There are scores of TV shows out there, with dozens of new episodes each week, not to mention everything you can find on Hulu Plus, Netflix streaming, and HBO Go. How’s a viewer to keep up? To help you sort through all that television has to offer, Flavorwire is compiling the five best moments on TV each week. Things get weird this week, with nerds, drunks, and Peaches galore!
(ABC/Adam Taylor)
500 Questions lets the nerds shine
I stumbled across this game show’s second season premiere last night and it’s my new favorite show. 500 Questions is a quiz show whose contestants are actually really smart. The show pits two smarty-pants contestants against each other; the opponent gets to choose the player’s category, and if you get three questions wrong in a row, you’re out. (On the two-hour premiere, legendary Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings struck out surprisingly quickly.) The show’s host, Good Morning America’s Dan Harris, banters with the contestants just enough, and the range of the players’ knowledge is truly impressive. The quiz show lasts just five episodes, so tune in tonight, Saturday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Peaches on Orphan Black
Orphan Black is one of the few shows filmed in Toronto that’s also set in Toronto, and last night’s episode featured one of the city’s most beloved exports, Peaches (three guesses where this writer hails from!). When Sarah and Cosima inadvertently trigger Kendall Malone’s death, Sarah spirals into grief, retreating to her old, hard-partying ways by getting drunk and high, taking part in a threesome — and rockin’ out to Peaches.
“Farewell, Mr. Bunting”
The writing on SNL has been less than exciting for the past few years, but sometimes a sketch breaks from ho-hum pack. On Saturday, SNL’s season finale, hosted by former cast member Fred Armisen, that sketch was “Farewell, Mr. Bunting,” the Dead Poets Society spoof no one really asked for — and everyone loved. I won’t spoil it if you haven’t yet seen it, but suffice it to say it takes a surprising turn….
(ABC/Rick Rowell)
Bachelorette JoJo embarks on her quest for love
Where to begin? Saint Nick, the suitor who showed up in a Santa suit (beard included)? Damn Daniel, the drunk Canadian? The “erectile dysfunction expert”? The guy who told JoJo to squeeze his balls? The belly-button poking? Lord, it’s going to be a long summer. Stay strong, JoJo!
(ABC/Mark Levine)
WTF, Nashville?
You call that a finale?! The so-called series finale of Nashville was a hot mess, partly because it was trying to be both definitive and open-ended — ABC cancelled the music-biz drama, but its production company is shopping the show to other networks. The Season 4 finale, we’ll call it, didn’t exactly make a strong case for continuing the show, and as I wrote yesterday, I’d be surprised if stars Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere stay on for a fifth season. At least we got a Scarlett-Gunnar reunion? Smh, Nashville.