‘Master of None’ Returns, ‘I Love Dick’ Debuts, Plus More TV You Must See This Week

Our weekly TV preview is going to Italy with Aziz Ansari.
Master of None season 2

Another one of our favorite shows is back this week, as the whole of Master of None’s Season 2 hits Netflix, and one of the most hopeful new series of the year, Amazon’s I Love Dick, makes its leap from pilot to full first season the same day. There’s also the end of the first season of Riverdale, more Fargo and Better Call Saul, a must-see installment of Saturday Night Live, reason to check out the new sitcom Great News, and why we’re paying attention to the MTV Movie Awards this year.

To help you keep track of the most important programs over the next seven days, here’s our guide to everything worth watching, whether it’s on broadcast, cable, or streaming for May 7–13 (all times Eastern):

SUNDAY

2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards (MTV, 8pm)

Yeah, it’s MTV, and yes they still have awards like “Best Kiss,” but this year the MTV Movie Awards has added television and also made a couple other significant changes. This is the rare awards show that not just honors both movies and TV series but doesn’t separate them within too many categories. MTV also has stopped gendering categories, so men and women are competing together and equally for best acting and comedic performance, among others. They’re also recognizing documentaries and the theme of fighting the system. And those “Best Kiss” nominees include Moonlight, so why even knock that? Adam DeVine is hosting, Pitbull and other musical guests are performing, and there’ll be a special honor given to the Fast & Furious franchise. Yeah, it’s not all great but could be very interesting.

Also on Sunday:
The Circus
S2E8: one-hour season finale (Showtime, 8pm)
The White Princess: episode 4 (Starz, 8pm)
American Gods S1E2: “The Secret of Spoon” (Starz, 9pm)
Guerrilla: episode 4 (Showtime, 9pm)
The Leftovers
S3E4: “G’Day Melbourne” (HBO, 9pm)
The Last Man on Earth S3E17 & S3E18: “When the Going Gets Tough”/“Nature’s Horchata” season finale (Fox, 9pm)
Billions
S2E12: “Ball in Hand” season finale (Showtime, 10pm)
Elementary S5E22: “Moving Targets” (CBS, 10pm)
Silicon Valley
S4E3: “Intellectual Property” (HBO, 10pm)
Veep
S6E4: “Justice” (HBO, 10:30pm)

MONDAY

Better Call Saul (AMC, 10pm)

As far as prequels go, Better Call Saul is just like Star Wars, except in the latter you knew Jar-Jar Binks wasn’t in the original trilogy and so you could keep hoping for the moment he disappeared or died or something, and in the former you know Kim (Rhea Seehorn) and Chuck (Michael McKean) aren’t in Breaking Bad and so you keep fearing for the moment they depart the story, especially if death is involved. Yet the timeline of the shows still places them years apart, so such tension shouldn’t be so strong. Even if pressure is mounting in how Jimmy’s (Bob Odenkirk) schemes are proving detrimental to Kim’s career. Anyway, this week’s episode, “Chicanery,” brings us halfway through the disjointed but very well-directed third season.

Also on Monday:
Gotham
S3E17: “Heroes Rise: The Primal Riddle” (Fox, 8pm)
Supergirl S2E20: “City of Lost Children” (CW, 8pm)
The Voice (NBC, 8pm)
Jane the Virgin
S3E18: “Chapter Sixty-Two” (CW, 9pm)
The Prison in Twelve Landscapes
(Independent Lens)
doc debut (PBS, 10pm)
Angie Tribeca S3E4: “This Sounds Unbelievable, But CSI: Miami Did It” (TBS, 10:30pm)

TUESDAY

Great News (NBC, 9pm)

Tina Fey’s latest series as a producer is no 30 Rock or The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, but the silly newsroom comedy Great News is often funny thanks to its elder cast members. Andrea Martin, who could make even the My Big Fat Greek Wedding movies tolerable, is a hoot as an overbearing mother who becomes an intern at the cable network where her daughter (Briga Heelan) works, and John Michael Higgins is the perfect stereotypical anchorman. There is potential for this to be one of those sitcoms that finds a groove and improves in time, so tonight’s double duty (“Snowmageddon of the Century” and “Serial Arsonist”) is a good spot to see if you agree.

Also on Tuesday:
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
S4E17 & S4E18: “Cop-Con”/“Chasing Amy” (Fox, 8pm)
The Flash S3E21: “Cause and Effect” (CW, 8pm)
Pretty Little Liars
S7E14: “Power Play” (Freeform, 8pm)
The Voice
(NBC, 8pm)
Fresh Off the Boat
S3E22: “This Is Us” (ABC, 9pm)
Genius
S1E3: “Chapter Three” (National Geographic, 9pm)
Great News S1E5 & S1E6: “Snowmageddon of the Century”/ “Serial Arsonist” (NBC, 9pm)
The Americans
S5E10: “Darkroom” (FX, 10pm)
Breakthrough S2E2: “Cyber Terror” (National Geographic, 10pm)

WEDNESDAY

Fargo (FX, 10pm)

Whatever your opinion of Fargo’s third season compared to the other two so far, you’ll come to appreciate there are some very clever things going on this time around. Last week’s use of Don Hertzfeldt-inspired animation was one fresh deviation from the norm, and episode four, “The Narrow Escape Problem,” goes with another. Let’s just say it involves a wonderful nod to Prokofiev, which of course keeps the Russian themes going strong. Meanwhile, both Ewan McGregor and Michael Stuhlbarg display their best William H. Macy-in-the-Fargo-movie impressions, and Carrie Coon gets to welcome another Frances McDormand counterpart in Olivia Sandoval.

Also on Wednesday:
The Handmaid’s Tale
S1E5 (Hulu)
Arrow
S5E21: “Honor Thy Fathers” (CW, 8pm)
The Goldbergs
S4E23: “Best Handsome” (ABC, 8pm)
Modern Family
S8E21: “Alone Time” (ABC, 9pm)
black-ish
S3E24: “Sparkles” season finale (ABC, 9:30pm)
Archer: Dreamland
S8E6: “Waxing Gibbous” (FXX, 10pm)
Gomorrah S3E5 & S3E6 (Sundance, 10pm)

THURSDAY

Riverdale (CW, 9pm)

Now that we know who killed Jason Blossom, all is calm in Riverdale, right? Not quite, according to the preview of this series’ first season finale. With an episode titled “The Sweet Hereafter,” named for the depressing Atom Egoyan drama, let’s hope no busload of Little Archies die in a frozen lake. This should be an intriguing installment for Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch), and maybe also Veronica (Camila Mendes) if her father shows up at last. Plus, we’re still hoping things conclude with the tease that Riverdale will return more horror than noir next season, possibly with some “Afterlife With Archie”-inspired zombies.

Also on Thursday
Scandal
S6E14: “Head Games” (ABC, 9pm)
The Amazing Race S29E8 (CBS, 10pm)

FRIDAY

I Love Dick (Amazon)

Fridays are still mostly owned by new Netflix programming, but Amazon has one of this week’s hottest debuts arriving on the same day. Jill Soloway, creator of Transparent, adds another series to the service, with seven new episodes for its first season joining the pilot that debuted last year. Based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Chris Kraus, I Love Dick stars Katherine Hahn as a fictionalized version of the author and Kevin Bacon as the titular professor, with whom she and her husband (Griffin Dunne) both become infatuated.

Master of None (Netflix)

As for the Netflix offerings, while a Niki Caro-helmed “Anne of Green Gables” series sounds promising and a documentary on Roger Stone seems essential right now, the second season of Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang’s Master of None is the one we’re most looking forward to. Can the show’s social themes stay strong, and will it still be as hilarious as the first season? Probably. The 10-part season is apparently more episodic — or to put it more positively, anthological in a series of vignettes sort of way — and also sees Ansari’s Dev taking a trip to Italy, offering up a change of scenery.

Also on Friday:
Anne With an E
: limited series debut (Netflix)
Get Me Roger Stone: doc debut (Netflix)
Mindhorn
: movie debut (Netflix)
Sahara: animated feature debut (Netflix)
RuPaul’s Drag Race
S9E8 (VH1, 8pm)

SATURDAY

Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:29pm)

Melissa McCarthy has already given this season of SNL it’s best moments. Actually, her Sean Spicer impersonation and sketches might be the best thing in years. So now that she’s hosting the show again and not just making surprise appearances, can she top that? Either way, she’s a favorite host, always hilarious, and this fifth time should be no exception. That’s right, she’s now in the five-timer club, the fifth woman to join. HAIM is the musical guest.

Also on Saturday:
Doctor Who
S10E5: “Oxygen” (BBC America, 9pm)
Class S1E5: “Brave-ish Heart(BBC America, 10pm)

Christopher Campbell: Christopher Campbell began writing film criticism and covering film festivals for a zine called Read, back when a zine could actually get you Sundance press credentials. He's now a Senior Editor at FSR and the founding editor of our sister site Nonfics. He also regularly contributes to Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes and is the President of the Critics Choice Association's Documentary Branch.