TV on Tap: FX Sends “Archer” On More Missions, USA Plans to Go to “Summer Camp” and Syfy’s Robots Battle for a Solid Debut

Ben Hoffman gratuates from infoMania to The Ben Show on Comedy Central.

News

Former Common Law cop Michael Ealy is moving on to play an android cop in a pilot about a future where police officers are paired with an android partner.

This is starting to feel like a curse for Syfy. The British fantasy series Sinbad has been cancelled after just one season. The series is set to debut on Syfy in April and is the second imported series (along with Primeval: New World) to get the axe before it can make its debut stateside this year. I guess I should be happy there’s already a second season of Continuum in the works.

The cast for Will Arnett‘s CBS comedy pilot keeps getting better, adding Mary Elizabeth Ellis (probably most easily recognized as The Waitress from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) to play Arnett’s sister.

USA has ordered a reality series, Summer Camp that will feature competitions “inspired by classic camp games.” Sadly, I don’t think they mean that kind of camp or else it would be a RuPaul’s Drag Race spin-off. It also comes from the producers of Big Brother which has me worried that it’ll share the CBS series’ warped sense of what makes a compelling personality.

TBS’ next sitcom has recruited The Office alum Melora Hardin to be the boss on the workplace comedy it’s developing. Do It Yourself will follow a laid-off teacher who takes a job at a big box home improvement store.

The ratings never had us worried about its future, but it’s still great news that FX has ordered a fifth season of Archer.

The Carrie Diaries has booked a couple of Sex and the City alums including Noelle Beck, who readers will more likely recognize as As the World Turns‘ replacement Lily.

Please let this be the beginning of a feud between Morrissey and Jimmy Kimmel. Because that sounds like it would be hilarious to follow.

In talking with Vulture, Enlightened creator Mike White ponders the role misogyny has in his show’s struggle, “When the show came out, I saw that because the face of the show was a woman, it was put in this box with The Big C and these other female-led shows. And somehow it was a “less than” kind of show just from people coming to it that way. If we had a male lead character, I think people would have approached it in a different, kind of more serious-minded way. It’s taken almost eighteen episodes to get people to get it.”

Kiefer Sutherland has joined an NBC pilot, fueling speculation that Touch‘s days are numbered. (The ratings are fueling that speculation the most.) Sutherland’s pilot is a drama about a criminal who suddenly turns himself in, offering information about his accomplices. Sorry, I think that means we’ll still be talking about charismatic serial killers in the fall.

Vulture has put together a list of every celebrity that’s been mocked on South Park. There’s something about seeing all those jokes together that makes me a little uncomfortable.

If Vince August looks familiar to you, it might be because the comedian has appeared on the hidden camera show Primetime: What Would You Do? as one of the jerks who says awful things so that the cameras can catch the bystanders’ reaction. However, he is also a New Jersey municipal judge and those two jobs come in conflict since the people who are in charge of the judiciary in New Jersey don’t like a judge having such a public side career.

Syfy got good news with the debut of Robot Combat League. Ratings-wise it was the channel’s best unscripted premiere in 2 years.

Listings

Anderson Live (syndicated) Check local listings
Anderson is joined by CNN’s Isha Sesay for the Next Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge, where three viewers try to impress Anderson with their cookie recipe. Does anyone know if Anderson has picked a side in the battle of Team Crunchy vs Team Chewy?

Days of Our Lives (NBC) Check local listings
Let’s see… Nick knows something about Will that could get him declared an unfit father, Sonny knows something about Gabi that should get her declared an unfit mother. That should lead to some soapy goodness, but don’t the family court judges in Salem have to grade on a curve? If attempted murder or kidnapping your romantic rival disqualified someone from being a parent, the family trees in Salem would just be a bundle of sticks. We’ll be following the drama with a liveblog, so be sure to come back at 1PM Eastern!

Community (NBC) 8:00 PM ET
So… are the Community writers just flat-out writing Troy and Abed as a couple now? I’m fine with that, especially if that means some study dates since the study group is about to begin their new history class. Their new professor is played by Malcolm McDowell. That’s got to mean trouble, right?

Project Runway (Lifetime) 9:00 PM ET
Is there anything more dreaded than the team challenge where the designers have to create for someone ordinary? Sure, when a designer adapts creatively it’s amazing, but there’s usually somebody who is just awful in expressing their unhappiness at dealing with something other than a fashion model’s measurements.

Anger Management (FX) 9:30 PM ET
Charlie gets a celebrity client in the form of Cee Lo Green, which makes sense considering the name of his biggest hit. Maybe he should share sessions with Lily Allen.

The Ben Show (Comedy Central) 10:00 PM ET
I still miss infoMania for the way it delivered smart cultural commentary in a very entertaining way. Comedy Central is giving former infoMania contributor Ben Hoffman a show that mixes man-on-the-street interviews, animation and really awkward transitions.

Archer (FX) 10:00 PM ET
Sterling, Lana and Cyril are having their own kitchen nightmare thanks to a mission that sends them undercover working for a terror of a chef (voiced by Anthony Bourdain). I hope Woodhouse is there to see Sterling get yelled at by a tyrannical boss.

King of the Nerds (TBS) 10:00 PM E
It’s the “last episode before the finale” because, apparently TBS doesn’t think people who watch a show called King of the Nerds would know the word “penultimate”. And, somehow, TBS is hoping that those viewers will get engaged in an engineering challenge. Still, we’re finally getting an engineering challenge — at the point when most of the nerds with a science background have been eliminated. Does that leave Moo the obvious winner?

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) 11:00 PM ET
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a national holiday because Rachel Maddow and Jon are having a conversation tonight.

Conan (TBS) 11:00 PM ET
It’s a somewhat slow TV night and I feel an enduring loyalty to comedian Eugene Mirman, who offered a lot of relief with the audio of him pranking a homophobic phone company in 2004 (when the election was generating a lot of homophobic dialogue), so why not watch the very funny man chat with Conan?

Kathy (Bravo) 11:30 PM ET
Bravo’s giving Kathy a new, later time slot. To make sure people stick around for it, Kathy’s invited Margaret Cho, Johnny Weir and… er, Carmen Electra to sit on the couch.

What will you be watching tonight? Please share in the comments!

Tomorrow’s Preview

Anderson Live (syndicated) Check local listings
Anderson‘s spending his Friday with co-host Vivica A. Fox and Psych star Dule Hill.