Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Sunday, January 27. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
The Good Wife (CBS, 9 p.m.): Because a fake football game doesn’t scare the mighty CBS, the network is betting against the Pro Bowl with… an episode of The Good Wife where Will and Diane do battle with creditors. HIGH-STAKES DRAMA! Actually, since the creditors could sink Lockhart/Gardner, it is high-stakes drama, but high-stakes drama that evokes images of Christine Baranski and Josh Charles receiving intimidating phone calls from collection agencies. Davis Sims will gladly pay you Tuesday for reading his review today.
REGULAR COVERAGE
The Simpsons (Fox, 8 p.m.): Two decades after his last appearance (This just in: It’s been more than 20 years since “Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?” first aired. In related news: We’re all dying), Danny DeVito returns as Homer’s half-brother Herb. Robert David Sullivan reminds you that our time on this Earth is fleeting, so you shouldn’t waste it not watching DeVito on The Simpsons.
Bob’s Burgers (Fox, 8:30 p.m.): Tina turns investigative reporter, vowing to uncover the truth behind her school’s “Mad Pooper.” Rowan Kaiser will be right back—he just had a great idea for a children’s book called Mad Pooper.
Family Guy (Fox, 9 p.m.): In order to get out of a hasty marriage, Quagmire must pull a move straight out of I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry. Kevin McFarland isn’t sure how we arrived at the point where animated comedies are riffing on Adam Sandler-Kevin James vehicles, but he’s not entirely psyched to be there.
Girls (HBO, 9 p.m.): Jon Glaser plays a junkie, Jorma Taccone plays a former classmate of Marnie’s, and Todd VanDerWerff is so glad this episode is finally airing and he can talk about it with the masses, because GODDAMN.
Downton Abbey (PBS, 9 p.m.): New evidence arises that could clear Bates’ name—perfectly timed with Sonia Saraiya’s growing impatience with that particular plot. Now if it could only do away with every other vexing detail of this third season…
Shameless (Showtime, 9 p.m.): The show airs a backdoor pilot for Lip Gallagher: Sexual Predator Predator, in which the eldest Gallagher son seeks to rid the neighborhood of the criminally deviant. Joshua Alston is holding out for a Chris Hansen cameo.
American Dad (Fox, 9:30 p.m.): Further proving that its the upscale Seth MacFarlane show, American Dad devotes an episode to parodying August: Osage County, the recipient of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Proud recipient of this What’s On Tonight shout-out Kevin McFarland can’t wait for the episode to shatter his monocle.
Enlightened (HBO, 9:30 p.m.): Enlightened takes a very Enlightened detour, veering from the story of Amy destroying Abaddon to spend a half-hour in Hawaii with Levi. Brandon Nowalk looks forward to soaking up some rays and looking in on Luke Wilson’s dark night of the soul.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
The Simpsons (Classic) (3 p.m.): Homer’s devotion to Marge faces its greatest (to this point in the series, at least) challenge, in the form of a new employee at the power plant voiced by Michelle Pfeiffer. Nathan Rabin would only leave Marge for the southern-fried charms of Lurleen Lumpkin.
WHAT ELSE IS ON?
Monster Squid: The Giant Is Real (Discovery, 8 p.m.): Not to be confused with Monster Squad: The Wolf-Man Has Nards. Totally easy mistake to make, though.
Screen Actors Guild Awards (TNT/TBS, 9 p.m.): Further proving that its cable offerings know both drama and know what’s very funny, the Turner networks simulcast the SAG awards, Nicole Kidman’s last chance to be rewarded with a trophy for peeing on Zac Efron.
The Makeover (ABC, 9 p.m.): David Walton moves on from Amanda Peet and Zooey Deschanel to work his rugged charms on Julia Stiles in this Hallmark Hall of Fame original. We cab all agree this guy deserves a place in the Get Him A Regular Role On A Show That Sticks Hall of Fame, right?
Plastic Wives (TLC, 10 p.m.): Sounds like “plastic knives,” get it? Except rather than doing a poor job of cutting up your picnic foods, the cosmetically enhanced stars of this show have been cut up and stitched back together by their plastic-surgeon husbands.
In The Loop (Sundance, 8 p.m.): It’s TV’s night at the movie’s on TV! First there’s Armando Iannucci’s transatlantic movie spin-off of The Thick Of It…
Serenity (TMC, 8 p.m.): …then there’s the sequel movie to Firefly, the film that sustains the flickering flame of further cinematic adventures for the Party Down, Arrested Development, and Friday Night Lights gangs.
Pro Bowl (NBC, 8 p.m.): The Peacock tries to soothe its envy about not having the Big Game with the Big Game With Results That Won’t Matter, where the stars of the AFC and the NFC clash just for the fun of it (and not at all because they’re disappointed they didn’t make the Super Bowl)!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Spartacus: Ryan McGee’s one-man crusade to get the world at large to pay attention to Starz’s sword-and-sandal epic continues with War Of The Damned. And as Spartacus leads a ragtag rebellion against the forces of the Roman Empire, there’s a tidy analogy in there, too!