What to Watch Thursday: The Vampire Diaries S.3 Finale, Person of Interest, Awake & More

News & Notes

Tonight, CBS has the fifth season of The Big Bang Theory, The CW has the third season finale of The Vampire Diaries and the first season finale of The Secret Circle, and NBC has the eighth season finale of The Office and the fourth season finale of Parks & Recreation.

Listen to the latest TV times Three Podcast: Ep.133, “New Cougar Awake Game Recreation.” This week I was joined by Maureen Ryan (@moryan) of the Talking TV With Ryan & Ryan Podcast and TV Critic at the Huffington Post and Stephanie Weak (@angelsteph) of the TV Rewind Podcast (@tvrewind) to talk about a few renewal/cancelation news items and then discuss recent episodes of Cougar Town, New Girl, Parks & Recreation, Awake, and Game of Thrones.

Prime Picks

The Vampire Diaries (The CW): Season Finale. Jeremy sets out to protect his sister. Stefan and Damon are headed out of Mystic Falls for a mission. Bonnie makes a deal.

Person of Interest (CBS): New. Finch tries to help the latest person of interest that seems to be mixed up in a conspiracy that he is all too familiar with. Next week is the season finale.

Awake (NBC): New. Britten can’t seem to switch to the reality with his son. Capt. Harper is increasingly worried about Britten’s erratic behavior.

Solid Selections

The Big Bang Theory (CBS): Season Finale. Everyone is helping so Howard and Bernadette can get married before the shuttle launch. Runs 31 minutes.
30 Rock (NBC): New. Avery returns from her capture in North Korea. Next week is the season finale.

The Office (NBC): Season Finale. Andy attempts to stage a coup. Robert finds a new opportunity.
Parks & Recreation (NBC): Season Finale. It’s Election Day and the results are close. Everyone is thinking about their future.

The Mentalist (CBS): New. Jane is distracted from the team’s current case by a message from Red John. Next week is the season finale.

Other Options

• Community (NBC): New. Abed has to see a therapist after he is convinced that the Dean is an impostor. Next week is the season finale.
• Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): New. The residents decide their future. Mark finally admits that he still has a thing for Lexie. Runs 61 minutes. Next week is the season finale.
• Missing (ABC): New. Becca and her two guys attempt to get out of Europe and save Michael once again. Next week is the season finale.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS): New. Audrey is trying to get prepared for being a mother. Jeff is questioning Brenda’s dating choices. Starts a minute after the half hour and runs 29 minutes. Next week is the season finale.
• Scandal (ABC): New. Gideon is investigating Amanda’s past. Starts a minute after the hour and runs 59 minutes. Next week is the season finale.
• The Secret Circle (The CW): Season Finale. Jake, Melissa and Adam attempts to save Faye from the witch hunters and Blackwell tries to get his daughters to use their dark magic. Dawn and Charles may have come across another way to get back their power.

Sports Notes

• MLB Network has a game tonight.
• NBA TV has an NBA Playoff game tonight.
• TNT has doubleheader NBA Playoff action tonight.

Late Night

• In Plain Sight (USA Network): Repeat. Last Friday’s series finale episode, “All’s Well That Ends Well,” replays.

TV Marathons

Discovery Channel has nine episodes of MythBusters.
Oxygen has 10 episodes of Roseanne today.
TV One has 12 episodes of Half & Half early.
USA Network has five episodes of Burn Notice followed by seven episodes of NCIS.