Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Banshee (Cinemax, 10 p.m., Friday): As if the tiny town of Banshee, Pennsylvania, didn’t have enough problems—murderous Amish crime kingpins, neo-Nazis, rogue Marine officers, Ukrainian gangsters, pissed-off Native American gangs, probably a few more workaday murderers we’ve forgotten—there’s a serial killer in town! Man. To make things worse, the town begins the season without Anthony Starr’s Sheriff Lucas Hood, who quit after the deadly assault on that rogue Marine base in last season’s finale, when Hoon Lee’s Job was kidnapped, and the husband of sometime-lover Carrie (Ivana Miličević) got killed. Luckily(?) for Banshee, new arrival Eliza Dushku roundhouse-kicks her way into town as a badass FBI profiler who, undoubtedly, brings along a fresh heap of trouble and secrets of her own (it is Banshee, after all). Les Chappell is firmly under Banshee’s spell (banshees cast spells, right?), saying of last season’s satisfyingly over-the-top finale: “It’s a testament to the power of Banshee that the final feeling isn’t exhaustion but excitement for what comes next.” Well—here’s what comes next.
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m., Saturday): Peter Dinklage hosts, people. And we all know what’s in his Tumblr.
Premieres and finales
The Ranch (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., Friday): Executive producer Ashton Kutcher re-teams with his Two And A Half Men showrunners for this rural sitcom about a journeyman football player who returns home to his family’s struggling Colorado cattle ranch. Kutcher stars as former footballer and fuckup Colt, reuniting with his former That ’70s Show pal Danny Masterson as his brother, Rooster, and all-time all-stars Sam Elliott and Debra Winger as his sparring, separated, but still-hot-for-each-other parents. The first half of the season hits Netflix today, with the rest coming later in the year, promising 20 episodes of boozy, crusty, gun-toting red-state comedy from the house of Kutcher. Our Danette Chavez takes in the view with her TV Review of the front 10.
Islands Of The Future (Pivot, 7:30 p.m., Friday): This new documentary miniseries examines the ways island communities off the coast of Europe are creating their own, energy-independent fiefdoms, using wind, geothermal, solar, and possibly a donkey turning a huge wheel to create sustainability.
Dead 7 (Syfy, 8 p.m., Friday): The random concept spinning wheel over at Syfy comes up… zombies, and… boy bands, as former Backstreet Boy Nick Carter pens and stars in this, yup, former boy band singer vs. zombies movie. Look for members of Backstreet Boys, ’N Sync, O-Town, and 98 Degrees to strap on six-guns and take aim at extras filched from Z Nation as they try to clean up the Wild West with choreographed violence and increasingly wobbly harmonies. Alex McCown drew whichever length of straw you draw to get assigned the TV Review for something like this.