Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, June 15, and Saturday, June 16. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Babylon 5 (11 a.m., Friday): You can tell Rowan Kaiser has been waiting to write these Babylon 5 reviews his whole life from how much thought he’s put into such things as telling you just which episodes you can skip on the first time through the series (so as to miss the series’ weakest hours). In actuality, when Rowan was born, a prophecy streaked across the sky, foretelling of the day when he would be the only one who could keep Babylon 5 neophytes from accidentally watching a stinker episode. Given that this week’s twofer isn’t the best, Rowan’s got his work cut out for him.
REGULAR COVERAGE
The Legend Of Korra (Nickelodeon, 11 a.m., Saturday): With just one episode left in the season, Emily Guendelsberger is wondering how everything is going to turn out. Since there’s another season coming, we’re going to suggest things might come to a seemingly conclusive end that’s actually inconclusive.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Firefly (1 p.m., Friday): If you watched this episode during the series’ original broadcast, this was your introduction to the Reavers. If you watched the original pilot first, then you already know them. Noel Murray and Donna Bowman recommend you don’t invite them over for dinner. Such boring guests!
Chappelle’s Show (3 p.m., Friday): Ryan McGee just watched the Clayton Bigsby sketch all over again, and, lo, it was very funny. It also shows that the series needn’t always turn to short sketches to get laughs, as it’s quite lengthy and still allows for plenty of great moments. Ryan breaks it all down.
Animaniacs (11 a.m., Saturday): We’re almost certain that these articles have the longest titles in the history of TV Club. Doing one episode would have been bad enough, with the show’s penchant for wordy titles, but two? Genevieve Koski is aiming to break URL auto-shorteners the world over.
The X-Files/Millennium (1 p.m., Saturday): With every act presented in real time, The X-Files’ “Triangle” remains one of the series’ most distinctive visual accomplishments. What you don’t know is that Todd VanDerWerff’s review will also be written in real-time, with even more pointless tangents than usual!
Pulling (3 p.m., Saturday): Karl’s about to have just an awful day, and Margaret Eby’s review contains the phrase, “Sometimes, Hitler just happens,” which is the sort of thing you don’t hear every day. It all adds up to another funny episode of this show, which is on YouTube if you’re looking to kill time.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Let It Shine/Gravity Falls (Disney Channel, 8/9:55 p.m., Friday): First, tune in to the new TV movie that’s a take-off of Cyrano de Bergerac set among teenagers in a gospel choir (seriously). Then, stay tuned for the channel’s new animated series about teenagers living in a weird and spooky small town.
Megastunts: Highwire Over Niagara Falls—Live! (ABC, 9 p.m., Friday): Thank God whoever’s in charge of regulating what people can and cannot do on or around Niagara Falls loosened those regulations. Otherwise, what would highwire enthusiasts and the particularly ghoulish have to watch tonight?
Fairly Legal (USA, 9 p.m., Friday): We wish we’d been paying attention to this one, so we could give you a write-up on the season finale, but we really haven’t. Just assume, for our sakes, that Sarah Shahi gets in over her head, but then she saves the day, and all the while, plucky music plays on the soundtrack.
Evil, I (Investigation Discovery, 10 p.m., Friday): For whatever reason, ID hasn’t rebranded itself, “The channel that’s pretty much just about the most horrifying things that have ever happened to anyone,” but here’s yet another new show focused on the grim and terrible things humans do to each other. Yay?
Woolly Mammoth: Secrets From The Ice (Discovery, 8 p.m., Saturday): Remember that story about the guys who found the frozen mammoth and then ate it, and they said it didn’t taste half bad? How is it possible that someone hasn’t used cloning or something to manufacture mammoth TV dinners? Mmm.
Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (Lifetime, 8 p.m., Saturday): Yes, Lifetime. The thing this country needs right now is a completely pointless TV-movie remake of The Blue Lagoon. Fans of teenage sexuality expressing itself innocently in beautiful high-definition have so few options on the cable grid!
Dragonball: Evolution (Fox Movie Channel, 8 p.m., Friday): We haven’t seen this movie—it’s supposed to be awful—but it stars Justin Chatwin and Emmy Rossum, and we like to imagine it’s a Shameless sequel, depicting what happens to the Gallaghers after they all get dragonballs or whatever.
Godzilla (TCM, 8 p.m., Friday): TCM kicks off a long evening of Japanese monster movies with the granddaddy of them all, Toho Studios’ 1954 opus about a mutant sea lizard that crawls out of the ocean to rain down his fury on Tokyo. If you’ve never seen it, check it out. It’s a kick.
Crazy, Stupid, Love (HBO, 8 p.m., Saturday): Despite the fact that Entertainment Weekly seemed to lose its shit for this agreeably put-together romantic comedy, it’s still worth seeing. Sure, it’s not as good as all that, but it’s got some fun performances, a strong script, and some solid laughs. Also, feelings.
U.S. Open Golf: Second-round play (ESPN, 5 p.m., Friday): Have you been wondering, “Say, I wonder how I’m going to bore myself to sleep tonight?” Because ESPN has the answer, with five hours of coverage of early round play at the golf major. And there’s even more on NBC Saturday night!
College World Series: South Carolina vs. Florida (ESPN, 9 p.m., Saturday): Also, here’s game four of the College World Series, from scenic Omaha, Nebraska. This is the place where we’d bullshit something about how exciting this game will be if we knew a damn thing about college baseball, which we don’t.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Suits (Thursday): TV’s most agreeably idiotic lawyer show is back for a whole new season of an unsustainable high-concept premise that will inevitably fall apart completely after a while. Carrie Raisler is impressed at how the show’s turned that into a virtue, though, and we’re adding the show full-time.