Friday nights just meant we could stay up late dissecting every exchange between Tigh and Starbuck. Friday doesn't have to be a punishment; it can be an opportunity to grow a fan base that thinks of your show as the life of the party. If Cult can make that happen, they might just survive the death slot for. In related news, Grimm’s still on. That’s not meant to be a shot at the show, by the way, I’m literally shocked to discover that Grimm managed to reach a sixth season.Grimm has apparently.

Friday night is a notorious dead zone in terms of television programming, so much so that the time slot is known in television as the “Friday night death slot,” where shows that are destined for cancellation are placed as an afterthought. It is believed that most young Americans that advertisers want to target are not typically at home watching television on a Friday night, and so networks aren’t about to waste their time scheduling their prime programming on a night that no one is going to be watching and so they won’t get paid for it by companies airing commercials. Thus it can be a bit of a struggle to find anything to watch on Friday night if you’re feeling like a night in after a rough or busy week. Here’s a look at five good shows that air on Friday.

Grimm Friday Night Death Slot Machine

1. Blue Bloods

This CBS cop show follows an entire family of police officers in the NYPD. Tom Selleck plays a Vietnam Vet and 9/11 First Responder who works as the Police Commissioner, a position that his own father once held. His three children Danny, Erin, and Jamie all do police work in various ways as well. Danny is a Marine veteran and a top NYPD detective. Erin is an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. Jamie has a law degree from Harvard but has decided to stop practicing law and join the police force. The show is currently in its fifth season and has consistently gotten good reviews, though it has never been very popular or much buzzed-about, just a solid cop family drama. The series has a 70 rating on Metacritic and has been picked up for a sixth season already, so fans who feared the under-the-radar show’s cancellation don’t have to worry for another season. The show airs at 10 p.m. EST.

2.Grimm

Source: NBC

NBC’s procedural fantasy drama, inspired by the dark Grimm Fairy Tales, will soon return for its fifth season. The show amped up the thrills in season four, with homicide investigator Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) and the rest of the gang facing darker dangers than ever before. The series will continue to step up its game in season five, with producers and cast promising new monsters – including the Loch Ness Monster. Grimm‘s next season will air on Fridays at 9 p.m. ET, starting on October 30.

3. Vice

This gonzo journalism style news show based on the magazine of the same title has been praised for its brave filmmaking style and its unabashed look at topics that typical news outlets don’t cover. Bill Mahr is a producer and the series has won an Emmy. Vice journalists go around the world to perform in-depth coverage of topics like political assassinations, suicide bombers, weapons manufacturers, and the stories of North Korean defectors. If you like the Vice empire, then you’ll definitely like this show and probably already watch it. While Vice’s journalists refer to themselves as doing things gonzo-style and name-drop Hunter S. Thompson in interviews with Rolling Stone, some have criticized the series for its blasé tone. Critics say the journalists from Vice seem more concerned with looking cool (they’re accused of wearing sunglasses inside and posing for photos with ‘dangerous’ stuff to put on their Instagram accounts) than performing actual, groundbreaking well-researched journalism. The show airs on HBO on Fridays at 11 p.m. ET.

4. The Tonight Show

Theo Wargo/Getty Images

When you’re having a hard time finding programming on a weeknight, you can always turn to The Tonight Show with the loveable Jimmy Fallon. For some, Friday might be the only night of the week where it’s acceptable to stay up through The Tonight Show. Fallon always has a lineup of interesting guests as well as funny games to keep the conversation going, like “Box of Lies,” in which guests have to look at Jimmy through a small window and tell him what’s in a secret box, choosing to either tell the truth or lie, or “The Whisper Challenge,” in which guests attempt to lip read. Watching The Tonight Show will help keep you caught up with the latest in pop culture, so if it’s on too late for you to watch during the week then Friday night is your chance to catch it. The shows airs on NBC at 11:35 p.m. ET.

5. Dog With a Blog

This funny Disney Channel offering is a great Friday night option for families. It’s a sitcom told from the perspective of a cute puppy named Stan who, unbeknownst to his owners, can actually talk and writes a successful blog. The new step-siblings Tyler and Avery would rather not communicate with each other and aren’t too enthused about their recently merged family in the wake of their parents’s marriage. But when they discover Stan’s secret they realize they have to do whatever they to keep it under wraps from their parents, especially since their younger sister Chloe sees nothing strange about a talking dog. Stan constantly gets him, Tyler, and Avery into ridiculous situations that show the kids how important it is that family stick together. The show airs on Disney at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Additional Reporting by Michelle Regalado

More from Entertainment Cheat Sheet:

'The Good Shepherd' is the 5th episode of the supernatural drama television series Grimm of season 2 and the 27th overall, which premiered on September 28, 2012, on NBC. The episode was written by Dan E. Fesman, and was directed by Steven DePaul. The series returned to its normal Friday timeslot beginning with this episode.

• 2Reception

Plot[edit]

Opening quote: 'Dressed in the skin, the wolf strolled into the pasture with the Sheep. Soon a little Lamb was following him about and was quickly led away to slaughter.'

Bud (Danny Bruno) meets with Nick (David Giuntoli) to discuss Juliette's (Bitsie Tulloch) health state. The Nuckelavee is revealed to be watching over them. An accountant is assaulted in his office by a wolf-like creature and then thrown into a wood chipper.

Nick and Hank (Russell Hornsby) are visited by Lance Calvin (Jonathan Scarfe), a pastor, who claims his church has been assaulted from an online bank account. When visiting the church, they discover the attendees are Seelenguters and the Pastor is a Blutbad. Nick and Hank then have Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) infiltrate the church to investigate.

Renard (Sasha Roiz) is notified that the Nuckelavee the Royal Family sent is called David Esquibel. Esquibel attacks Nick at his aunt's trailer; Nick is forced to kill him and finds out that he was looking for the key. Nick and Hank also discover that many assaults have been happening on churches that were previously run by Calvin. After discovering Calvin cheated on her, his secretary Megan (Kristina Anapau) exposes his crimes to the church.

Calvin plans on framing Monroe for an attempt of his life but he's discovered by the attendees, and gets killed by them in a fight. However, they think Monroe conspired with Calvin and chase after him. Nick and Hank manage to save him and show Calvin's guilt. The episode ends as Megan and a friend relax in the Caribbean, a plan she originally conceived with Calvin.

Reception[edit]

Viewers[edit]

The episode was viewed by 5.32 million people, earning a 1.6/4 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale.^[1] This was a 2% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 4.62 million viewers with a 1.5/4.^[2] This means that 1.6 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 4 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it. With DVR factoring in, the episode was watched by 8.24 million viewers with a 2.9 ratings share in the 18-49 demographics.^[3]

Critical reviews[edit]

'The Good Shepherd' received mixed reviews. The A.V. Club's Kevin McFarland gave the episode a 'C' grade and wrote, 'Tonight's epigraph comes from 'The Wolf In Sheep's Clothing' (of somewhat disputed Aesop/biblical origin), which tipped the episode's hand right at the start. So far the best episodes of Grimm have found a way to take a well-known folk tale — or the occasional obscure story — and give it a modern twist to fit in a crime procedural context. Not so with 'The Good Shepherd,' which is mostly a literal take on that story, depicting a Blutbad reverend presiding over a congregation of sheep Wesen (at one point Monroe says the name and the plural form, but I honestly have no clue how to spell it). It's all a bit too clever from the get-go, with the whole flock of sheep as the reverend's flock, the herd mentality, et al.'^[4]

Emily Rome of EW wrote, 'Let it be known that Grimm has a thing or two to teach us about herd mentality, how con men talk when pretending to be religious men and just how many bake sales you need to replace stolen funds. I was relieved Rev. Calvin's megachurch vibe turned out to be an act because it just felt so fake. I know there are real fire-and-brimstone guys out there, but no men of the cloth I know talk like that.'^[5]

Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.0 star rating out of 5, stating: 'After a few weeks off from an early start, Grimm settled back into its Friday night slot with 'The Good Shepherd.' Sadly for Grimm, however, tonight tried telling a mostly procedural story rather than a serial one, and the show stumbled a bit because of it. However, aside from said stumble, there were a few moments that were more than worth the price of admission.'^[6]

Josie Campbell from TV.com wrote, 'Characters and themes aside, the show unfortunately missed a cool opportunity to flesh out the Wesen belief system, or at least examine religion from the monsters' point of view. What does Leviathan think of the Old Testament? Do snake-Wesen get upset at their portrayal in the Garden of Eden? Are animal-headed Pagan gods Wesen too? Instead Grimm trotted out a vague Christian group for the sheeple to belong to and left potentially juicier aspects out.'^[7]

References[edit]

1. ^'Friday Final TV Ratings: '20/20' Adjusted Down'. tvbythenumbers.com. October 1, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
2. ^'Monday Final Ratings: 'Grimm' Adjusted Up'. tvbythenumbers.com. September 5, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
3. ^Live+7 DVR Ratings: 'Revolution' Leads Adults 18–49 Ratings and Viewership Gains; 'Grimm' Leads Percentage Gains in Premiere Week (Week 1)Archived 2012-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^''The Good Shepherd' · Grimm · TV Review · TV Club · The A.V. Club'. avclub.com. September 28, 2012.
5. ^'Grimm recap 'The Meek Shall Possesseth Herd Mentality': Nick and Hank's latest case brings them to a Wesen church, while the Nuckelavee continues to stalk one or Portland's finest'. EW. September 28, 2012.
6. ^'Grimm Review: A Grimm Confession'. TV Fanatic.
7. ^'Grimm 'The Good Shepherd' Review: Monroe in Sheep's Clothing'. TV.com.

External links[edit]

• 'The Good Shepherd' on IMDb
• 'The Good Shepherd' at TV.com