When the Grammys face off with The Walking Dead, who will win—and what will be left of them?
Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Sunday, February 10. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
55th Annual Grammy Awards/The Walking Dead (CBS, 8 p.m./AMC, 9 p.m.): A rotting, mangled corpse springs to life in a grotesque imitation of its prior existence—but enough about the American recording industry throwing itself a party, because The Walking Dead is back tonight, too. The second hour of “music’s biggest night” coincides with the return of basic cable’s biggest show, promising a bloodbath that will feature no exposed female nipples or impudent buttocks cracks. Or just solve the conflict yourself by joining our Grammy live chat and catching up with Walking Dead via DVR and Zack Handlen later.
REGULAR COVERAGE
The Simpsons (Fox, 8 p.m.): Here’s the guest roster for tonight’s episode: Zooey Deschanel, Benedict Cumberbatch, Max Weinberg, and Pulitzer Prize winner Robert A. Caro. First reader to correctly guess Robert D. Sullivan’s most-anticipated guest wins a used copy of Caro’s Robert Moses biography, The Power Broker!
Once Upon A Time (ABC, 8 p.m.): Jack The Giant Killer Fever hits Storybrooke when a creature of massive proportions comes to town. (Warning: Jack The Giant Killer Fever may be an invention of The A.V. Club. If you experience Jack The Giant Killer Fever for longer than four hours, contact an Oliver Sava.)
Bob’s Burgers (Fox, 8:30 p.m.): Bob pulls the kids out of school to help him find the perfect Valentine’s gift for Linda. Any more un-excused absences like that and Rowan Kaiser’s writing them up on the Belchers’ permanent record. (Yes, they all share a single permanent record. Money’s tight in public education these days.)
Revenge (ABC, 9 p.m.): Jack and Amanda’s nuptials force Emily into a big game of “What if?” Of the infinite Revenge’s currently playing out across infinite realities, Carrie Raisler’s favorite is the one where all the characters are anthropomorphic animals.
Family Guy (Fox, 9 p.m): Stewie gets further mileage out of his time machine, going back to the 1960s and falling in love with a woman who’s definitely going to turn out to be a blood relation. Kevin McFarland wishes this wasn’t so, but as with any time-travel narrative, these things are fated to be.
Girls (HBO, 9 p.m.): Dr. Patrick Wilson arrives to lure Hannah out of Brooklyn. Todd VanDerWerff, meanwhile, is just hoping for a cameo from his old A Gifted Man buddy, Frank Fisticuffs.
Downton Abbey (PBS, 9 p.m.): At last, cricket will sweep these United States by storm aided by the nation’s ongoing obsession with Downton Abbey! Sonia Saraiya can’t wait to talk about wickets, creases, and other vaguely filthy sounding cricket terms with the Internet!
Shameless (Showtime, 9 p.m.): Fiona goes all Norma Rae, uniting her colleagues in an effort against their boss. Joshua Alston’s grade for “The Helpful Gallaghers” will be displayed on a hand-scrawled sign held over his head.
American Dad (Fox, 9:30 p.m.): The Smiths’ future fortunes are in jeopardy when Roger’s philanthropic alter ego, Max Jets, falls for a gold-digging waitress. If things don’t work out between those two, Kevin McFarland has no qualms with being showered in an extraterrestrial’s millions.
Enlightened (HBO, 9:30 p.m.): The show returns to one of the first season’s most deepest symbolic wells: G—
G-g-g-g—
G-g-g-g-g-ghosts! Brandon Nowalk wonders if it’s too much to ask for an episode set entirely in “Lonely Ghosts” spectacular dream sequence.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
The Simpsons (Classic) (3 p.m.): Springfield’s irrepressible mob-mentality receives a scathing critiques when a series of robberies sends the town into one of its regularly scheduled frenzies. Gentleman thief Nathan Rabin prepares to do likewise to the denizens of the Internet—by stealing their hearts.
WHAT ELSE IS ON?
Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome (Syfy, 8 p.m.): After this pilot for a BSG prequel was rejected by Syfy, it debuted online in 12-minute chunks—a curious presentation for a feature-length project meant to whet appetites for a prospective series. Watching the pilot online raised some skepticism in Rowan Kaiser—maybe he’d feel different watching Blood & Chrome as an uninterrupted whole.
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo (TLC, 8 p.m.): Community fans, take heart: Honey Boo Boo Child has to air her Christmas episode out of season, too. (And yes, you got a notification for that.)
Gypsy Sisters (TLC, 9 p.m.): Then again, maybe TLC put A Go Go Juice Holiday on hold in order to provide a lead-in for My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding’s latest big fat gypsy spin-off, the première of which lasts a big fat gypsy two hours.
Car Lot Rescue (Spike, 10 p.m.): The reality-show efficiency experts at Spike wring another concept out of the Bar Rescue/Tattoo Rescue format, this time bailing out failing auto dealerships. Where was this show when Buddy Garrity needed it?
Thunderball (Reelz, 8 p.m.): Ramp up for the home-video release of Skyfall with one of the best films of Sean Connery’s run as James Bond. Let’s see Daniel Craig escape a rival agent’s funeral via jet pack!
Hello, Dolly! (TCM, 8 p.m.): Since this is Grammy night, do you think Barbra Streisand will come out during Dolly Levi’s big opening bow and declare “And the Grammy goes to The S-s-suburbs… Arcade Fire!”? Yeah, we didn’t either.
NBA Basketball: Spurs at Nets (ESPN, 8 p.m.): Based on the results of the 45th Grammys—held a few months before these two teams met in the NBA Finals—you might be tempted to call the Spurs the Norah Jones in this matchup. But the fact that San Antonio continues to turn out winning teams even as its stars age makes them more like 2003 Album of the Year loser Bruce Springsteen—which probably pisses off Nets fans in the team’s new and old home to no end.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The Job (Friday): CBS builds a televised monument to kings of commerce, and John Teti tears it down piece by piece—taking the time to make at least one well-placed The Price Is Right analogy in the process.