What’s Worth Watching: ‘Archer’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘The Eighties’ and more for Thursday, March 31
Archer (10/9c, FX): Hollywood noir will never be the same, with the arrival of The Figgis Agency—the new workplace for the hapless former spies of this hilariously twisted animated comedy. Having been blackballed by the CIA, Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) and crew set up shop in L.A. as private-eyes, but only Cyril (Chris Parnell) has the credentials to be licensed. Ergo, “Figgis Agency” instead of “Archer & Co.” The sniping and snarking is as richly funny as ever as they take their first big client, a glamorous movie star seeking the return of a stolen disc with sensitive information. To say it doesn’t go smoothly is to say it’s another episode of Archer.
Grey’s Anatomy (8/7c, ABC): After much urging and soul-searching, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) aka The Widow McDreamy finally makes a move with her handsome military-doctor suitor (Scott Elrod), while other relationships at the hospital—Maggie (Kelly McCreary) and Andrew (Giacomo Gianniotti), Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) and Owen (Kevin McKidd)—go through their own usual ups and downs. In other Shondaland news: Series star Scott Foley directs Scandal (9/8c), in which Olivia (Kerry Washington) debates whether to expose dirty laundry on a political rival; and on the new The Catch (10/9c), Alice (Mireille Enos) stays busy tracking down her cad, Ben (Peter Krause), while his team of cash-strapped con artists seek a new target.
The Eighties (9/8c, CNN): Tom Hanks is among the producers of a new seven-part series that begins its look back at the 1980s with a two-hour episode on the TV of the times, dominated by prime-time soaps like Dallas and Dynasty and family comedies including the blockbuster The Cosby Show. Perhaps even more important than the shows we watched was the change in how we watched, brought about by the advent of the VCR and remote control.
Inside Thursday TV: Christopher Meloni visits James Lipton and Bravo’s too-seldom-seen Inside the Actors Studio (8/7c) to discuss his long run (though not long enough for fans) on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and his groundbreaking role as the sexually charged Keller on HBO’s Oz. … In the hourlong season finale of CBS’s Life in Pieces (8:30/7:30c), John and Joan (James Brolin, Dianne Wiest) drop a bombshell on the family they’ve been keeping secret for 35 years, while Greg (Colin Hanks) quits his job. … Hoisting weapons in a duel, it would probably be a draw between The Walking Dead warrior queens Sasha and Maggie. But who will prevail when Sonequa Martin-Green and Lauren Cohan face off in Spike’s Lip Sync Battle (10/9c)?
