CSPAN’s biggest night of the year, and certainly its most entertaining, is the annual White House Correspondents Dinner (CSPAN, 6 p.m., CNN, 8 p.m.; MSNBC, 9 p.m.), which this year is being taken up by two commercal-supported cable networks (for one, this means forgoing malaysian airplane coverage; for the other, bumps into its prison reality shows).
Still, CSPAN is the way to go since they begin with wordless coverage of the surreal red carpet and its mix of reality stars and committee chairs, and they spend the day showing highlights of past dinners while waiting for the main event — comedy from Joel McHale, the “Community” star who trained for this from years on “The Soup.” Whatever the quality of his political humor, the results are likely to be so meaty.
Of course, he’ll have to follow President Obama, who usually does well in his monologue, which I’ve always suspected was written by the people behind “The Daily Show.” And among those in the audience at the Washington Hilton will be Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, Kevin Hart, Julianna Marguiles, Robert De Niro, Sofia Vergara, Spike Jonze, Diane Lane, Katherine McPhee, Rick Springfield and Olivia Munn.
The most succinct annual sporting event is The Kentucky Derby (NBC, 4 p.m.).
Emily Osment is suspicious of her mother’s new boyfriend, played by Gregg Sulkin, on the new TV movie “A Daughter’s Nightmare” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.).
Only one day until “24” returns. To further whet your appetite, should you need it, is “24: Live Another Day — Jack is Back” (Fox, 8:30 p.m.).
Last year’s Jason Sudeikis/Jennifer Aniston comedy “We’re the Millers” (HBO, 8 p.m.) makes its premium cable debut.
Mark Gatiss of “Sherlock” narrates tonight’s chapter of “The Real History of Science Fiction” (BBC America, 10 p.m.).
A top ranking officer in the Canadian pleads guilty to several crimes on a two hour “Dateline” (NBC, 8 p.m.). Later an October 2011 murder is revisited on “48 Hours” (CBS, 10 p.m.).
Seems like the cases qualifying for “Sex Sent me to the ER” (TLC, 9 p.m.) might also serve on “OMG! EMT!” (TLC, 10 p.m.).
A “Mayweather vs. Maidana Countdown” (Showtime, 8 p.m.) precedes the pay-per-view bout at 9.
Sarah turns to an old flame on a new “Orphan Black” (BBC America, 9 p.m.).
“Jaws” (AMC, 6 p.m.) is followed by “Jaws 2” (AMC, 9 p.m.).
Animated fare tonight includes “Ratatouille” (ABC Family, 5:53 p.m.) and “Jaws 2” (ABC Family, 9 p.m.).
NBA playoff games today are all do-or-die game sevens: Atlanta at Indiana (TNT, 5:30 p.m.), Memphis at Oklahoma City (TNT, 8 p.m.) and Golden State at Clippers (TNT, 10:30 p.m.). Stanley Cup playoffs include Montreal at Boston (NBC, 12:30 p.m.) and Los Angeles at Anaheim (NBC, 8 p.m.).
Baseball today includes St. Louis at Cubs (Fox Sports 1, 1 p.m.), Seattle at Houston (MLB, 4 p.m.) and Detroit at Kansas City (Fox Sports 1, 7 p.m.).
Juanes plays a replay of “Austin City Limits” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings).
Andrew Garfield of the latest “Spider-Man” hosts a new “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 11:30 p.m.) and Coldplay is musical guest. The January episode hosted by Jonah Hill with Bastille is edited and rerun at 10 p.m.