Here’s what’s up in the world of television for Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
The Adult Swim Golf Classic (Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m., Friday): Adult Swim is cable’s go-to channel for conceptual weirdness, which makes it the ideal place for non-professional golfers Adam Scott and Jo “No H” Daly to play professional golfers Adam Scott and John Daly. Honestly, there have been flimsier excuses for Adult Swim programming—although not that many—meaning we’re gifted with this 1966-set links showdown between Daly as Daly and Scott as Scott. Why are contemporary golfers Scott and Daly squaring off back in the ’60s? Why, apart from the name thing, are Scott and Daly testily trading strokes and insults in loud pants? Why is the sky blue? Why is anything anything? It’s Adult Swim—just go with it. Alex McCown’s on hand with his review, which he is typing very, very softly.
American Crime Story marathon (FX, 2 p.m., Saturday): What looked on the outside to be an exploitative piece of true crime pandering instead turned out to be, according to A.V. Club reviewer Pilot Viruet (and pretty much the whole world), one of the most insightful, powerful, and best-acted series of the season. With the finale “The Verdict” airing on Tuesday, FX is giving everyone a chance to catch up (or re-watch) with a marathon of all 10 episodes.
Nikki Glaser: Perfect (Comedy Central, 11 p.m., Saturday): Comedian Glaser’s bid to become another member of Comedy Central’s resident funny women roster continues, following up on the success of her clever comedic sex-chat show Not Safe With Nikki Glaser with this new standup special.
Premieres and finales
Catastrophe (Amazon, 3:01 a.m., Friday): No one’s happier than Molly Eichel to have this bitingly insightful relationship comedy back for a second season. Certainly, she’s a lot less conflicted about seeing Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan’s just-married couple trying to make a go of making their pregnancy-prolonged relationship permanent, especially after that wrenching wedding-night fight in the season one finale. Closing out her review of that finale, Molly, echoing the fans of this challenging, deeply funny sitcom, begged the rom-com gods for more. Rejoice, therefore—the rom-com gods bestow upon you a brand new Catastrophe. (And check out Erik Adams’ interview with Delaney while you’re getting ready for the Catastrophe binge.)
Sleepy Hollow (Fox, 8 p.m., Friday): Look—The Hidden One, is it? Can we call you Hid? No? Well, anyway—we get that you’re The Hidden One and all, and that’s fine. Good on you. With the hiding. But we’ve been patient—really, really patient, frankly—waiting for you to actually snap into action and give Ichabod and Abbie a real fight. And, since this is the third-season finale and everything, we were just wondering—what’s that? Oh, sure, you have to recharge your terrifying, untold powers and then we shall all drown in a sea of blood and burn in the fires of hell while begging for our worthless lives. We get that, believe us. No arguments here. But, well, you’re running out of time—down to your last 42 or 43 minutes, in fact. So, what do you say you get yourself un-hidden and do your thing so Abbie and Ichabod can kick your ass and then maybe, just maybe, they’ll finally kiss! C’mon, Hid. All we’re asking. (Zack Handlen is here, quill in hand one last time, to review.)
Animals (HBO, 11:30 p.m., Friday): After an entire season of watching NYC’s least-loved critters banter with the voices of beloved indie actors and comedians, producers Mark and Jay Duplass are hoping you’ll think twice before putting out those glue traps. In this season finale, a turkey seeks revenge on the Mayor after some Thanksgiving unpleasantness, and a pair of rats decide that sewer life just isn’t their thing any more, all in the voices of Jessica Chastain, Danny McBride, Mark Duplass, and Katie Aselton.
Outlander (Starz, 9 p.m., Saturday): In this second-season premiere, time-traveling nurse Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe) is back, heading off to 18th-century Paris alongside hunky Highlander Jamie (Sam Heughan) in an attempt to change history so they can preserve their sexy Scottish adventures. Starz is aiming some very authentic-looking muskets at reviewers to keep secret what readers of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander book know are some major twists and shocks. But, in her glowing (and spoiler-free) pre-air review, Marah Eakin assures us that this outstanding series only gets better this season. Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya is ready to go with her weekly reviews, which will spill the beans—but only after the episodes air.
Regular coverage
Banshee (Cinemax, 10 p.m., Friday)
The Vampire Diaries (CW, 8 p.m., Friday)
Grimm (NBC, 9 p.m., Friday)
Childrens Hospital (Adult Swim, 11 p.m., Friday)
Adventure Time (Cartoon Network, 7 p.m., Saturday)
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m., Saturday)
Streaming pick
George Carlin: Jammin’ In New York (Hulu): Carlin’s 1992 special sees him at peak “ranting stand-up philosopher” form. Contrasting with The Adult Swim Golf Classic’s more absurdist take on golf, Carlin’s typically full-throated attack on the “meaningless, mindless, arrogant, elitist, racist” “boring game for boring people” doesn’t leave much room for debate.