Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Thursday, May 24. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Awake (NBC, 10 p.m.): Typical of the misfortunes suffered by the show during its first (and only) season, Awake’s finale isn’t even a part of the official 2011-12 TV season, which finally shuffled off to a long, overdue slumber after the latest American Idol was crowned last night. So it’ll just be Zack Handlen and a merry band of Kyle Killen devotees (and one guy hoping Detective Britten wakes up in Malfoy Manor) tuning in to find out what produced Britten’s split realities, the true nature of the conspiracy surrounding Britten, what Kevin Weisman’s deal is, and which one of the detective’s loved ones died in that car crash.
REGULAR COVERAGE
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox, 8 p.m.): Another sign that the frivolous and largely free-of-new-TV days of summer are upon us: The shimmering British charm of Cat Deeley beams from Fox’s broadcast signal, occasionally interrupted by the grouchiness of Nigel Lythgoe. Oliver Sava asks once more: So these contestants have convinced themselves that they are able to cut a rug?
Eagleheart (Cartoon Network, midnight): A crime boss with a deadly flair for scat-singing is the marshals latest target. In lieu of a traditional review, Kevin McFarland will respond to the episode with an improvised string of jazzy vocables. Bizzeldy bizzeldy bop!
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (11 a.m.): Let’s imagine a world where Mad Men’s Paul Kinsey actually makes a go of writing TV in Los Angeles, eventually working his way through the writers’ room rat race and landing a gig on the second Star Trek spin-off. In this case, he’d probably end up writing scripts like Deep Space Nine’s “Paradise,” centered on a technophobic society. Zack Handlen prefers Dave Algonquin’s work on Star Trek: Voyager.
WHAT ELSE IS ON?
Duets (ABC, 8 p.m.):Thought the end of the season meant the end of singing competitions? O ye of little faith. The broadcast networks are going to ride the vocalist train straight to Hell, of course, and the next stop is ABC’s “So you think you can sing with a famous person?” take on the format.
On The Fly (TLC, 9 p.m.): In recent years, viewers have rejected both fictionalized (Pan Am) and non-fictionalized-but-still-sort-of-fictionalized (Fly Girls) accounts of working in air travel. Maybe people don’t want the stress of a trip to the airport invading their living rooms? TLC ignores those warnings and loads this carry-on full of disgruntled passengers, put-upon employees, and other terminal irritations onto the conveyor belt.
Men At Work (TBS, 10 p.m.): Arriving shortly after the death of woodwind player Greg Ham, TBS’ latest attempt at earning that “very funny” tagline follows the misadventures of the popular Australian rock act that climbed to the top of the charts… oh, Men At Work is just the title? It’s not the subject? It’s actually an ensemble sitcom created by Breckin Meyer? That’s very different. Never mind. Todd VanDerWerff has the review
Rookie Blue (ABC, 10 p.m.): Canada’s two greatest exports— police sagas and William Shatner—collide in this cop show’s third-season première. Myles McNutt is making the odds on whether or not Shatner ironically skids across the hood of a police cruiser.
Pirates Of The Carribean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (ABC Family, 8 p.m.): Remember the halcyon days of summer 2003, when everyone laughed at Disney for following The Haunted Mansion and The Country Bears with another stab at turning a theme-park attraction into a movie? And then everyone saw the movie and said “Hey, that was more entertaining that it had any right to be!” Keep that impression in mind—and not the bloated, convoluted franchise that turned Johnny Depp into a place to put increasingly ludicrous hats—in revisiting The Jester Of Tortuga’s first adventure.
Spaceballs (MoreMAX, 9 p.m.): Here’s an interesting thought: If any chestbursters turn up in Prometheus, there will be teenagers in the audience that think, “Oh, that’s what the diner scene in Spaceballs is supposed to be?” Teenagers are the worst, but pre-Dracula: Dead And Loving It Mel Brooks is still the best.
NBA Playoff: Game 6: Heat at Pacers (ESPN, 8 p.m.): Now that the Lakers are out of the running, NBA fans can focus all of their hate on the Heat, which stumbled early in its series with the Pacers, before LeBron James and Dwayne Wade woke up in Game 4. And if we can’t hate on perennial favorites with stacked rosters, what’s the point of the NBA Playoffs?
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Revenge: Did Emily finally get REEEEEEEEEVEEEEEEEEEEEENGE!? Or did the Graysons wake up to the fact that one woman (with a little help from a friend) has been dismantling their family infrastructure gilded piece by gilded piece? Either way, we expect Carrie Raisler to spend the next few months with her eyes cast beyond the horizon, whispering quietly and longingly to herself “reeeeeeveeenge.”