Here’s what’s up in the world of television for Thursday, July 10. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Welcome To Sweden (NBC, 9 p.m.): NBC knows what you need right now, loyal TV Club readers. Youre staring into the abyss of an incredibly dry summer for television—and this Thursday, not even Cartoon Network’s standbys of Adventure Time and Regular Show are here to take up some space in your DVR, which has been sitting at a creepily empty 30 percent ever since June. Into this void of space, time, and meaning arrives NBC with two, two new pilots tonight, because there is nothing better you could be doing with a glorious summer evening in July than taking a chance on one pilot that mines a Scandinavian country for humor and another whose title is an awful pun. Anyway, we had to choose between one or the other for the top pick, because we didn’t feel like finding a photo from both and mashing them together, and that means the one with Sweden wins… for now. Tonight, a “celebrity accountant” (whatever the fuck that is) moves to Sweden with his very attractive Swedish girlfriend, and discovers that it is a whole different country that is not America. Hilarity, we are told, ensues.
ALSO NOTED
Working The Engels (NBC, 9:30 p.m.): Then, after your trip to The Land Of IKEA, visit a charming small-town with a charming small-town lawyer in a charming small-town law office where a charming small-town dad dies leaving his charming big-city daughter to take on the responsibility of the family, office, town, city, and the law. In case you had not noticed, the title is a pun. On “working the angles.” You know, which is a thing people say. Sometimes. Rarely. We actually have never heard anyone say this.
Mythbusters (Discovery, 9 p.m): The fourteenth season premiere. We are pleased because we enjoy saying “myth… busted” as we walk around solving routine household problems.
Comedy Bang! Bang! (IFC, 10:30 p.m.): And this third-season summer finale is tonight, which is an adjective-phrase we barely understand, but look, modifiers were never our strong suit. The guest is Josh Groban, which is boring, but maybe that’s the point? We’re really never sure. Someone will cover it. Why and how is a mystery. But it will be done.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Defiance (Syfy, 8 p.m.)
Rectify (Sundance, 9 p.m.)
SOME OTHER STUFF THAT IS ON
Black Box (ABC, 8 p.m.)
Gang Related (Fox, 9 p.m.)
Rookie Blue (ABC, 9 p.m)
Dominion (Syfy, 9 p.m.)
Maron (IFC, 10 p.m.)
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1 p.m.): Zack Handlen continues his journey through season three. We have run out of jokes, but fortunately the Monty Python boys haven’t.
ELSEWHERE IN TV CLUB
As you may have already noticed, Erik Adams reviewed both of NBC’s new sitcoms, and pronounced them what Mr. Darcy called Elizabeth Bennett the first time he saw her: “tolerable.” And Brandon Nowalk has a treat for you: A primer on TV Westerns, which he knows tons and tons about, and offers 5,000 words or so to prove it.
WHAT ELSE IS ON?
Kidnapped For Christ (Showtime, 7:30 p.m.): “A look at Escuela Caribe, an American-operated, faith-based reform school in the Dominican Republic that aims to ‘cure’ teens of homosexuality and make them into more-committed Christians.” Sounds uplifting.
The American Bible Challenge (GSN, 8 p.m.): After a holiday for July 4, this show returns for episode eight. You didn’t know it, but the fireworks on the Fourth were for this show.
E! True Hollywood Story: Duck Dynasty (E!, 8 p.m.): WE WERE THIS CLOSE TO MAKING THIS THE TOP PICK, AMERICA. THIS. FUCKING. CLOSE. BECAUSE NOW DUCK DYNASTY IS A THING THAT INSPIRES AS MUCH SCRUTINY AS DEGENERATE, ADDICTED ROCKSTARS. Then we were like, eh, who would even watch it?
Big Brother (CBS, 9 p.m.): Somehow this has been going on for weeks without us noticing, which indicates just how good we are at our jobs. Tonight, another occupant of the house is evicted. So, looks like not much has changed here.
Leah Remini: It’s All Relative (TLC, 10 p.m.): If you had asked us where we thought Leah Remini’s career would be in the years following King Of Queens, a reality show called It’s All Relative on TLC would have been very close to our first guess. Leah Remini’s colorful, ex-Scientologist family does things on TV for money. Series premiere.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The Bridge: This is back! It’s good? We have some questions. Molly Eichel has some answers.