Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, April 20, and Saturday, April 21. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (The Hub, 1 p.m., Saturday): Todd VanDerWerff doesn’t usually get excited for things, because he’s an emotionless robot who can only be provoked to even the mildest of smiles by animated .GIFs of otters doing cute things, but he’s been waiting for the “Royal Wedding” episode of this show, pretty much ever since he got the screeners for it about a month ago. As such, we thought we’d alert all of you as well, so you may gather with Todd and discuss the latest in pony matrimony and the best pony fashions of the big day. Pony!
REGULAR COVERAGE
Fringe (Fox, 9 p.m., Friday): We’re so excited for this episode’s trip to the future that we almost made it the top pick, before we remembered the ponies. But the thing we might be most excited for is that the episode will surely feature NEW CREDITS. Noel Murray can barely contain himself, so excited is he.
Grimm (NBC, 9 p.m., Friday): A creature bounty hunter comes to town in an episode entitled “Cat And Mouse.” Kevin McFarland isn’t sure why anyone would choose that title for this episode… unless the episode just features the wacky antics of an animated cat and mouse, darting all over Portland. Great!
Supernatural (The CW, 9 p.m., Friday): “Sam and Dean reconnect with an old hunter friend,” says the episode description. An old hunter friend? An old hunter friend?! Didn’t this show kill off all of their old hunter friends?! Phil Dyess-Nugent is pulling for that guy who was in that one episode in season four.
Magic City (Starz, 10 p.m., Friday): We decided to add this show at the last minute last week. Even Will Harris was taken aback! But now he’s ready for super cool fun times in the Miami sun and lots of stylish people doing stylish things. That’s our Will Harris! Known for his dedication to the finer things in life!
The Legend Of Korra (Nickelodeon, 11 a.m., Saturday): You’ve informed us enough times that the catchphrase we were searching for last week was “Yip, yip!” and now we’ve just started saying that apropos of nothing in our own lives. Emily Guendelsberger says it to everyone she meets outside.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Veronica Mars (11 a.m., Friday): Veronica digs into some standalone cases, and the show frantically attempts to gain enough viewers to win a fourth season. Of course, all of us out here know how this ends, but Rowan Kaiser doesn’t yet know there won’t be a year four, so nobody tell him, okay?
Angel (1 p.m., Friday): Man, we love “Smile Time,” which might be the definition of a show like this doing a “gimmick” episode right. We’re less certain on the other hour Noel Murray watches this week, which involves a flashback to World War II and fisticuffs on a submarine. Actually, that sounds amazing.
The Adventures Of Pete & Pete (3 p.m., Friday): As the show enters its final stretch of episodes, it spends more time thinking about its ancillary characters than not, and Marah Eakin wishes—and not for the last time—that there had been an entire two-parter dedicated to the wonder that is Bus Driver Stu.
The Twilight Zone (1 p.m., Saturday): Zack Handlen has never received a phone call from the dead, but if he did receive one, he wouldn’t bother asking about such concerns as “What happens after we die?” or anything like that. No, he’d probably just scream, “YOU OWE ME MONEY!” over and over. Of course.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
I Brake For Yard Sales (HGTV, 8 p.m., Friday): So do we! Commenters of the What’s On Tonight feature: Now is the time to share your favorite yard sale memories with each other! Be it the time you totally got a steal on those ugly-ass chairs or the time you bought all those paintings of clowns, we wanna hear it!
Nikita (The CW, 8 p.m., Friday): We’ve heard this show has gotten unbelievable this season, but none of us watch it. This is probably why it’s going to be canceled, huh? When it pops up on Netflix and we see it’s amazing, and we say, “Why didn’t you tell me about it?” don’t punch us too hard, all right?
Jennie Garth: A Little Bit Country (CMT, 9 p.m., Friday): True facts: CMT called us and was, all, “Hey, what could we put on TV that would be beloved by the TV Club commenters?” We said, “Have you thought about Jennie Garth?” “No. No, we have not. But awesome idea!” You’re welcome, you guys.
The Ricky Gervais Show (HBO, 9 p.m., Friday): It’s time for our customary check-in on this show as it begins its third season. This year, Rowan Kaiser does the honors of running down what Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington have to say that’s so funny. Because almost all of it is.
The Wife He Met Online (Lifetime, 8 p.m., Saturday): Wait, wait, don’t tell us, Lifetime! The wife he met online, she was totally a psychopath, right? And she threatened to kill him and his children if he didn’t cooperate? Let this be a lesson to you, commenters: Every single one of you is a twisted, violent deviant!
Paul F. Tompkins: Laboring Under Delusions (Comedy Central, 11 p.m., Saturday): Here at TV Club, we love Paul F. Tompkins, which is why Erik Adams will be checking out the comedian’s new hour-long stand-up special. We predict there will be jokes, and he will laugh. But, then, what do we know?
Dead Again (Flix, 8 p.m., Friday): It’s “Britisher movie night” here at What’s On Tonight, and our first recommendation is this charming Kenneth Branagh film that mixes up murder mysteries and reincarnation into one heady brew. Not everything works, but enough does that you’ll have fun.
Red Riding: 1974 (Sundance, 8 p.m., Friday): Here’s another option from the ol’ United Kingdom, in which Andrew Garfield plays a journalist investigating unsolved child killings. It’s part of a trilogy of hard-boiled, awesome crime films, so if you like it, stick around for the second and third entries.
Friends With Benefits (Starz, 7:05 p.m., Saturday): We have this one friend who saw this movie and said he laughed at it a lot. We usually trust his taste in comedies, but we haven’t, ourselves, seen it. So if you watch it, know that it was What’s On Tonight’s friend that recommended it, not your ol’ buddy WOT.
NBA Basketball: Lakers at Spurs (ESPN, 9:30 p.m., Friday): With the playoffs getting closer and closer, every game counts, and the Lakers find themselves pitched in a bitter battle with their same-city rivals, the Clippers, for the third seed in the West. Boys, boys, relax. You can both play in the Staples Center!
Stanley Cup playoff: Game 5: Senators at Rangers (NBC Sports, 7 p.m., Saturday): If not for the Los Angeles Kings, who’ve got the Vancouver Canucks against the wall, the way the Ottawa Senators, the other eight seed, have wrestled the New York Rangers to a tie would seem even more impressive.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The Vampire Diaries (Thursday): The CW’s flagship supernatural soap opera returned with a pip of an episode, and Carrie Raisler was there to chronicle every blood-soaked minute. We haven’t watched it yet, so don’t spoil us, but we’re going to guess there was a lot of passionate violence and gore.