Television Premieres and Notables: April 15-21, 2013

Monday, 4/15

Oh Sit! CW. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Defiance; Syfy. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Five years-- and tons of cash-- in the making; this series follows he struggles of the humans who survived an invasion of seven alien races who needed a new home after their old world was destroyed.
And, to complicate things even more, the show will have tie in and out with an interactive video game.

Dallas (TNT; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.


Tuesday, 4/16

Storage Wars; A&E. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Deadliest Catch; Discovery. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

The '80s: The Decade That Made Us; Nat Geo. 8 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.

Who Gets the Last Laugh? TBS. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Donald Faison hosts this new series in which three comedians try to get the biggest laughs.

Awkward; MTV. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.
I've heard good things about this show, so I'll be checking it out.
And if you want to catch up, MTV's running a marathon of previous episodes starting at 9 am with the pilot.


Wednesday, 4/17

Suburgatory (ABC; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.

Locked Up Abroad; Nat Geo. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Friday, 4/19

Hemlock Grove; Netflix. Series Premiere.
Netflix launches this series all at once today-- all thirteen episodes-- based on Brian McGreevy's novel about warring "clans", at least one of which is comprised on werewolves.

Sorry for the sacrilege... But it's funny.

Television Premieres and Notables: April 8-14, 2013

Monday, 4/8

The Carrie Diaries (CW; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.

Being Human (Syfy; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.


Tuesday, 4/9

Cougar Town (TBS; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

Ready for Love; NBC. 9:01 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Thursday, 4/11

Archer (FX; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.
After part 1's craziness-- Captain Murphy of Sealab 2021 showing up, anyone-- I'm not sure how they can top it for Part 2 of the finale.

The Moment; USA. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Kurt Warner hosts this show that finds people getting a shot in their dream jobs.


Friday, 4/12

Swamp'd; Animal Planet. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Spartacus: War of the Damned (Starz; 8 pm CST). Series Finale.

Da Vinci's Demons; Starz. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Sunday, 4/14

Nurse Jackie; Showtime. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

The Borgias; Showtime. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Walking Dead behind the scenes look at Season Four

Here's a little taste of what the producers and actors think will be coming up in this fall's Season Four of The Walking Dead.

If you haven't watched the Season Three finale-- do not watch this. Spoilers for the entire season lie within-- including what happened last Sunday.

And if you've got a weak stomach, don't press "play". Lots and lots of blood and brain-bashing.

Television Premieres and Notables: April 1-7, 2013

Sorry I'm late; had to finish The Walking Dead (the right thing to do on Easter Sunday, of course).  Did not see (all of the) that coming. 

It'll be polarizing, but you could not have guessed what did (and did not) happen, so: WIN!

Anyway...


Monday, 4/1

Kickin' It; Disney XD. 7:30 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Castle celebrates its 100th episode on ABC at 9 pm CST.


Tuesday, 4/2

The New Normal (NBC; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

Justified (FX; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.
Lots of props to this series for trying a different kind of season (but still was, very much, Justified).
It was, again, a fantastic season.

Chopped; Food. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 4/3

Spies of Warsaw; BBC America. 8 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.
David Tennant stars as an agent in Poland just before World War II.
And if you like what you see from Mr. Tennant, BBC Am throws an episode of Doctor Who to us right after this show (at 10 pm CST).  And it's a smart move because the episode is "Blink"; one of the best of Tennant's run as The Doctor. Actually, one of the best-- and most accessible-- episodes of the entire series.

Rouge; DirecTV. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Thandie Newton stars as a detective who goes undercover in a crime syndicate.

How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life); ABC. 8:31 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Sarah Chalke stars as a woman who has to move back in with her parents.


Forever Young; TV Land. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Ashton Kutcher produced this series where five millenials and five seniors are put together in a house where they stop being polite, and start getting real.


Thursday, 4/4

Freakshow (AMC; 8:30 pm CST). Season Finale.

Hannibal; NBC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Mads Mikkelsen plays Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist who takes on a new client, FBI agent Will Graham (played by Hugh Dancy).  Lecter's hobby, if you've been living under a rock for 20 years, is that he likes to kill people.

Men at Work; TBS. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Friday, 4/5

Vice; HBO. 10 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Saturday, 4/6

My Cat From Hell; Animal Planet. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.
What if this was actually an adult swim-style show about a cat who was, literally, from Hell.
Kinda like Loki's hellhound Thori in the Journey Into Mystery comics Marvel puts out (or used to put out; I read my comics from the TPs at the library, so I'm always 6-24 months behind).

Sunday, 4/7

Cupcake Wars; Food Network. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Mad Men; AMC. 8 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.

Shameless (Showtime; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

River Monsters; Animal Planet. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Looks like it's directed by Zack Snyder.

Television Premieres and Notables: March 25-31, 2013

Monday, 3/25

The Voice; NBC. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Revolution; NBC. 9 pm CST. Mid-season Premiere.


Tuesday, 3/26

The Game; BET. 9 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.


Thursday, 3/28

Raising Hope (Fox; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.
Well, you may think that this show is getting a burn-off because it hasn't aired in a few weeks-- and then it airs the finale on a different night.  But it's all good: it got picked up for a fourth season... --Where Fox can drop it all over the place around baseball playoffs, the winter holidays, and American Idol.


Friday, 3/29

Happy Endings returns from hiatus. Check it out (especially if you're a Nielsen Family) on ABC at 7 pm CST.


Saturday, 3/30

Doctor Who; BBC America. 7 pm CST. Mid-season Premiere.
He's back! After the tragic loss of the Ponds (it was no secret they were going away), and some time away, brooding; The Doctor gets back on the horse with a new companion who is quite the match for him. Not only is she cute and feisty, but The doctor has already seen "her" die twice, so he wants to figure out who-- or what-- this Clara Osgood Oswald person is.
And, if that wasn't enough, this episode semi-officially kicks-off the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the series. New Cybermen (in an ep written by Neil Gaiman), a return of the Ice Warriors, and a journey to the middle of the TARDIS are all on tap for this next half-season.



Orphan Black; BBC America. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Sunday, 3/31

The Walking Dead (AMC; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.
I know I usually say the shit's going to hit the fan every season (and mid-season) finale, but I think this show has proven the last season and a half that anything can happen.  The stakes have risen with every other episode, and there isn't much cannon fodder or red shirts left to die. Could get ugly when the war against the Governor finally comes. (And those of us who've read the comics can remember the loss that happened when the Governor came knocking at the prison.)

Game of Thrones; HBO. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Doctor Who Returns March 30

The Doctor returns at the end of the month with a new companion who's surrounded by mystery (think back to the season premiere last fall, where we saw her in a very different "role"). 

This being Doctor Who, the explanation of who Clara is will probably be tragic-- and this is a woman who has already died twice, so who knows how much worse it'll get?

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this back-half of the season, and I've loved what Jenna-Louise Coleman has brought to the table in her two other appearances.  Clara's going to be a great partner and foil for The Doctor.