Where there’s no smoke, is there still Constantine?

Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, October 24, and Saturday, October 25. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Constantine (NBC, 10 p.m., Friday): DC Comics’ John Constantine, the morally ambiguous, pansexual, chain-smoking, Liverpudlian supernatural detective—he of the mysterious, possibly dubious mystic powers—gets his own American network TV show! It seems a bold choice for NBC’s entry into the superhero TV race, but Brandon Nowalk is just a wee bit concerned that the network has banned Constantine’s Silk Cuts and that he’s fighting all-American evil for some reason. Will Constantine be the magnificent bastard of comics legend, walking the razor’s edge of damnation, or is his show just a watery version of Supernatural? Brandon’s just glad they let star Matt Ryan keep his accent at least.
Also noted
Comedy Bang! Bang! (IFC, 11 p.m., Friday): Steven Yeun tells Scott Aukerman he’s very worried about the coming zombie apocalypse. Which makes sense, as poor Glenn has been at the top of everyone’s Walking Dead death pool for years. Emily L. Stephens lets us know if he survives an episode that includes Horatio Sanz as a gentleman who wants to rub pregnant women, and a possible zombie apocalypse. Plus, this happens—I have no further information:
Doctor Who (BBC America, 9 p.m., Saturday): Peter Capaldi’s Doctor investigates the slowest Earth invasion since the “Year Of The Slow Invasion,” when London starts crawling with suspicious trees. Alasdair Wilkins suspects J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson, maybe a Lorax—he’ll let us know.
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:30 p.m., Saturday): Reviews (like Dennis Perkins’) suggest that the current SNL cast is still trying to find itself, something that’s unlikely to happen when the rubber-faced comedy juggernaut that is Jim Carrey brings that all-devouring In Living Color energy to Studio 8H to promote that Dumb And Dumber sequel all the kids are so excited about. Australian rapstress/unwise Tweetstress Iggy Azalea tags along for extra subtlety.
Regular coverage
The Legend Of Korra (12 p.m., Friday)
TV Club Classic
Transparent (2 p.m., Friday): Eric Thurm’s reviews of this Jeffrey Tambor series about a patriarch-turned-matriarch have been straight A’s. All right, there was one B-plus in there, but that’s just Eric trying to keep his “cool reviewer” cred.
Elsewhere in TV Club
Newest A.V. Club film reviewer Keith Uhlich might have drawn the short straw to review the risible Bigfoot Blair Witch-knockoff Exists (from one of the Blair Witch directors, no less), but at least he brought back the best screen shot of the week. (Damn this A.V. Club hazing!) Them in her column “Who In The World Is Cameron Esposito,” the A.V. Club contributor and stand-up comic grades her childhood Halloween costumes and explains how the holiday acts as a potent metaphor for gay kids‘ (and adults’) identities. (Bonus points for the 9-year-old Cameron’s bloody pirate costume photo.) Meanwhile on the comics front, Oliver Sava eloquently bemoans the impending cancellation of one of his favorite titles, Marvel’s She-Hulk. Praising the book (and urging the “House Of Ideas” to change its collective mind, Oliver states:
She-Hulk is the perfect comic for fans of TV shows like The Good Wife, offering sophisticated legal drama focused around a multi-dimensional female lead, but also incorporating humor and a classic sense of superhero fun to keep the tone light and breezy.