Californication

 It's a great day for second-tier cable programming.

Girls is back, which is either the best news or a warning to avoid HBO for 10 weeks. Also: Premières of other pay-cable shows that are just as divisive. (Oh, who are we kidding—nothing’s as divisive as Girls.) 

The actor discusses his intimate audio essays and the "shallow grave" known as celebrity gossip.

“It’s hard to tour a record as it is, if you’ve got people that you don’t like… but if I have no respect for you, then we are all fucked.”

The A.V. Club's weekly list. 

 The role he was born to play.

The A.V. Club's weekly list. 

“We all just felt like we were this club against the Hollywood machine. It was really quite exciting.”

The Borgias brings the politics of Catholicism, the boobs of the Renaissance to your Easter Sunday. Also: Showtime’s “Strong-But-Troubled Female Power Pack” returns, and James Cameron give his “final” (sure) word on the Titanic.

It's a big night for TV. Game Of Thrones is back! Mad Men is on! Our Simpsons classic reviews are back! The Killing is... The Killing is also a show that will be on TV tonight!

The first (and only) derby day for Luck, and Dr. Steve Brule is here—for your health!

It wasn’t a good week for Luck—take sympathy on the series by watching its penultimate episode. Also: Ginnifer Goodwin is wanted for murder, and Homer versus the robots.

Bob’s Burgers is re-opened for business. Also: A new crime-fighting duo in Storybrooke, and Ryan Seacrest and Bravo join forces. (Terrifying, unstoppable forces.)

What is a GCB, anyway? Also: Russian hurlers, YouTube sensations, and neutered Tarantino.

The Simpsons hits 500 episodes. Also: Kenny Powers, Ricky Gervais, and Stephen Merchant are here to push your buttons. 

Come fill a virtual seat for the Grammys, won’t you? Also, return of The Walking Dead, rise of the Comic Book Men, and more.

Sound the thunderous NFL Films instrumentals, get Madonna out of storage, and set the DVR for Luck—it’s game day.

By once again opting not to send in the convenient 3x5 card cancelling their account, Showtime has automatically renewed its subscriptions to Californication, Shameless, and House Of Lies, and is now eligible to send a subscription to...

David Milch, Michael Mann, and Dustin Hoffman bring you Luck, which we've been waiting for for 4,000 years. Also: Fox animated shows, the Pro Bowl, and the SAG awards.

Tonight would be a good chance to sample Shameless and see where you land on it. That is, unless you're going to watch football, like most Americans. Also: American Idol, weirdly.

Congratulations, fans of virtual currency! Tonight's episode of The Good Wife is for you! Also: Lots of brand new episodes, a Napoleon Dynamite cartoon, and football.

It's a big night in TV land, with new seasons of Downton Abbey, Shameless, and Californication; a bunch of new series; and a host of returning shows as well.