Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET
This isn’t the sort of tie-in publicity anyone wants. This week, as Glee dives into disco by saluting the movie, and especially the soundtrack of, Saturday Night Fever, the news has broken that Bee Gees founding member Robin Gibb is in a coma. Not the ideal association you want, perhaps, when presented with a new rendition of “Staying Alive.”
Flix, 8:00 p.m. ET
Until last month, when Meryl Streep won an Academy Award for The Iron Lady, this 1982 drama was the last performance for which she actually walked away with a Best Actress Oscar. Thirty years ago. What a slacker. And what a movie. In this titular role, she plays a Polish refugee having a tough time of it in post-WWII Brooklyn, and coping – or trying to – with help from some equally intense friends (Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol). Whether to watch this dark William Styron drama tonight or opt for lighter, less involving but disturbing fare? That’s a tough choice. But not as tough as Sophie’s…
NBC, 9:00 p.m. ET
Tonight is another elimination show – but these judges have gotten so soothing, and so constant, with their superlatives that anything less than “superstar” is likely to sting – and any elimination at all will come as a shock. At least to those on the receiving end. The interplay among the judges, though, continues to be this show’s central driving force, at least in the post-audition phase.
CW, 9:00 p.m. ET
SEASON FINALE: Mea culpa. Last week I identified that night’s episode of Ringer as the season finale. Imagine my surprise when I watched it on air and it concluded with promos for next week’s episode. So honest: This is the season finale. I blame last week’s confusion on my evil twin. Get used to him.
Fox, 9:30 p.m. ET
SEASON FINALE: A courtroom episode – a custody battle for Hope – allows this series, like Seinfeld in its final episode, to populate the court with familiar faces from previous episodes. And in this case, some of the faces are not only from previous episodes, but from series creator Greg Garcia’s previous loony sitcom, My Name Is Earl. Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee and Jaime Pressly are all here, again.