Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April 25. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Other Space (Yahoo): Sure, sure—this sci-fi comedy series premiered on Yahoo last week, but we’ve needed time to gather ourselves from the collective comedy geek coma Other Space sent us into. Seriously, the creator of Freaks and Geeks (Paul Feig) teams up with two of the guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Joel Hodgson and Trace Beaulieu)—and Beaulieu (that’s Crow T. Robot to you) is voicing another weird space robot? Even the gleefully low-rent sets look like the Satellite Of Love! Our own Molly Eichel has taken a knee, caught her breath, and banged out the first of her weekly reviews of this eight-episode series about the inexperienced and hilariously dysfunctional young crew of a ship lost in an alternate universe, just for us. Why, it’s almost like some sort of puppet-based space holiday around here!
Also noted
Grimm (NBC, 8 p.m., Friday): Nick and Hank investigate a homicide supposedly linked to a monstrous coming-of-age ritual. Les Chappell suggests checking the body for $30 checks from the victim’s grandma with the memo line “For murder!”
Comedy Bang! Bang! (IFC, 11 p.m., Friday): Lil John stops by to rap with Scott and Reggie. “Rap,” meaning “talk informally.” It’s Lil John—just wanted to be clear. Also, Tom Green is in there somewhere, so LaToya Ferguson imagines this episode could be a huge, sloppy mess. Or genius. She’ll let us know.
Childrens Hospital (Adult Swim, 11:59 p.m., Friday): Ken Marino’s Dr. Glenn Richie plays Cyrano to help Rob Corddry’s clown doctor win over a woman. LaToya Ferguson hopes the lady likes greasepaint and medical incompetence.
Orphan Black (BBC America, 9 p.m., Saturday): Caroline Framke was impressed with how last week’s premiere laid out all the sometimes-tangled storylines from last season with clarity, as Sarah and the clone gang delve deeper into the mystery of their mysterious male counterparts. Can the show keep juggling its labyrinthine conspiracies straight? Well, it certainly has enough Maslanys to do the job.
Outlander (Starz, 9 p.m., Saturday): Saturday’s reputation as haven for kickass female protagonists (and kickass female reviewers) continues as Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya tracks the progress of Caitriona Balfe’s Claire Randall as she copes with being a modern woman displaced in time to the land of kilts, hunky Scotsmen, and serious misogyny. This week, Claire and Jamie head for Jamie’s ancestral home, only for his resentful sister to ruin their plans for rustic romance.
Elsewhere in TV Club
If you know one thing about us here at the A.V. Club, it’s that we are an ornery bunch o’ so-and-sos. So there should be no surprise that some of us have stubbornly refused to check out some undoubtedly respectable pop culture out of sheer spite. Check out this week’s AVQ&A to see what we’re denying ourselves for reasons that some people know quite well, thank you very much. Then, because we’re also a morbid bunch, Jesse Hassenger’s Watch This continues this week’s focus on the last films of actors who died too young, giving another look to Brandon Lee’s ill-fated turn as The Crow. After that, let Ryan Vlastelica disillusion your mom, exploring the complicated, troubling, downright racist Gone With The Wind in his For Our Consideration.