to come by. Watch this space next week, by when she will have hopefully recovered from that hangover.
What else is on?
Steven Universe (Cartoon Network, 6:30 p.m.): Yes, we mentioned this up top, but the episode description for “Steven And The Stevens” is adorable: Steven goes back in time to recruit himself for his band. MAKES PERFECT SENSE.
Dating Naked (VH1, 9 p.m.): A radio host from Philadelphia and a woman from Los Angeles. The former lacks a gender. The latter, a profession. Together, they make… ONE PERSON.
Rush (USA, 9 p.m.): The first and last words of tonight’s description of Rush are the same word: “Rush.” “Rush finds his ex-girlfriend Sarah has drastically changed while Alex gets in deeper with Rush.” If you say the word “rush” enough it loses all meaning. Rush rushes the rushes to Rush hospital in a rush. On the way Rush rushes into his clone Rush. “Rush, Rush, rush!” yells Rush to Rush. The words come out… in a rush.
Ice Lake Rebels (Animal Planet, 9 p.m.): Animal Planet is airing several episodes of this back-to-back for some reason, starting at 9 p.m. It is about ultra-libertarians who have gone off the grid and are surviving harsh winters by apparently hunting bear and shit. One is named Ragnar. He’s the one that goes hunting for bear. Are they rebelling, like, against the lake? Kinda looks like it:
LeAnn And Eddie (VH1, 10:30 p.m.): We thought the finale was last week and we were really sad about it so guess what?! It’s actually not next week. It’s like, who even knows when. We’re just going to have to deal with loving LeAnn and Eddie forever!! Tonight we learn that LeAnn has stopped taking birth control which makes us love her even more!!!1
Black Jesus (Adult Swim, 11 p.m.): “The gang almost gives up on the garden when the weed fails.” Understandably.
In case you missed it
So You Think You Can Dance: The finale! Oliver Sava has a lot of feelings about Rudy and Tanisha. And that group dance.