Television, perfected: Discovery feeds a man to a giant snake
Here’s what’s up in the world of television for Sunday, December 6. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Eaten Alive (Discovery, 9 p.m.): Since RCA displayed its world-changing innovation at the 1939 World’s Fair, television has brought mankind’s greatest triumphs to the masses: The moon landing, the Olympics, the fall of the Berlin Wall, The Rockefeller Center Salute To Fireworks. But all of these achievements pale in comparison to the wonders that viewers will behold when they tune in to the Discovery Channel tonight and see a live anaconda devour a similar live human being. Surely, this is the type of thing Philo T. Farnsworth and Vladimir K. Zworykin envisioned before their collective innovations were steamrolled by the Radio Corporation of America: Man, anaconda, man force-feeding himself to anaconda. Truly, ours is a golden age of television.
Also noted
The Simpsons (Fox, 8 p.m.): It’s no animal activist giving back to nature by giving himself to nature, but The Simpsons’ 25th birthday victory lap hits a full-circle moment tonight, as the show’s most recent Christmas episode airs 10 days shy of “The Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire”’s 25th anniversary.
The Librarians (TNT, 8 p.m.): An elite team of adventurers retrieves and protects the world’s magical artifacts, under a banner that’d be more appropriate for a band of super-“shoosh”ers. Joshua Alston says the first two episodes are fun, but all that fun and magic and non-shooshing might be too much to bear week after week. Have they considered adding an anaconda?
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox, 8:30 p.m.): All you need to know about your television priorities is in the title of tonight’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine: “The Return Of The Pontiac Bandit.” LaToya Ferguson thinks it’ll be the most fun you can have tonight without watching a man get eaten by a snake.
Regular coverage
Homeland (Showtime, 9 p.m.)
The Newsroom (HBO, 9 p.m.)
Bob’s Burgers (Fox, 9:30 p.m.)
The Comeback (HBO, 10 p.m.)