Catch all of this week’s must-see TV shows on Comcast Cable!
This week is season finale week for the networks, which means it’s time to crank up that DVR. Among the week’s sweetest treats are the following:
American Idol
The twelfth season of American Idol closes with a two-part finale, airing on Fox May 13 from 8-9p.m. ET, and May 14 from 8-10p.m. Viewers will find out which young woman takes home the title: Nashville’s Kree Harrison or South Carolinian Candice Glover. The show also bids farewell to judge Randy Jackson, who has been with the American version of Idol since it debuted in 2002.
This season, Idol received some of its lowest ratings ever. Nevertheless, the final episodes of the year should be worth watching for performances from Frankie Valli, The Band Perry and Jennifer Lopez.
Saturday Night Live
Movie star and director Ben Affleck hosts the season finale of Saturday Night Live. It airs on NBC May 18 from 11:30p.m. 1:00a.m. ET. This installment marks Affleck’s fifth time hosting the show, which means the episode should include a skit in which Affleck is inducted into the fabled SNL Five-Timers Club. This tradition began when Tom Hanks hosted for the fifth time in 1990; a list of other Five-Timers includes Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Candice Bergen and, as of 2013, Justin Timberlake. Incidentally, rapper Kanye West will be the SNL musical guest on May 18, and this is his fifth appearance on the show as well.
The Simpsons
Two episodes of The Simpsons air Sunday, May 19 on Fox, but the unmissable episode is on from 8:30-9p.m. This season finale features Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane as Ben, a married man with whom Marge unwittingly initiates a relationship while surfing the Internet. The episode will also reveal the winner of the “Couch Gag” contest. Creators of The Simpsons asked fans to submit ideas for a couch gag, the visual joke that ends the opening credits each week. Viewers voted online for their favorite idea.
MacFarlane’s participation here represents a further thawing in the relationship between The Simpsons and Family Guy. In the past, the producers and writers of these Fox shows have occasionally sniped at each another via jokes delivered on their respective programs. But now a respect seems to be growing between the two camps. In 2012, Dan Castellaneta from The Simpsons even did a cameo as Homer Simpson on Family Guy.