Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Wednesday, February 12. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Workaholics (Comedy Central, 10 p.m.): Dennis Perkins slammed his way through all of Workaholics in time to be ready to take over this assignment, and here he is, winging his way through the current season of the show like a champion. There will be no champions in tonight’s installment, when the guys fall for a consumer affairs reporter from a local TV station. The only thing that can come from falling in love with local TV journalists is a terrible case of regret and sorrow. Just ask Dennis Perkins. He, too, fell in love with a local TV journalist just to be prepared for this assignment. It ended poorly.
ALSO NOTED
The 2014 Winter Olympics (NBC, 8 p.m.): Tonight’s Olympics devotee is our very own John Teti, who will hopefully have lots to say about the finals in pairs figure skating or the women’s downhill, better known as “hurling oneself to certain doom, hoping to make minute improvements on the previous run.”
Broad City (Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m.): Look at you, Broad City! Allowing us to write about something other than the Olympics on Wednesdays for these next couple of weeks! Caroline Framke doesn’t care about your stupid snow and ice sports, Europe!
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Mad Men (1 p.m.): Betty Draper’s gonna shoot some birds with a gun! Betty Draper’s gonna shoot some birds with a gun! If you had forgotten the incredible roll Mad Men got on as it moved into the back half of its first season, Todd VanDerWerff has one armed Betty Draper here to remind you.
ELSEWHERE IN TV CLUB
TV Club 10 makes its triumphant return with its first ever installment on a talk show. Phil Dyess-Nugent looks back at the storied history of The Dick Cavett Show, and you can join him for all the 20th century fashions and political discussions. If you’re ready to Whip Inflation Now, that is.
Over in TV Reviews, a few of our writers take a look at Amazon’s new pilots for adults, and tomorrow, they’ll be looking at the site’s pilots for kids. Suffice to say, this batch is a big step up over the batch the site presented us with last year.
Finally, Todd VanDerWerff takes a look at the new DVD of Newhart’s second season and muses on why audiences used to give sitcoms time to find themselves but now seem so eager to tune out at the first sign of danger.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
American Idol (Fox, 8 p.m.): Okay, this is also new tonight, and it looks like it did pretty okay in the ratings last week, even if it’s still down from the heights it used to hit. We’ll see if it can hold up against the Olympics, except probably, because the Olympics are only doing kind of okay sort of.
Buy This Restaurant (Food Network, 9 p.m.): God, Food Network! Always so pushy! What if we don’t want to?
Super Fun Night (ABC, 9:30 p.m.): While the rest of ABC’s comedy bloc is in repeats, the next-to-last episode of this show—almost certainly the next-to-last episode ever—gets burned off. Watch it so you can be prepared for Sonia Saraiya’s review of the full season next week.
Lone Target (Discovery, 10 p.m.): We don’t entirely know what this is all about, but it sounds kind of awesome, like somebody turned The Most Dangerous Game into a reality series. If it’s not that, then we have to get our documents together to pitch that to the networks.
Morning Glory (Lifetime, 8 p.m.): This enjoyable comedy wasn’t the greatest film ever—and has serious third-act problems—but we liked it quite a bit for Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams alone. It’s the perfect movie to watch with your mom.
The Social Network (FXX, 8 p.m.): This, on the other hand, is just fucking awesome. If you’re doubting Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor—and we all are, just a little bit—then watch this movie to see just how intimidating he can be with only words to work with.
NCAA Basketball: Duke at North Carolina (ESPN, 9 p.m.): One of college basketball’s richest rivalries is renewed in primetime tonight, so if you’re looking for sports action that doesn’t involve people tumbling down snow-covered mountains, you’re in luck.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Pretty Little Liars (Tuesday): Pretty Little Liars put on a noir tribute, and they got everybody to stand around in dazzling black and white. Caroline Siede took a look, and she gave it an A. We’re a bit skeptical of the notion of any of these young ladies as femme fatales. Okay, maybe Troian Bellisario. Maybe.