Television Premieres and Notables: April 20-26, 2015

Monday, 4/20

Scorpion (CBS; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

StarTalk; NatGeo. 10 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Neil deGrasse Tyson brings his podcast to the small screen; interviewing people who help science and pop culture collide.  People like George Takei and Christopher Nolan...


Tuesday, 4/21

Inside Amy Schumer; Comedy Central. 9:30 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 4/22

The Americans (FX; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

Broadchurch (BBC America; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.



Sunday, 4/26

Happyish; Showtime. 8:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Steve Coogan and Kathryn Hahn star as a couple who aren't very happy.

Television Premieres and Notables: April 13-19, 2015

Monday, 4/13

Science of Stupid; National Geographic. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Turn: Washington's Spies; AMC. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Cucumber and Banana; Logo. 9 pm CST. Series Premieres.
Brought to us by Russell T. Davies (creator of the original U.K. Queer as Folk and the man who relaunched the current Doctor Who series) are-- what I think-- are two series wrapped in a single 90 minute segment.
Cucumber is the story of a middle-aged gay man, and Banana is about Manchester's LGBT youth.


Tuesday, 4/14

Being Mary Jane (BET; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

Botched; E!. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Justified (FX; 9 pm CST). Series Finale.
I can't say enough good about this series. It never let up, it never lost a step. It was never about being sensational at the cost of the plot-- but there were plenty of shocking moments; a number of which have come in the past few weeks.
I won't spoil anything that's happened this season here, but I will say how the pieces have aligned thus far are exactly what needed to happen. It's exactly what it should be.
Sure, the finale could fail us like so many others have, but I have faith in this show. They purposefully moved the plots along this season, and it never seemed like it got away from them (like so many series before it have).

Arranged; FYI. 9:16 pm CST. Series Premiere.
American couples prepare for their arranged marriages.

Other Space; Yahoo! Screen. Streaming. Series Premiere.
A crew of explorers on a research mission get lost in another universe.
I can't promise it, but it looks like this is a comedy...


Friday, 4/17

Bitten; Syfy. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

The Messengers; The CW. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A mysterious object lands on Earth, and five people die and return to life-- with supernatural powers.


Saturday, 4/18

Orphan Black; BBC America. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Tatau; BBC America. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: April 6-12, 2015

Monday, 4/6

Better Call Saul (AMC. 9 pm CST.) Season Finale.


Thursday, 4/9

The Comedians; FX. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Billy Crystal and Josh Gad star as versions of themselves in this mockumentary series.

Louie; FX. 9:330 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.
I read that Louis CK promises this season will be funny.

Resident Advisers; Hulu. Streaming. Series Premiere.
A comedy that follows the misadventures of college RAs.


Friday, 4/10

Daredevil; Netflix. Streaming. Series Premiere.
The first of the Netflix's "Defenders" series of titles based on the Marvel Comics characters.
I've heard good things. Reviews have been positive.


Saturday, 4/11

Modern Marvels; History. 8 pm CST. 18th Season Premiere.

Polka Kings; Reelz. 8:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
This series explores some polka players' attempts to bring their form of music to the mainstream.


Sunday, 4/12

Game of Thrones; HBO. 8 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

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

Cutthroat Kitchen; Food Network. 9 pm CST. 8th Season Premiere.

Veep; HBO. 9:30 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Yes, I'm sure I just punched my ticket to Hell..

Television Premieres and Notables: March 30-April 5, 2015

Monday, 3/30

The Big Picture With Kal Penn; Nat Geo. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Penn hosts this series that uses data points to discuss pop culture.


Tuesday, 3/31

Weird Loners; Fox. 8:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Another comedy that I'm sure will not meet my (at this point) pretty low expectations.

Younger; TV Land. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Sutton Foster plays a 40-year-old who has to pretend to be 26 to get a job.
Sounds pretty slim, but I thought Foster was fantastic on Bunheads, so I'm going to give it a try.


Wednesday, 4/1

Best Bars in America; Esquire. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.


Thursday, 4/2

Olympus; Syfy. 9 m CST. Series Premiere.
A Greek-mythology era series that's probably going to be as dull as most of Syfy's other originals.

Lip Sync Battle; Spike. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
LL Cool J and Chrissy Teigen host this show based on the Tonight Show bit.

The Red Road; Sundance. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.


Friday, 4/3

Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of; VH1. 8 pm CST. Special

The Grace Helbig Show; E!. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Helbig stars in this talk show thta sounds like it'll be anything but ordinary-- or consistent.

Derek Special; Netflix. Streaming. Special.


Saturday, 4/4

Outlander; Starz. 8 pm CST. Mid-season Premiere.


Sunday, 4/5

Sinatra: All or Nothing at All; HBO. 7 pm CST. Special.

A.D. The Bible Continues; NBC. 8 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.

American Odyssey; NBC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Wolf Hall; PBS. 9 pm CST (check local listings). Mini-series Premiere.

Mad Men; AMC. 9 pm CST. Final Season Premiere.
The final seven episodes begin tonight.

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles; Lifetime. 9 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.
Christina Ricci stars in this 8-part series that comes from last year's TV movie.

Salem; WGN. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

China, IL; adult swim. 10:30 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: March 23-29, 2015

Monday, 3/23

The Late Late Show With James Corden; CBS. 11:37 pm CST. Series Premiere.
I don't have the time to regularly watch late night talk shows, but I'll be trying this show for a week or three.
I've liked what I've seen of Corden in the television and films he's been in; the guy is warm, funny, and talented.
He's not going to hit a home run on his first at-bat, but I think, like Ferguson, Fallon, and O'Brien, he's going to make this show-- and the format-- his own.


Tuesday, 3/24

The Mindy Project (Fox; 8:30 pm CST). Season Finale.


Wednesday, 3/25

Big Time in Hollywood, FL; Comedy Central. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Two slacker brothers trying to make a film get into trouble.


Thursday, 3/26

Bones; Fox. 7 pm CST. Mid-season Premiere.


Friday, 3/27

Hart of Dixie (CW; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.

Girl Meets World (Disney; 7:30 pm CST). Season Finale.


Saturday, 3/28

Black Sails (Starz; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.


Sunday, 3/29

The Walking Dead (AMC; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.
So... something has happened to this show in the last year or two: it's always been exciting and unexpected. But it's become something more: very good. It's still a show where you have to just take for granted that the dead walk-- and that people have to do dumb things sometimes (no drama if the slow-moving Walkers aren't a threat). But the stories have been tighter, the characters don't make as many dumb decisions, and the actors have raised their game just as the writers have.

But anyway, enough of the hard sell. This is for the people who have been watching (and absolutely no spoilers for those haven't).
Let's take a trip down Fifth Season memory lane (off the top of my head):

Terminus
shish-ka-bob (not in the show, but you know what it refers to)
Gareth
Slabtown
lollipops
"We brought dinner."
cookies
massacre
porch dick (you'd have to watch Talking Dead for that one to make sense)
"Shut it off."

Television Premieres and Notables: March 16-22, 2015

Monday, 3/16

Dancing With the Stars; ABC. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Tuesday, 3/17

Community; Yahoo! Screen. Streaming. 6th Season Premiere.
NBC never knew what to do with it, so hopefully Yahoo! lets it be what it supposed to be.
We'll be short a Shirley but will gain a Frankie (Paget Brewster).
Yahoo! is also taking a more traditional approach to the series and launching one episode a week as opposed to the season "dumps" the others do.

iZombie; The CW. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
This adaptation of the Chris Robertson and Michael Allred comic book should prove to be a little off-the-wall. But Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas is doing the adapting, so it should hold together well.
Olivia is a mortician that becomes a zombie-- and finds she can help solve crimes by eating the brains of the victims.

One Big Happy; NBC. 8:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Wednesday, 3/18

Empire (Fox; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.


Friday, 3/20

Bloodline; Netflix. Streaming. Series Premiere.
Kyle Chandler stars in this new family drama that also features Linda Cardellini, Sissy Spacek, and Sam Shepard.
Netflix is dropping the entire 13 episode season all at once.

Glee (Fox; 7 pm CST). Series Finale.
This show was just all over the place.
The first half-season was pretty much perfect.
Then it became all about the (selling of the) songs (on iTunes).
Then they realized they could make a difference and started getting relevant (and very quickly smashing us over the head with it).
Then they tried to grow and gave us a new crew of kids-- that kept getting pushed out by the old crew.
Then they dumped the new crew.
Then it became a cartoon.
And, finally, this season: it became self-aware (still cartoony, but at least acknowledging it).
But even though I watched the last two seasons out of duty, I'm glad it was able to finish on its own terms.And I'm glad it did what it did.
It brought music back to TV. It did try to address societal issues, even if often got too heavy-handed. It brought a few talented people into our consciousness.
So I'll call this a "win".
I won't say I'll miss it-- but I am glad I watched it.

Children's Hospital; [adult swim]. 11 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Saturday, 3/21

The Musketeers (BBC America; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.


Sunday, 3/22

Girls (HBO; 8 pm CST)> Season Finale.

Neighbors With Benefits; A&E. 9 pm CST> Series Premiere.
A reality docuseries about swingers in suburban Ohio.
I'm sure it'll be classy...