It’s finally warming up outside, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave the comfort of your living room. The spring television season is just beginning, and April gives us plenty of reasons to stay glued to our TV sets. There is the long-awaited return of many network favorites as well as a handful of premieres that surely belong on your must-watch list.
April 4: Raising Hope Series Finale
For four seasons, Raising Hope had a relatively quiet but incredibly funny run on Fox. Created by Greg Garcia, who unfortunately left after the third season, Raising Hope featured one of the sweetest — though not the smartest — families on television. The hour-long finale was written with the end in mind, so at least we’ll get some closure. Here’s hoping the excellent cast will go on to do more great things.
April 6: HBO Returns
Last month, Girls, Looking, and True Detective all aired season finales, but HBO isn’t about to leave us high and dry. On April 6, Sunday TV is back in full swing. The Season 4 premiere of Game of Thrones airs at 9, followed by the premiere episode of tech-bro comedy Silicon Valley and the very funny Veep, now going into its third season.
April 13: Mad Men‘s Final Season Begins
Perhaps the most anticipated premiere of 2014, Mad Men begins its seventh and final season on April 13. Based on the promos, we know that Don Draper gets off a plane and maybe there’s some more LSD experimentation. Don’t get too excited about the show’s end — the final season is split into two parts.
April 15: Fargo Premieres on FX
FX is one of the most interesting networks out there right now, as evidenced by the upcoming “limited series” Fargo, based on the Coen Brothers movie of the same name. It’s a strange choice to adapt but has a great cast (Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Kate Walsh, Bob Odenkirk, Glenn Howerton, etc.) and the pilot is as funny as it is dark.
April 17: Scandal, Community, and Parenthood Finales
There’s about to be a huge hole in your Thursday nights. On April 17, three of our favorite shows come to an end. ABC’s Scandal finishes a shortened third season while both Community and Parenthood will wrap up their fifth seasons. None of these shows have been renewed but Scandal is a sure thing, Parenthood has seen a recent increase in ratings, and Community might just fulfill its “six seasons and a movie” rallying cry.
April 19: Orphan Black
This runaway hit will finally come back on April 19, and it’s definitely going to be one of the most talked-about shows of the spring. According to mega-talented star Tatiana Maslany, the second season is going to be bigger and better, with a heavy dose of paranoia and mortality.
April 21: Archer Finale
For this fifth season of Archer, creator Adam Reed blew up the original premise of the show — literally. ISIS was destroyed in the first episode, and the show became Archer: Vice. This change was beneficial; there were more laughs in the Season 5 premiere than all of last season. This season comes to an end on April 21, but Archer has already been renewed for both a sixth and seventh season.
April 22: Faking It Premieres on MTV
Faking It hasn’t premiered yet, but it already has a portion of the Internet pissed off. This eight-episode scripted romantic comedy on MTV centers on two high school girls who pretend to be lesbians when they realize the positive effect it has on their popularity. MTV has surprised us before with scripted teen dramas — Awkward. returns on April 15 — but this has the potential to be a total wreck.
April 27: HBO’s Last Week With John Oliver Premieres
Do we really need another satirical late-night news show? Yes, we do, but only because it’s hosted by the great John Oliver. It’s familiar territory to John Oliver after all of his work on The Daily Show, but still exciting. Last Week will provide a comedic take on the week’s biggest news, politics, and current events.
April 29: Playing House
Playing House is USA’s upcoming sitcom, and I have no doubt that it will be great. Not only has the network found recent sitcom success with Sirens, but Playing House stars the flawless duo of Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair, previously seen on Best Friends Forever. The series is based on their real-life friendship and boasts amazing guest stars like Jason Mantzoukas and Andy Daly.