What to Watch: Political and Extraterrestrial Send-Offs, Copper Comes on Duty and More

On TV this Sunday: Political Animals concludes its first term in office, Falling Skies stages an out-of-this-world finale, BBC America puts its Copper on duty and Leverage gives us a C! O! N! Also: some very special episodes of Once and Homeland. All told, we selected a dozen programs to keep on your radar tonight.

8 pm Once Upon a Time (ABC) | In this Repeat to Revisit, the Evil Queen charges a huntsman with snuffing Snow White, setting Storybrooke up for a real heart-breaker.

8 pm Leverage (TNT) | To topple a competitive cheerleading company that puts teen girls at risk, the team must tackle its most corrupt foe yet: the United States Congress.

PREVIEW | Will Patton Teases Falling Skies Finale (a New ET!) and an ‘Even More Intense’ Season 3

9 pm Hell on Wheels (AMC) | Durant confronts a dangerous threat to Hell on Wheels, while a horrible crime prompts Lily and Elam to strike a deal to exact justice.

9 pm Homeland (Showtime) | Another Repeat to Revisit, this is “The Weekend” that Carrie and Brody sneaked off to the cabin. Issa very good episode!

9 pm Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime) | With Jane busy representing a girl who’s on life support after attending a rave, Teri and Luke pose as Jane and Owen at a wedding menu tasting. Tyler Jacob Moore (GCB) guest-stars.

RELATED | Inside Line: Scoop on Once Upon a Time, Political Animals Finale and More

10 pm Political Animals (USA Network) | In the “limited series event” finale, President Garcetti throws a wrench in Elaine’s plan to quit his cabinet — just as her resignation letter lands in very wrong hands. Get lots more teasers here, and yes, it ostensibly could be renewed.

10 pm Copper (BBC America) | Series premiere: This crime drama series, set in 1864 New York City, stars Tom Weston-Jones (MI-5) as an Irish-American boxer-turned-cop who returns from the Civil War to find his wife missing and his daughter dead. He then seeks justice, in the immigrant neighborhood of Five Points.

10 pm Breaking Bad (AMC) | As Walt, Jesse and Mike struggle over the future of their business, occupational hazards weigh on one of them.

10 pm The Newsroom (HBO) | Will and the News Night staff stage a mock debate for a pair Republican Party officials; Mac has an epiphany during a power outage; Lisa goes off-script during an on-air interview; and Neal goes undercover as something called “an Internet troll.” (No, I’ve never heard the term either.)

10 pm The Great Food Truck Race (Food Network) | The teams on the menu for Season 3: Seoul Sausage, Under the Crust, Pop-A-Waffle, Pizza Mike’s, Nona’s Kitchenette (which is staffed by some real dishes), Momma’s Grizzly Grub, Coast of Atlanta and Barbie Babes.

10:30 pm Episodes (Showtime) | Matt sleeps with his stalker; Sean grows jealous of Beverly’s dates.

Which of the above is must-see for you? Also, hit Comments to offer your own tune-in suggestions.


Comments (30)

  • Looks like u too got bored of true blood. Right mat?

    Comment by david – August 19, 2012 06:12 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
    • No, it’s just been included four weeks in a row. Maybe next Sunday!

      Comment by Matt Webb Mitovich, Editor-at-Large TVLine.com – August 19, 2012 06:56 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
      • lol thanks matt :)

        Comment by dave – August 19, 2012 09:02 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
      • I thought this was kind of a listing…..

        Comment by Shaun – August 19, 2012 10:17 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
        • Yeah, I used to use this to remind myself what shows were airing that night and double-check times. But now that you’re not mentioning or even linking to an article about a popular show’s original episode – why bother? Very frustrating.

          Comment by Katie Hart (@waterfallbooks) – August 19, 2012 01:24 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
        • No, the purpose of WHAT TO WATCH has never been a “comprehensive listing” — your cable guide handles that very well — but just highlighting some shows.

          Comment by Matt Webb Mitovich, Editor-at-Large TVLine.com – August 19, 2012 02:42 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
    • Lol that’s what I thought…. Too sucky of a season to even mention ;)

      Comment by Jenny – August 19, 2012 09:11 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Political Animals, Homeland, Episodes and Falling Skies are all shows I have made SURE I was home ON TIME to see. Love these shows.

    Comment by Dennis Washington – August 19, 2012 06:20 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • ahah that Newsroom comment “(No, I’ve never heard the term either.)” about Neal being a troll.
    Join Tumblr and you’ll get it

    Comment by NatGee (@NatGee10) – August 19, 2012 07:13 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
    • Lol I know right. The fact that he doesn’t know what a troll is is actually a bit disheartening; its a pretty common term now. Heck my parents, to whom I had to explain what a meme was, know what a troll is.

      Comment by itsme – August 19, 2012 08:13 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Can’t wait for Falling Skies finale! Also loving Leverage, True Blood, Breaking Bad, and giving Copper a look. Also realized I am missing The Glades already!

    Comment by Amy – August 19, 2012 07:41 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Drop Dead Diva

    Comment by Brandy – August 19, 2012 08:12 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • True Blood and Political Animals

    Comment by Gerald – August 19, 2012 08:48 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Watching OUAT repeat & recording The Newsroom.

    Comment by nick1372 – August 19, 2012 09:10 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Political Animals tonight! Cannot wait, I am in love with this wonderful show, and am really praying that USA picks it up for a full series run!

    Comment by jazzhound – August 19, 2012 09:33 AM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Political Animals is a great show – amazing cast, complicated ongoing story, fascinating characters and interaction. So sorry to hear it’s over – I really was looking forward to a long run. Hope some network realizes its value.

    Comment by hope – August 19, 2012 12:04 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Drop Dead Diva airs at 9pm not 10

    Comment by julia – August 19, 2012 12:05 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Leverage and Once Upon a Time. I miss Graham. :(

    Comment by Kelly – August 19, 2012 12:18 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • True Blood, Newsroom, Leverage, Coppers (looks interesting!), Breaking Bad – oh Sunday Nights are Worth Watching!!! – and probably Political Animals.

    Comment by bobbie – August 19, 2012 12:33 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • OUAT and Copper

    Comment by Templar – August 19, 2012 02:07 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Leverage, Falling Skies, Weeds, The Newsroom, Drop Dead Diva, and I want to check out Copper. When did Sunday become such a big TV night?

    Comment by Meg – August 19, 2012 03:50 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Breaking Bad! The Newsroom! Weeds! (Picture a slightly less joyous exclamation point on that last one, but I’ll be watching nonetheless). That is a very good Homeland episode, probably one of my top 3 favorites. I was quite pleased to see I was wrong and they did include The Weekend in their 6 (actually 5) Emmy submissions for best show. I’m trying to save watching all episodes of season one for when the DVD comes out though. I want to see how it plays when you watch them all right on top of each other, and then hopefully they have some commentaries I can rip through before season 2 starts.
    .
    I’ve noticed Sorkin has some things he wants to say about internet trolls, so I am curious to see how tonight’s episode is. My worry is he has written off all people who post comments on the Internet as being losers without lives who have nothing worthwhile to say whatsoever (as he basically said in the episode a couple of weeks ago). That may apply to some, but I have also read some very intelligent things that people have to say online who you can tell really think about stuff before they post. I’d like to think I fit into that category, but I have no doubt I’ve had some not so proud, troll-ey moments. The Internet is like most things in life, where there’s interesting, smart people out there who use it for good, and then there’s some people who just have to ruin it. I hope Sorkin is not out in tonight’s episode to make us all feel bad we ever dared to use the Internet to express our opinion.

    Comment by Britta Unfiltered – August 19, 2012 03:52 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Falling Skies, Army Wives and dvr’ing Political Animals (its on too late for me to watch it live).

    Comment by GeoDiva – August 19, 2012 06:09 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
  • Okay, so I’m trying to figure out…..Did I miss a “special event” episode of OUAT last Sunday? I even joined HULU Plus to look for it!! Or was it just a “re-cap” of sorts. (Sorry, Matt…is that what you mean by a “Repeat to Revisit” show?) Can somebody tell me what (if anything new) I missed!?! Thx!!

    Comment by nance – August 21, 2012 09:10 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
    • A “Repeat to Revisit” is just a repeat of a memorable episode that was good enough to watch again and again.

      Comment by nick1372 – August 21, 2012 09:42 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
      • Thanks, Nick! *whew*!! So glad I didn’t miss an episode! lol

        Comment by nmartin65 – August 21, 2012 09:44 PM PDT  Reply To This Post
        • You’re welcome.

          Comment by nick1372 – August 21, 2012 09:57 PM PDT  Reply To This Post

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