The fate of the Fae is at stake on Lost Girl, and if that makes sense to you, you're probably really concerned
Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, September 7, and Saturday, September 8. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Lost Girl (Syfy, 10 p.m., Friday): A battle looms that will determine the fate of the Fae! Nice try, surprisingly enjoyable Canadian genre series! We’ve heard all of that before. Remember how The Newsroom completed its first season with that battle for the fate of the Fae? And how that’s the plot of pretty much every episode of The Middle? You can’t fool us, even though your second season—which started, like, 700 months ago—is drawing to a close next week. Kevin McFarland will love having his Friday nights back until Grimm moves back to the night.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Boss (Starz, 9 p.m., Friday): See, Tom Kane is trying to clean his political house up, but he can’t seem to get his wife and daughter to want him around anymore. So it’s, like, irony, right? I mean, you got that without us having to spell it out, right? Sonia Saraiya hopes the show doesn’t beat us over the head too.
Gravity Falls (Disney Channel, 9 p.m., Friday): It took a bit for us all to catch on to just how much y’all were enjoying this show, so we’re continuing our voyage through the episodes we didn’t cover as Alasdair Wilkins takes a look at episode five, “The Inconveniencing.” We predict lots of quote threads.
Strike Back (Cinemax, 10 p.m., Friday): After the guys head to South Africa to track down the trail of the nuclear weapon, they also have to contend with the kidnapped children of an embattled munitions expert. That’s what we in the A.V. Club offices call “Thursday,” and what Myles McNutt calls “Tuesday.”
Doctor Who (BBC America, 9 p.m., Saturday): So this week’s episode is called “Dinosaurs On A Spaceship,” and after last week’s… Wait… Holy shit! “Dinosaurs On A Spaceship”?! How was this not the top pick? Keith Phipps wonders how it isn’t the top pick every day from now until the end of time.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
The X-Files/Millennium (1 p.m., Saturday): Todd VanDerWerff is starting to think he drew the short straw on this season of X-Files, what with having to be the one to rewatch “Agua Mala” and all. Have you seen that one? It’s about… rain monsters maybe? He can’t remember. Stupid TV. Rotting his brain.
Pulling (3 p.m., Saturday): Margaret Eby reaches the end of this series, checking in with the holiday special that had to stand in for the third series that was never ordered. Was it as good as a third series would have been? Probably not, but at least it’s something. Many U.S. TV fans don’t even get that.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (PBS, 11 a.m., Friday): Phil Dyess-Nugent has been keeping up with a week of this new children’s show, and he’s ready to tell you exactly how the new characters aren’t a patch on the old characters, and how all the changes to the “mythology” destroy the Rogers-verse. We can’t wait!
Stand Up To Cancer (Numerous networks, 8 p.m., Friday): A bunch of celebrities sing and dance and tell jokes in an attempt to defeat cancer by getting you to give money to better research a cure for the foul disease. We’re sure their efforts will be successful this year. Sorry, we can’t snark. Boo, cancer. Boo!
Law On The Border (Animal Planet, 10 p.m., Friday): What’s up with Animal Planet filling Friday nights with weird shows about law enforcement, which appear to have precisely nothing to do with animals? Animal Planet: You have the easiest goal of any specialty cable network to fulfill. Don’t screw this up!
Cheer (CMT, 11 p.m., Friday): When we asked Caroline Framke if she would be willing to watch and review this new reality show about cheerleaders, she was just a little too enthusiastic about it, like she was really feeling peppy and up and ready to just yell her lungs out about its relative quality. Weird.
When Surgical Tools Get Left Behind (Discovery Fitness & Health, 8 p.m., Saturday): If you have plans, cancel them. Because DFH is airing a marathon of this show about doctors sewing their surgical tools into the bodies of people they’ve just operated on. It’s the only thing we know of that’s worth living for.
Puppy Love (Hallmark, 9 p.m., Saturday): Candace Cameron Bure is a woman who’s uptight and is probably just about the last person you’d expect to have to take care of a dog. And then she has to! Isn’t that just crazy? The dog, of course, is a wuvum snuggum beautiful boy, yes he is. Oh, yes he is!
First Blood (AMC, 8 p.m., Friday): The first Rambo movie is a more intimate affair than the series would eventually become, as Sylvester Stallone plays the man waging a quiet war on police and the National Guard in the Pacific Northwest. Wait. Doesn’t that seem like communism? Stallone! How could you?!
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (ABC Family, 8:30 p.m., Friday): Anne Hathaway’s secret princess moves to her kingdom and is forced to wed, because that’s all she’s good for in a monarchy. So bad the TV Guide summary—the TV Guide summary!—says it “lacks the charm of the first one.” Oy.
One Day In September (ESPN Classic, 8 p.m., Saturday): This often horrifying documentary about the hostage crisis at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. It was acclaimed for using computer recreations to show how the authorities’ rescue attempts failed.
College Football: Utah at Utah State (ESPN2, 8 p.m., Friday): Utah has defeated Utah State 13 straight times, but USU managed its first winning season since 1996 last year. So maybe this will all shake out differently this time for the Utah State fans. Ha! Who are we kidding? We don’t even care.
U.S. Open Tennis: Women’s final (CBS, 8 p.m., Saturday): The tournament comes to a close for the women. (The men will follow on Sunday.) Who will make the finals? Well, we don’t know as we’re writing this, but we’re hoping Victoria Azarenka makes it, because we’re fans of Belarus.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Thursday): Maybe you didn’t notice. In fact, we’re betting you didn’t, since we just sprung it on you like that. But Zack Handlen’s coverage of Deep Space Nine, a.k.a., quite possibly the best Star Trek show, is back, and he’s heading straight into the heart of season three. Check it out.