Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Monday, August 5. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
The Fosters (ABC Family, 9 p.m.): All summer long, we’ve watched as this warm-hearted family drama—you know, the one about the lesbian couple with all the foster kids—grew from something that was a little too cluttered into something that made a virtue of all that clutter. The show seemed intent on tackling every single social issue it could think of, but it found a way to make that all seem natural, not forced. Now, Carrie Raisler lets us know how the midseason finale is—and whether we should add the show come the back half of the first year.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Adventure Time (Cartoon Network, 7:30 p.m.): Finn stages a fight between Flame Princess and Ice King, perhaps because he’s really into Robert Frost and wants to see if the world will end in fire or ice. From what Oliver Sava has tasted of desire, he would hold with those who favor fire, as if he had to tell you.
Regular Show (Cartoon Network, 8 p.m.): An evil party company gets hold of Benson—as evil party companies are known to do—and the guys have to go in and rescue him. Alasdair Wilkins thinks if he ever had to be kidnapped by a party company, he would like the one from Men Of A Certain Age.
Switched At Birth (ABC Family, 8 p.m.): “John continues to show Regina his gratitude,” says the TV Guide description, and we’re guessing it should be followed by, “if you know what we mean,” but it’s not, proving that TV Guide needs to get its act together. Carrie Raisler is engaged to Chef Jeff.
Teen Wolf (MTV, 10 p.m.): A powerful storm blows up, trapping Scott and Derek inside an evacuated hospital. In and of itself, this doesn’t sound so bad, but anybody who knows anything knows that hospitals are filled with ghosts. And Phil Dyess-Nugent knows that werewolves and ghosts are enemies.
Under The Dome (CBS, 10 p.m.): A baby is born in this week’s episode, and another life ends at the same time. Scott Von Doviak took the screener he got of this episode, held it aloft to the rising sun, and sang out at the top of his lungs in Swahili. We didn’t have the heart to tell him it was actually gibberish.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
The IT Crowd (11 a.m.): Series three comes to an end—and our reviews draw close to their end—with the guys getting sucked into the social networking site known as Friendface. Caroline Framke has never met a friend she didn’t want to friend right in the face, if you know what we mean, which you don’t.
Justice League (1 p.m.): An android named Amazo is up to no good, but from the episode description, it sounds like we’ll all get to spend a lot of time with Lex Luthor, which is always a special treat. Some of Oliver Sava’s best friends are Lex Luthors, and he’s never regretted a single moment spent with them.
Scrubs (3 p.m.): It’s often a good time when characters other than J.D. get to narrate the action on this show, and in “His Story II,” the second of this week’s two episodes, narration duties are handed over to Turk. Myles McNutt knows that’s not actually his name, but he’ll always call him Turk Turkleton anyway.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
The Bachelorette (ABC, 8 p.m.): We enjoyed hearing Katherine Miller’s thoughts on the season première so much that we’ve brought her back to let us know what’s happening with the season finale. Which young gentleman will the Bachelorette choose? We hope that he’s generically handsome!
Casting By (HBO, 9 p.m.): HBO celebrates the magic of casting departments with a new film that features none other than occasional A.V. Club contributor Stephen Bowie as a talking head! Do you want to see what Stephen Bowie looks like? Do you want to learn about casting? Then watch this movie!
The Ghost Inside My Child (Biography, 10 p.m.): We’ve waited for years and years, and finally, television has provided us with what we really want, which is a series about toddlers remembering the violent deaths from their past lives, that we might delight in the terrifying nightmares lodged in their brains.
Voodoo Sharks (Discovery, 10 p.m.): We’re really impressed with the way that Discovery is breaking out the big guns for Shark Week this year, including this special about sharks who are practitioners of the folk religion Voudoun, or Voodoo, as most of you know it. (It’s actually about sharks in Louisiana. Boo!)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (FX, 8 p.m.): Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, and Russell Brand make this breakup comedy surprisingly winning and enjoyable for a movie where Jason Segel dances around sad and naked for a surprising amount of time. Also, there’s a puppet musical. Who doesn’t love that?
Gangs Of New York (TMC, 8 p.m.): Nominated for 10 Oscars, this won none of them, largely thanks to an over-aggressive campaign run on the behalf of its director, Martin Scorsese. But removed from that heated campaign, the movie’s many virtues—and, okay, Cameron Diaz—become readily apparent.
MLB Baseball: Dodgers at Cardinals (ESPN, 7 p.m.): We swear to God. We’re as surprised as you are that the Dodgers turned things around and are suddenly kinda sorta good. Now, some of that’s just playing in the NL West. But some of it appears to be genuine! We promise it won’t last very long.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
True Blood (Sunday): Carrie Raisler wonders if this show is stumbling—that’s the key word here, “stumbling”—somewhere interesting in these last few episodes, and even if last night’s hour doesn’t get there completely, she’s intrigued enough by where it seems to be heading to keep watching to find out.