Perhaps the presence of a part-time Justified player can get you interested in a late-season episode of The Big Bang Theory?
Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Thursday, May 3. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
The Big Bang Theory (CBS, 8 p.m.): Obviously, you have other priorities in this time slot. But if you’re curious about where Justified’s Charlie Weaver ended up at the end of “When The Guns Come Out,” well… you can set your DVR for The Big Bang Theory and pretend like Casey Sander is playing a wily, newly flush-with-cash employee of the Lexington Marshals’ office, and not Bernadette’s intimidating father. And then Oliver Sava can pretend like NASA would legitimately give a fuck about Leonard and Bernadette’s wedding plans, and we’ll all be happy.
REGULAR COVERAGE
The Vampire Diaries (The CW, 8 p.m.): Klaus tries to escape Mystic Falls with Elena in tow—sort of like a modern-day Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, only Clyde’s a rampaging half-vampire/half-werewolf, and Bonnie isn’t accompanying him of her own volition. Carrie Raisler predicts a bloodier end than the one Arthur Penn cooked up for his Bonnie And Clyde.
American Idol (Fox, 8 p.m.): The fourth American Idol, Carrie Underwood, returns to her old stomping grounds to cruelly dangle the carrot of an actual music career in front of the 11th-season hopefuls’ carts. Claire Zulkey predicts Skylar will knock out Underwood before the show and steal her performance slot.
Community (NBC, 8 p.m.): Last week, Community lost one of its most valuable supporting characters, as Alex “Star-Burns” Osbourne perished in an offscreen mobile-meth-lab explosion. He is survived by every other character on the show, who split the burden of grief with Todd VanDerWerff.
30 Rock (NBC, 8:30): In its second stunt episode in two weeks (because it’s sweeps and no one’s watching anyway, so why shouldn’t it do two stunt episodes in a row), The Queen Of Jordan cameras return to TGS, thus making the fake reality show the first fake source for the fake news about Avery Jessup-Donaghy. Meredith Blake stands by to break through the thick layers of meta.
The Secret Circle (The CW, 9 p.m.): When you’re throwing a prom in a universe where magic exists, your themes become extremely limited; anything with “enchantment” in the name seems downright mundane. Good thing all that crystal nonsense turns The Secret Circle’s first prom into a high-stakes deathtrap. Will you go to this high-stakes deathtrap with Katherine Miller? Check “yes” or “no.”