Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, February 19, and Saturday, February 20. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
The Jack & Triumph Show (Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m., Friday): Everyone’s favorite cheap, filthy insult comic canine hand puppet and everyone’s favorite piece of string cheese with a tooth stuck in it get their own Adult Swim show! According to creator/executive producer/guy with his hand up a dog’s butt Robert Smigel, The Jack & Triumph Show will eschew Triumph’s signature “dog-on-the-street making people uncomfortable” format for a throwback, multi-camera sitcom style, with 30 Rock’s McBrayer playing the former child star of a Lassie-type show who finds his life thrown into chaos when his former co-star, now a decadent, foul-mouthed jerk with a taste for cheap, unlit cigars, moves in with him. Fittingly, the premiere is being reviewed by A.V. Club new guy Ben Philippe.
Bagboy (Adult Swim, 12:30 a.m., Saturday): John C. Reilly’s confused and upsetting Dr. Steve Brule gets his own failed sitcom pilot! In it, he starred as a bagboy in love with a coworker and tried to foil a shoplifter. According to the fictional Channel 5 (which does air Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule), Bagboy never aired “due to its substandard quality and low entertainment value.” May God have mercy on us all (and Dan Caffrey, too).
Also noted
Glee (Fox, 9 p.m., Friday): With a big wedding coming up, the gleeful Glee people may be preparing a song or two. Plus, Jane Lynch’s Sue has a change of heart, which Brandon Nowalk calculates is Sue’s 426th such change of heart.
12 Monkeys (Syfy, 9 p.m., Friday): After Cole ventured into the Night Room last week, he created an entire alternate 2043 reality. Emily L. Stephens says, “Good one, Cole.”
Banshee (Cinemax, 10 p.m., Friday): There’s a big heist brewing in town, which probably means some gratuitous bloodshed. Although, as Les Chappell said last week, “gratuitous” on Banshee is a relative term:
Death means something in Banshee—yes, there’s plenty of Ukrainian gangsters and Redbone thugs and out-of-town crooks who the show feels no remorse about swatting away, but when someone who’s a central part of life in this world dies people feel it.
Comedy Bang! Bang! (IFC, 11 p.m., Friday): When rapper and actor Kid Cudi stops by the show, Scott and Reggie seem to be sharing some secret glances. Emily L. Stephens thinks she knows what’s cookin’—and she’s got mixed feelings. (If “Don’t go, Reggie! Please don’t go!” is any indication.)
Elsewhere in TV Club
A.V. Club movie reviewer extraordinaire Mike D’Angelo takes us down one of his signature Scenic Routes, analyzing the exquisite symbolism of a faulty lightbulb in Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Red. Then, some of your favorite A.V. Clubbers share their opinions of the movie scene sets they would have most liked to visit. Then, A.V. Club other movie reviewer extraordinaire A.A. Dowd throws you a big Watch This for the classic Paul Newman billiards flick The Hustler.
What else is on
Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special (NBC, 8 p.m., Friday): In case you missed this massive, mostly-enjoyable tribute SNL threw for itself, now’s your chance to see what half-hour’s worth of material they cut out for the rerun.
World’s Funniest Fails (Fox, 8 p.m., Friday): Fail? Not bloody likely, as this compendium of people taking shots to their most vulnerable places has become a hit. Proving once more that Terry Crews is officially delightful.
NBA Basketball: Cavaliers at Wizards (ESPN, 8 p.m., Friday): After the trade deadline this week, everyone in the NBA is basically playing with strangers, so that should be nice. New friends all around!
American Masters—August Wilson: The Ground On Which I Stand (PBS, 9 p.m., Friday): The works of Wilson, the late, acclaimed African-American playwright are celebrated in this PBS special by actors/fans such as Laurence Fishburne, Viola Davis, Charles S. Dutton, James Earl Jones, and Phylicia Rashad.
Helix (Syfy, 10 p.m., Friday): Another outbreak threatens the CDC team at the Abbey. Wait, another outbreak? Gang—hand sanitizer. It costs, like, a dollar.
Babysitter’s Black Book (Lifetime, 8 p.m., Saturday): Some teen babysitters decide that they can make more than 20 bucks a night and fridge privileges if they seduce and blackmail their male clients in this latest original movie from the “network for women.” Remember: Lifetime says, “young women are evil!”
Daytona 500 Bash At The Beach (Fox, 9 p.m., Saturday): NASCAR fans and drivers hang out on the night before the big race. Presumably the drivers will not be partaking in the Jell-o shots.
The Musketeers (BBC America, 9 p.m., Saturday): A famous astronomer invites the Musketeers over to his old fort to watch a solar eclipse, which presumably leads to someone being burned at a stake for making the sun do devil stuff. Someone’s getting shot with muskets, though, we’re almost certain.
Black Sails (Starz, 9 p.m., Saturday): Pirates. That’s pretty much all you need. Pirates, people. This week: pirates.
Kevin Hart Presents Keith Robinson: Back Of The Bus Funny (Comedy Central, 11 p.m., Saturday): I suppose standup comic Robinson can’t get too pissed that much more famous standup Hart has his name plastered all over his new comedy special, with Hart’s name being such a draw and all. Still, though.
In case you missed it
Fortitude: Libby Hill says of this icebound mystery series:
So at this point in the show’s existence, each viewing experience is a rough recreation of Homer Simpson watching Twin Peaks. (“Brilliant! … I have absolutely no idea what’s going on.”)