I think I’d tolerate “Da Vinci’s Demons” (Starz, 10 p.m.) a whole lot more if it were called “DiGiorno’s Demons” or some such. Why else bring in the name of the Renaissance giant, other than justifying the mechanical birds and human flying machines or having his drawing ability a nifty way to attract women?
As it is, the Leonardo in this ambitious saga have have more to do with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle of the same name, as Tom Riley plays him as a lean, dark haired superhero with an English accent. Though it’s set in 15th century Florence, creator David S. Goyer can’t get too far from his “Dark Knight” trilogy roots. With the requisite bad guys, Florentine sex and regular swordplay.
Some may welcome this super loose approach to history and they may be the same ones who have been keeping up with “Spartacus: War of the Damned” (Starz, 9 p.m.), which reaches its series end today with a final battle against the Romans.
Steven Weber and Treat Williams star in a new mini-series “Eve of Destruction” (Reelz, 8 p.m.) about a big company that shifts its focus on genetically engineered food to tapping an alternative dark energy from the center of the planet that has a tendency to eliminate whole towns. It takes a long time to get traction, and we learn too much about family relations before the action starts.
No Friday series has done as poorly as “Cult,” which has been pulled from the schedule and is replaced tonight by Monday’s season finale of “The Carrie Diaries” (The CW, 9 p.m.). It follows a new episode of “Nikita” (The CW, 8 p.m.).
Bob Costas, Colin Goddard, Stephanie Cutter, David Stockman and Saru Jayaraman are scheduled guests on a new “Real Time with Bill Maher” (HBO, 10 p.m.).
One report on “Vice” (HBO, 11 p.m.) follows a daring escape from North Korea, while a second suggests that the border we should be more concerned with is not between North and South Korea but between India and Pakistan.
Josh Groban performs songs from his latest album “All That Echoes” on “Live from Lincoln Center” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings) before the final chapter (for now) of “Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook” (PBS, 10 p.m., check local listings).
A rerun of “Shark Tank” (ABC, 9 p.m.), which has nothing to do with fish, plays opposite “Tanked” (Animal Planet, 9 p.m.), which does.
The Friday night series of films exploring women in film on Turner Classic Movies continues with the war effort of World War II in “So Proudly We Hail” (8 p.m.), “Since You Went Away” (10:15 p.m.), “The White Cliffs of Dover” (1:15 a.m.), “Three Came Home” (3:30 a.m.) and “The Best Years of Our Lives” (5:30 a.m.).
There are a couple of pretty strong animated films on tonight in “Toy Story” (Disney, 8 p.m.) and “Finding Nemo” (Encore, 8 p.m.).
Daytime Talk
Kelly & Michael: David Hyde Pierce, Josh Dallas. The View: Harrison Ford, Chadwick Boseman, Patrick Duffy. The Talk: Debbie Reynolds, Iyania Vanzant. Ellen DeGeneres: Heidi Klum, Michael Weatherly.
Late Talk
David Letterman: Donald Trump, Gary Gulman, Wavves (rerun). Jay Leno: Adam Levine, Cyndi Lauper the Airborne Toxic Event. Jimmy Kimmel: Patrick Dempsey, Elisabeth Moss, seth Sentry (rerun). Jimmy Fallon: Tom Cruise, Jordana Brewster, Shuggie Otis. Craig Ferguson: Jason Biggs, Keke Palmer. Carson Daly: Andrew Jenks, Tony Swanton, Titus Andronicus (rerun). Chelsea Handler: Alex Guarnaschelli, Greg Fitzsimmons, April Richardson, Ryan Stout, Ross Mathews (rerun).