Patton Oswalt would like you to #SaveAPBio

By Allison Shoemaker | June 13, 2019 | 5:00am

TV Lists What's On Tonight

Patton Oswalt would like you to #SaveAPBio

Glenn Howerton, Patton Oswalt Photo: Chris Haston

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Thursday, June 13. All times are Eastern.

Top pick

A.P. Bio (NBC, 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., second-season finale): Like a number of great sitcoms, A.P. Bio took a moment to really find its footing. It was always good, but in its second season, it hit its stride, and has recently aired some of the smartest, most surprising minutes of the year. And then it got cancelled.

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“They’re definitely still trying to save it,” Patton Oswalt told The A.V. Club last week, “but I almost don’t want to know the odds. I know that Mike O’Brien and some others are talking to people that I can’t say they’re talking to—I hope I’m not being cheesy or intentionally vague—but the important thing is that it’s not just us that don’t want it to go away. Of course we don’t want it to go away, but there are people outside the show who don’t want it to go away, and I find that encouraging.”

He’s not just talking about the denizens of the internet, either, although that’s also been encouraging. “The outpouring of support for the show has been amazing,” Oswalt said. And for those among that group who’d like to do their part to keep the show alive, he’s got some a few specific requests:

“Watch it live. Really, really tune in big. Tune in on Thursday. Those final two episodes, we really, really need that spike in viewership live. And then if you still want to do more, watch it on Hulu… I think there’s a transition going on between people who know how streaming numbers work, and people who are just concerned with how TV numbers work. So, if we can get a spike that’s blatant, like, oh my god, look at that, that would be great.”

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, Oswalt suggested a few episodes that might get you on the right path:

Season 1, episode 11, “Eight Pigs And A Rat.” “Carrie Brownstein directed that one, and she did an incredible job.”
Season 2, episode 3, “Wednesday Morning, 8 A.M.”
Season 2, episode 7, “Personal Everest.”

The final two episodes of the season—but hopefully not the series—air tonight.

Regular coverage

iZombie (The CW, 8 p.m.)

Wild card

Baskets (FX, 10 p.m.): Keep an eye out for Vikram Murthi’s pre-air review of the fourth (!) season of Zach Galifianakis’ affecting, absurd sad clown series, which earned Louie Anderson an Emmy and Galifianakis a nomination for his role as twins Chip and Dale Baskets.