Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Sunday, October 7. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
The Simpsons (Classic) (3 p.m.)/The Simpsons (Fox, 8 p.m.): Sure, one day it’s all “Gabbo!” this and “Gabbo!” that, but before you know it, 20 years have passed and you’re left clutching at the straws of theoretical physics and Robert Zemeckis movies to fill out your once anticipated, now grudgingly tolerated yearly Halloween anthology. All that’s to say “You’re not as young as you used to be, you bad widdle boy,” so cherish “Krusty Gets Kancelled” and “Treehouse Of Horror XXIII” while you (and Nathan Rabin and Robert David Sullivan) still can.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Once Upon A Time (ABC, 8 p.m.): “The seven dwarves learn why it’s unwise to leave town,” the episode synopsis forebodes. You’re not about to make Oliver Sava look at a pile of dead dwarves, are you, ABC?
The Amazing Race (CBS, 8:30 p.m.): This week’s destination is Surabaya, Indonesia, a city said to derive its name from a mythical battle between a shark and a crocodile—which sounds an awful lot like the setup of a Syfy original movie Scott Von Doviak would like to review.
Call The Midwife (PBS, 8 p.m.): The second episode welcomes the character with the least-flattering TV nickname in recent memory: Chummy, played by Britcom staple Miranda Hart. We’re still trying to get Brandon Nowalk to respond to the nickname “Brando Walk Walk.”
Bob’s Burgers (Fox, 8:30 p.m.): It’s Halloween on Bob’s Burgers, too, where the kids try to score big by trick-or-treating in a ritzy neighborhood. Rowan Kaiser will work for king-sized Twix bars.
Revenge (ABC, 9 p.m.): Re-infiltrating the Grayson clan is on Emily’s agenda, perhaps by running a Patty Duke Show-style “identical cousins” con. Unlike those cousins, Carrie Raisler is one of a kind.
Hell On Wheels (AMC, 9 p.m.): Is this the end of the road for Hell On Wheels? The end of the railroad, that is? You’ll miss this type of train-based wordplay and Alasdair Wilkins’ insightful commentary if AMC choo-choo-chooses not to renew the show.
The Good Wife (CBS, 9:30 p.m.): Will’s back on the job, but apparently no one’s filled him in on the firm’s dire financial straits. David Sims’ figured he’d at least notice the influx of Lockhart/Gardner bus-bench ads throughout Chicago.
Family Guy (Fox, 9 p.m.): The show does its fans a solid by decoding the process of determining television ratings. This episode will perform very well among Kevin McFarlands ages 18 to 49.
Boardwalk Empire (HBO, 9 p.m.): Capone “takes matters into his own hands,” which are not hands you should trust with anything. In fact, Noel Murray wouldn’t trust those hands as far as they could throw him.
Dexter (Showtime, 9:30 p.m.): Debra tries to relieve Dexter of his Dark Passenger, and Joshua Alston foresees a certain protagonist’s foster sister getting run over by a metaphorical device.
American Dad (Fox, 9:30 p.m.): During a family vacation, Roger adopts the persona of one “Abigail Lemonparty”—and you can guess where it goes from there. If you can’t, Kevin McFarland suggests you don’t Google your way to the answer.
666 Park Avenue (ABC, 10 p.m.): The series really leans into the “Fantasy Island, but with Satan instead of Mr. Roarke and an apartment building instead of an island” pitch when a tenant comes to Gavin looking for romantic advice. Zack Handlen asks, “Have you ever created an OKCupid profile with the devil in the pale moonlight?”
Copper (BBC America, 10 p.m.): Election day approaches on Copper, and Farihah Zaman asks the characters the tough question: Is there a 19th-century equivalent to Big Bird, and if so, do they have strong opinions toward this large, flightless vehicle for education?
Treme (HBO, 10 p.m.): Antoine hits the road for a few gigs—which, by the logic of Treme, should count as “jobs,” since the math probably shakes out to more than one show per week. Discover these and other important mathematical principles of NOLA in Keith Phipps’ new book, Tremethmetic.
Homeland (Showtime, 10 p.m.): Carrie Matheson: Back In Action continues, as the Beirut operation gets closer to taking out Abu Nazir. Todd VanDerWerff implores you to stay tuned to next week’s installment, “Everything We Achieved In Beirut Only Magnified Our Problems A Hundred Fold.”
WHAT ELSE IS ON?
Upstairs Downstairs (PBS, 9 p.m.): Masterpiece presents two options to calm Downtown Abbey withdrawal this week: First Call The Midwife, then the return of the revamped Upstairs Downstairs. The latter finally relieved Cory Casciato of the DTs—“Dowager tremens,” that is.
Steel Magnolias (Lifetime, 9 p.m.): We never thought we’d live to see the phrase “Sally Field = Queen Latifah” written in a TV Club review, but then again we never expected Latifah to head up her own version of the classic Southern-set tearjerker. Living Single devotee Molly Eichel had no idea she needed this in her life.
Taken (FX, 8 p.m.): While Liam Neeson’s “very particular set of skills” (and they’re just “very particular” The A.V. Club’s John Semley reminds you) gets a workout at the multiplex, it gets very particularly censored for basic-cable consumption.
MLB Playoff: New York at Baltimore (TBS, 6 p.m.): The Yankees begin their division series against the Wild Card-winning Orioles, extending the teams’ regular-season tug of war over the American League East into the postseason. October is just the best.
ALSO RETURNING
America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC, 7 p.m.)
The Cleveland Show (Fox, 7:30 p.m.)
Mythbusters (Discovery, 8 p.m.)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Young Justice (Saturday): Hey! Young Justice coverage is back! Oliver Sava invites you to return to Earth-16—just hang a left at Earth-5501, the universe where Batman prevented the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. (Just kidding: The events of Flashpoint presumably destroyed that universe, ensuring the integrity of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln in the process.)