Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Thursday, January 16. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Community (NBC, 8 p.m.): CBS is running repeats all night, American Idol has colonized Fox, a mysterious new monolith called Taste is taking up two hours on ABC, and the CW, of all places, is hosting the 19th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards… is it possible that the spectre of NBC’s Must See TV is rearing its elusive head? And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? We secretly kind of always want to make Community our top pick anyway—and tonight, in “Cooperative Polygraphy,” a team of investigators show up to execute Pierce’s will. That sounds promising, doesn’t it? Todd VanDerWerff hopes he inherits a pony.
ALSO NOTED
Spoils Of Babylon (IFC, 10 p.m.): Episode three of tonight’s Spoils Of Babylon is the one of the few shows not from NBC that we’re excited about. But are we excited, or ironically excited? Only David Sims knows. (No, he doesn’t. But let’s pretend.)
Parks And Recreation (NBC, 8:30 p.m.): Golden Globe winner Amy Poehler stars in this sitcom about a plucky Indiana politician played by a Golden Globe winner. That guy from Party Down is also in it! Alasdair Wilkins thinks you should give this scrappy little show a chance.
30 For 30: The Price Of Gold (ESPN, 9 p.m.): And just in time for Winter Olympics Nostalgia, ESPN is airing a trip down memory lane, to that one time that Tonya Harding thought it would be a good idea to have a hired thug break Nancy Kerrigan’s kneecaps with a metal baton. On the plus side, women’s figure skating became extremely popular thereafter. Kevin McFarland covers this tonight.
REGULAR COVERAGE
White Collar (USA, 9 p.m.)
The Michael J. Fox Show (NBC, 9:30 p.m.)
Parenthood (NBC, 10 p.m.)
TV REVIEWS
Genevieve Valentine took a look at Lifetime’s remake of Flowers In The Attic: “Rarely has someone been so blasé about lusting for their brother. They’re companionable enough, but their attraction’s more dutiful than overpowering—not helped by the awkward blocking of a statistically improbable amount of mattress-based horseplay.”
And David Sims reviewed Patton Oswalt’s latest comedy special: “Oswalt takes us through the theoretical dream offer stand-up gig: tons of money to do barely any material at a casino for a crowd so drunk, the very sight of Oswalt is enough to have them leaping to their feet and cheering. The situation is ridiculous, Oswalt seems to be saying, but the larger situation is even more ridiculous—is that really the success we desire? To be popular enough that you no longer need to make any effort at all?”
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (10 a.m.): Zack Handlen’s Fictional Space Station Support Group will be meeting at the usual time… but not in the usual place. Because we don’t know where we are anymore. And neither does Zack.