Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Wednesday, March 6. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
The Americans (FX, 10 p.m.): Have you not been watching this show? If so, you’re really messing out. A series that was already pretty darn confident in its early going has just gotten more and more confident with every single week. And this week—as something unexpected forces the Jennings to reassess their relationship, while the younger Jenningses find themselves in a potentially dangerous situation—shows just how good this has gotten while you weren’t paying attention. But if you’re like most of our readers, you have been paying attention, and you’ll offer Todd VanDerWerff and Genevieve Koski your thoughts.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Survivor (CBS, 8 p.m.): The episode’s called “Kill Or Be Killed,” and TV Guide says a medical emergency will threaten one castaway’s ability to continue with the game. Carrie Raisler is just going to assume that one of them stumbles upon a Most Dangerous Game sort of situation out of nowhere. Hey, we’d watch.
Suburgatory (ABC, 9:30 p.m.): Brandon Nowalk wasn’t quite sure what to do with a plot twist from the end of last week’s episode, but this episode is called “How To Be A Baby,” which could be promising, so long as it’s at least somewhat similar to those old Goofy shorts that made fun of instructional films.
Southland (TNT, 10 p.m.): Here’s an episode called “Under The Big Top,” which can only mean that this is a shot-for-shot remake of Big Top Pee-wee, with Benjamin McKenzie standing in for Paul Reubens at all times. Kevin McFarland thinks it goes without saying that was the wrong Pee-wee movie to remake.
Workaholics (Comedy Central, 10 p.m.): The episode description for this one mentions a “legendary breakfast burrito.” We can only assume the guys have heard tell of “Los Huevos Valientes,” but they can knock at our door endlessly. We’re not making them a burrito! But we’d make Kevin McFarland one!
Kroll Show (Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m.): The first season comes to an end, but unlike Comedy Central sketch shows of old, you can rest assured that there will be more Kroll Show in the future at some point. David Sims might be there to cover it, too, at least if he makes it through April alive. *shifty eyes*
TV CLUB CLASSIC
TV Roundtable (11 a.m.): Our roundtable returns, as Erik Adams, Donna Bowman, Phil Dyess-Nugent, Genevieve Koski, Ryan McGee, Noel Murray, and Todd VanDerWerff start exploring TV’s use of musical sequences with an episode of Frasier where our hero promises to sing an aria. Things get… complicated.
Slings And Arrows (1 p.m.): All you suckers who watched this show live had to wait 18 months between the finale of season one and the start of season two, but those of you following Todd VanDerWerff’s TV Club Classic reviews needed only to wait a week to begin the Mac-you-know-who rehearsal process.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Feed The Beast (Travel Channel, 9 p.m.): The Travel Channel debuts yet another series about how you can stuff your face when you travel to the great cities of our fine country. This one focuses on places you can go late at night or early in the morning—before most other respectable establishments are open.
Duck Dynasty (A&E, 10 p.m.): If you’re going to ignore The Americans this week, well, we don’t know what to tell you, but maybe you should check in on this show, which America apparently just loves, given the substantial ratings success it’s seen. Get out your duck calls to watch. You know you want to.
Psych (USA, 10 p.m.): We have a screener for this episode and the next one, so we’ll cover at least this week. But we’ll warn you: We want those readership numbers to perk up before we push Kevin McFarland back into another season of this. Tell your friends! Tell your grandmother! Tell your dog!
Dukes Of Melrose (Bravo, 10:30 p.m.): Bravo’s mad reality czars turn their eyes toward the world of jewelry sales, by following around a couple of guys who make their living picking up weird jewelry pieces and then, presumably, reselling them. We don’t actually know. We haven’t seen it. We’re just assuming.
Once (Sundance, 8 p.m.): This movie is so good—and so sweet and so moving—that we even found ourselves loving the Broadway musical version, which is kind of the same thing, only with slightly more dancing and the musicians playing their instruments on stage and… ugh. You have to see it, you guys.
Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (AMC, 8 p.m.): We’re sure some of you are Johnny Depp purists. Okay, we’re sure none of you are that, though you might have kids who prefer that movie, which is bullshit. We encourage you to force them to watch this version instead. Until they think right!
NHL Hockey: Avalanche at Blackhawks (NBC Sports, 8 p.m.): We saw that the Blackhawks have yet to lose a game when we checked the NHL standings, then asked if that was the case on Twitter and got a bunch of technical hockey mumbo jumbo. So we’re just going to stick with, “They haven’t lost! Yay!”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
White Collar (Tuesday): Another season of White Collar comes to an end with another reveal of a crazy scheme and another cliffhanger. All right, all right. We’re just sounding more irritable than we actually are. We still enjoy the breezy pleasures of this show and reading Kenny Herzog’s reviews. Don’t you?