Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Sunday, May 27. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Game Of Thrones (HBO, 9 p.m.): In an episode that’s perhaps airing too close to Memorial Day, all that full-scale battling the Game Of Thrones put off for political maneuvering and sexposition finally arrives at the gates of King’s Landing. Prepare for the Battle of the Blackwater, a skirmish that promises flaming arrows, character casualties, and the payoff for all that “war is coming” talk in season-two promos. Todd VanDerWerff and David Sims steel themselves for combat.
REGULAR COVERAGE
The Killing (AMC, 9 p.m.): Brandon Nowalk’s been rather kind to the The Killing in recent weeks, which means one of two things:
- The show’s righted itself and is actually turning in worthwhile hours of television, or
- Brandon’s suffering from a sort of Stockholm Syndrome. (Or is it “Seattle Syndrome”?)
All this (and nothing more) will be revealed in tonight’s episode.
Mad Men (AMC, 10 p.m.): For anyone working through the holiday weekend: Don Draper knows what you’re going through, thanks to his “Spending every waking hour at work” plan to win the Jaguar account (and avoid Megan). At least that’s what Todd VanDerWerff will tell himself as he punches up a Mad Men review with an “America #1!” pennant in one hand and a hot dog in the other. (How does he do it? Just another AMC mystery for you to ponder… )
Veep (HBO, 10 p.m.): Armando Iannucci’s political satires typically push the maxim “You can’t please everybody”—but in Selina Meyer’s world, it’s more like “you can’t please anybody.” Assigned to push healthy eating habits by the POTUS, Selina finds herself dealing with a hostile crowd at Baltimore’s Camden Yards—just like Meredith Blake during her 2/3-inning stretch as a middle reliever for the Orioles.
Girls (HBO, 10:30 p.m.): A trip to Bushwick provides Girls with a curious portmanteau: “The Crackcident.” Is it an accident involving crack cocaine? Or is it possible that one of the characters unknowingly flashes a bit of their ass crack around the Brooklyn neighborhood? Todd VanDerWerff knows the principals have revealed more embarrassing sides of themselves than the tops of their butts.
Metalocalypse (Cartoon Network, 12:15 a.m.): Tell-all books tend to come out after a band has broken up. However, the members of Dethklok don’t play by anyone’s rules, let alone the publishing industry’s, so Tolki’s wasted no time in penning a takedown of Skwisgaar. Phil Dyess-Nugent is collecting numerous humiliating anecdotes for his TV Club tell-all, release date TBD.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Doctor Who (Classic) (11 a.m.): Containing shades of V (and a little bit of Independence Day, eventually), the serial “The Claws Of Axos” finds a seemingly benevolent extraterrestrial force offering the Earth a molecule that can replicate any substance—or so it claims. If Christopher Bahn had control of such a molecule, he’d use it to create a doppelgänger who could file Doctor Who reviews over long weekends.
The Simpsons (Classic) (3 p.m.): Bart falls for the girl next door—voiced by ultra-timely guest Sara “Darlene Conner” Gilbert—before discovering she’s going steady with Jimbo Jones. He’ll have to wait 20-odd years to exact his revenge, a show of patience which Nathan Rabin applauds.
WHAT ELSE IS ON?
The Bob Newhart Show (Hallmark Channel, 10 a.m.): [Phone rings.] Hello? Why, yes, we’d love a full day of Bob Newhart Show reruns. We’ll have to kick off around 9 p.m. because there’s that whole “Battle of the Blackwater” deal on Game Of Thrones. That’ll only set us up to miss an hour of droll action in a Chicago psychologist’s office? Then count us in!
Extreme Terror Rides (Travel, 6 p.m.): The unofficial beginning of summer means the annual arrival of Travel Channel’s glut of roller-coaster documentaries/stealth infomercials for the nation’s amusement parks. Put a safe distance between yourself and any device that can search for plane tickets while watching these terrifying wonders of thrill-ride engineering.
Harry’s Law (NBC, 9 p.m.): Before David E. Kelley can move on to the Portland hospital he’s building with Sanjay Gupta (might we suggest they put a bird on it?) Harry Korn must grieve for her ex-husband and defend a man suspected of killing his wife. With such elegantly and subtly deployed thematic parallels like those, how is it that this show wasn’t renewed?
Mermaids: The Body Found (Animal Planet, 9 p.m.): Welp, that title pretty much says it all: Mermaids exist, there’s a body to prove it—good work, science, you’ve done it again! But here’s two hours of evidence and theories of a coverup to convert the non-believers in the audience.
Son-In-Law (CMT, 4 p.m.): Assuming its viewers have officially unplugged their brains for three days, Country Music Television presents a Sunday Pauly Shore marathon, beginning with the fish-out-of-water comedy most in line with the network’s regular programming. Spending the afternoon basking in the disappointed glower of Lane Smith.
The Empire Strikes Back (Spike, 4:41 p.m.): In a holiday marathon that’s less concerned with completism, Spike is showing the “special edition” cuts of the second and third films in the Star Wars series all day without the opening chapter. And it’s still the opening chapter because that’s how they were released, goddamnit!
Indianapolis 500: The 96th running (ABC, noon): The so-called “greatest spectacle in racing” (take that, 24 Hours of Le Mans) is a Memorial Day-weekend tradition, like yelling at your in-laws about the proper way to light a grill or shotgunning a trio of Pauly Shore movies. Enjoy this most American of rituals before watching cars go around in circles loses its thrill—you know, like around the ninth or 10th lap.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Angel/The Adventures Of Pete And Pete (Friday): A pair of TV Club Classic favorites called it a day this week: Noel Murray went to work on the Angel finale, while Marah Eakin spent an eventful Saturday in Wellsville. But fret not: There’s a fresh batch of new favorites waiting for you on the other side of the weekend.