What to Watch Tonight: Elite 8 Action, Mildred Pierce Miniseries Premiere, Californication S.4 Finale & Shameless S.1 Finale

News & Notes

On cable tonight, Comedy Central has a Lisa Lampenelli: Tough Love comedy special, HBO has the miniseries premiere of Mildred Pierce, National Geographic has the second season finale of Alaska State Troopers, Showtime has the fourth season finale of Californication and the first season finale of Shameless, TLC has a William & Kate: Inside the Royal Wedding special, Travel Channel has a Travel Channel Uncut: Bloopers and Wrong Turns special, and WE tv has the fourth season premiere of Amazing Wedding Cakes.

Prime Picks

The Simpsons (FOX): New. Marge gets Homer to take a class on being a better father. Bart becomes the school bully. Runs 30 minutes.

Californication (Showtime): Season Finale. Things between real life and the movie begin to really blur. Plays twice and again later. Solid finale to a really good season that would’ve worked nicely as a series finale had Showtime not renewed it for a fifth season.

Shameless (Showtime): Season Finale. Frank and Karen’s have a secret that gets out. Liam and Lip end up in jail and Fiona has to get them out. Steve wants Fiona to leave town with him. Plays again later.

Solid Selections

America’s Next Great Restaurant (NBC): New. A small version of each remaining contestant’s restaurant is built and a complete meal put together.

Army Wives (Lifetime): New. Everyone is grieving over the loss of a loved one. Plays again later.

Breakout Kings (A&E): New. The team is after an escaped pedophile. Plays twice and again later twice. Two previous episodes replay earlier in the day.

Other Options

• Challenge (Food Network): New. Four competitors attempt to build the best “Easter Cakes” for a shot at $10,000. Plays again later.
• Chopped: All-Stars (Food Network): New. Part four of this five part special has 16 celebrity chefs taking the Chopped challenge to win $50,000 for their favorite charity. Plays again later.
• Mildred Pierce (HBO): Miniseries Premiere. The first two parts of this five-part miniseries play tonight. The next three parts play over the next three Sunday nights. In 1931 California, a woman, played by Kate Winslet, throws her cheating husband out and then must fend for herself to support her two children. Based on the novel by James M. Cain. Runs two hours and five minutes. Plays again later. This has a great cast that includes recent Oscar winner Melissa Leo, Guy Pearce and others, in addition to Winslet, all doing fine work. The recreation of the 1930s is excellently done. The sets, wardrobe, etc. are just fantastic. But, I was bored, as this is a slow mover and there is three more hours after tonight, which I have yet to watch. This is not my cup of tea, even if the ingredients are all of top quality.

Sports Notes

• ABC has IndyCar racing action with the Honda Grand Prix.
• CBS has doubleheader NCAA Basketball Tournament “Elite 8” action.
• ESPN has a NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament game early and later doubleheader NBA action with the Portland Trail Blazers at the team that shall not be named followed by the Dallas Mavericks at the Phoenix Suns.
• ESPN2 has tripleheader NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament action.
• FOX has NASCAR racing action with the Sprint Cup: Auto Club 400.
• NBC has PGA Tour coverage.

TV Marathons

A&E has five episodes of Criminal Minds tonight.
Bravo has six episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County tonight.
Oxygen has seven episodes of America’s Next Top Model.
Spike TV has 13 episodes of Deadliest Warrior.
TNT has 10 episodes of Law & Order early.
USA has 17 episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit tonight.
WE tv has six episodes of Girl Meets Gown early followed by six episodes of My Fair Wedding With David Tutera.