TV critic's picks: Friday-Sunday

April 26, 2012 at 8:03PM

We're gonna do it

Kelly Ripa hosts the "TV Land Awards 2012" (8 p.m. Sunday, TV Land), which includes salutes to "Laverne & Shirley," "One Day at a Time," "In Living Color," "Murphy Brown" and "Pee-Wee's Playhouse." Still waiting for a tribute to "My Mother, the Car."

Under the sea

"James Cameron: Voyage to the Bottom of the Earth" (8 and 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Nat. Geo.) chronicles the filmmaker's visit last month to the bed of the Pacific Ocean. Wait for the surprise ending in which Cameron reaches his destination and discovers the cast of "The Abyss."

Neighborhood watch

If you're like me, you haven't visited Wisteria Lane in quite a while, but the fact that there are only three episodes left to "Desperate Housewives" (8 p.m. Sunday, KSTP, Ch. 5) gives us a good reason to check in. For more on what the stars think about the show's legacy, see Sunday's Variety section.

Excelsior

Epix Channel celebrates the near arrival of "The Avengers" with a weekend of superhero movies ("Thor," "Iron Man 2," "Captain America: The First Avenger"), plus a revealing new documentary, "With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story" (7 p.m. Friday, Epix), which showcases the genius of the Marvel Comics founder whose superpower seems to be the ability to remain incredibly skinny.

about the writer

Neal Justin

Critic / Reporter

Neal Justin is the pop-culture critic, covering how Minnesotans spend their entertainment time. He also reviews stand-up comedy. Justin previously served as TV and music critic for the paper. He is the co-founder of JCamp, a non-profit program for high-school journalists, and works on many fronts to further diversity in newsrooms.

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