Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, February 24, and Saturday, February 25. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Fringe (Fox, 9 p.m., Friday): Fringe is hurting right now, hitting a point where it looks like this might be the last season. Given how divisive this season’s run has been, it’s entirely possible there are plenty of fans who think the show has outstayed its welcome. But Noel Murray isn’t among them. Fringe has gotten miraculous renewals before, but it’s never faced as long of odds as it has this season, and no matter what happens, Noel will be there to chart what happened in the 50 billion universes this show’s chronology now spans. Mostly just because of his long-standing crush on Joshua Jackson, admittedly, but also because he thinks it’s a good show.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Grimm (NBC, 9 p.m., Friday): A lot of networks are taking the weekend off for some reason. It’s still February sweeps for a few more days, guys! Get it together! “Fortunately,” Grimm is not one of the shows taking tonight off. Kevin McFarland, who just loves all this fairy tale madness, is super excited.
Portlandia (IFC, 10 p.m., Friday): It’s the 10th anniversary of Portlandia’s feminist bookstore, and we never thought we’d be so happy to be celebrating such a venerable institution. Just three episodes left in this season of the sketch comedy, and Christian Williams hopes the show makes them all count.
Spartacus: Vengeance (Starz, 10 p.m., Friday): Ryan McGee tells us this episode is good. Like really, really, really good. We won’t spoil anything for you, Spartacus fans, but we just checked out his review, and it sounds like it lives up to the hype we’re manufacturing just now. Don’t you hate us for that?
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Veronica Mars (11 a.m., Friday): Rowan Kaiser bumps into this show’s more standalone nature, as he digs into the third season’s second and third episodes, one of which is called “Wichita Linebacker,” which is what Rowan calls himself when he’s in Internet chatrooms late at night, weeping.
The Twilight Zone (1 p.m., Saturday): Zack Handlen finally comes up against “Eye Of The Beholder,” which has that ending where it turns out that the girl who was having the surgery to be more beautiful is actually a hideous bear that’s been granted the ability to speak. And converse in Internet chatrooms.
Cowboy Bebop (3 p.m., Saturday): Simon Abrams has just two episodes (and a movie) left of this series, and we hope you’ll join him for the last few adventures of the whole Bebop gang. We’d join him, we suppose, but c’mon. It’s Saturday. We’ve got other stuff to do, like play some vintage Duck Hunt.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Who Do You Think You Are? (NBC, 8 p.m., Friday): This show’s title is so needlessly confrontational for a series that’s about Lisa Kudrow hanging out with people and helping them figure out their genealogy. We can’t help but think Kudrow should greet her celebrity guests by yelling the title at them repeatedly.
Great Performances: Memphis (PBS, 9 p.m., Friday): We’re still not sure why this utterly generic “rock” musical won the Tony Award for Best Musical, but PBS brings it to the small screen to try and convince you that that one dude from Bon Jovi completely deserves to be a Tony Award winner. Which is true!
My House Goes Disney (HGTV, 9 p.m., Friday): A bunch of Disney Imagineers invade somebody’s house to help them make it over. We’re hoping that they do this by installing animatronic versions of former presidents. Can we call Franklin Pierce and Rutherford B. Hayes? They were just the dreamiest!
Curious & Unusual Deaths (Discovery Fitness And Health, 10 p.m., Friday): Finally, a show with a title that tells us exactly what’s going to happen in the show! But the description is bizarre. “A bricklayer laughs too long,” it reads, in part. What on Earth could that mean? We just might have to watch this!
Being Human (BBC America, 9 p.m., Saturday): The original flavor of Being Human returns to U.S. shores on a three-week delay. We’ll probably have a review of the season premiere, but who knows if we’ll go beyond that. Tell your friends, fans of werewolves, vampires, and ghosts! Or don’t!
Too Cute! (Animal Planet, 9 p.m., Saturday): There’s an alternate universe TV Club that reviews this show week to week and has been hyping itself up for this week’s episode, “Puppies And Ducklings” for ages and ages. Honestly, when you mention puppies and ducklings, we’re pretty excited in this universe.
Ali (BET, 8 p.m., Friday): This isn’t Michael Mann’s finest effort, but his biopic of Muhammad Ali still features plenty of reasons for the curious to check it out, not least of which is a surprisingly effective Will Smith performance in the title role. We’re as surprised as you are, but the guy’s not half bad.
Ace In The Hole (TCM, 10 p.m., Friday): If you haven’t seen this acid, Billy Wilder satire of the media, made back in the 1950s, then it’s time for you to drop everything and watch it tonight. Kirk Douglas is a reporter who figures out a way to capitalize on the devastating fallout of a mine accident. Terrific stuff.
Kung Fu Hustle (G4, 7 p.m., Saturday): If you haven’t seen this hyper-kinetic, live-action Looney Tunes cartoon, it’s another good one to check out if you’ve got nothing else going on this weekend. Director Stephen Chow also stars in a wild, weird gangland story about 1940s China, filled with great setpieces.
NBA Rising Stars Challenge: From Orlando (TNT, 9 p.m., Friday): Rookies and second-year players face off in the annual game that doesn’t have much at stake, although Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal are coaching the teams this year. The rookies won last year, so the sophomores are favored this year.
UFC 144 Prelims: From Saitama Japan (FX, 8 p.m., Saturday): FX gets into the sports broadcasting game with its new broadcasts of ultimate fighting. We’re hoping that the network sees room for cross-promotion and tosses Raylan Givens and Sterling Archer in the ring against each other. Blood and fury!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Unsupervised (Thursday): Though he thought the episode wasn’t wholly successful, Brandon Nowalk is happy that the freshman comedy is slowly putting together a formula and format that works for it. Maybe now’s the time to jump back on board, in which case, Brandon’s review is the place to start.