“Real Time with Bill Maher” (HBO, 9 p.m.) returns for its 12th season an hour early, in a live show from the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall in D.C. where there is no shortage of political guests to join him, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosy, former governors Haley Barbour and Jon Huntsman as well as NBC news anchor Andrea Mitchell and Jerry Seinfeld.
He will also use the show to reveal who “won” his “Flip a District” campaign to remove the worst politician from Congress as determined by viewer votes.
When the show’s over, Maher will take the three minutes to travel eight blocks west to the Warner Theatre for a live standup special, “Bill Maher: Live from D.C.” (HBO, 10 p.m.). He’d better be careful about the police escorts, though. The last time an entertainer used them to make a D.C. show (for Charlie Sheen in 201o) they got in trouble.
Another big chunk of D.C. is found in the special “James McNeill Whistler: The Case for Beauty” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings) is a good overview of the singular career of the American painter who came to fame in London. It includes the stories behind some of his best known paintings, as well as his Peacock Room which has been reassembled at the Freer Gallery. And the re-enactments aren’t terrible.
After six seasons stateside, and nine in the U.K., tonight is the final “Kitchen Nightmares” (Fox, 9 p.m.) from Gordon Ramsay who has either fixed every restaurant by now or realized he could shed one of his five current shows. As he moves on to the similar “Hotel Hell,” he can devote his time to that as well as “MasterChef,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” and “MasterChef Junior.” Tonight, he looks back at some of the eateries he’s helped along the way.
Alas, poor Harold Perrineau. Once you were in one of the most seriously studied TV series, “Lost,” and now you’re in the silliest of the post-“Sharknado” Syfy series. “Z Nation” (Syfy, 10 p.m.), a post apocalyptic zombie saga, also stars Tom Everett Scott and DJ Qualls trying to protect the last unsullied survivor. But at least he may be having fun.
This week’s surprising court results are the subject of the special “48: Hours: Oscar Pistorius, the Verdict” (CBS, 8 p.m.). But it’s a stateside Valentine’s Day murder of a missionary’s wife that consumes another two hour “Dateline” (NBC, 9 p.m.).
Barrow tries to get a new Edison invention for the hospital on “The Knick” (Cinemax, 10 p.m.), and not the light.
It’s sort of a crossover when “David Tutera’s Celebrations” (WeTV, 9 p.m.) plays a birthday party for the 5-year-old twins of Amy Weber, a former diva on WWE SmackDown (Syfy, 8 p.m.).
The month long all-day salute to pre-code movies on Turner Classic Movies Fridays continues with “The Naughty Flirt” (6 a.m.), “Ten Cents a Dance” (7 a.m.), “When Ladies Meet” (8:30 a.m.), “Double Harness” (10 a.m.), “For the Defense” (11:15 a.m.), “Union Depot” (12:30 p.m.), “Mary Stevens, M.D.” (1:45 p.m.), “The Age of Concent” (3 p.m.), “Bombshell” (4:45 p.m.), “Red-Headed Woman” (6:30 p.m.), “Red Dust” (8 p.m.), “Design for Living” (9:30 p.m.), “Trouble in Paradise” (11:15 p.m.), “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (12:45 a.m.), “The Story of Temple Drake” (2:30 a.m.), “Freaks” (3:45 a.m.) and “Jewel Robbery” (5 a.m.).
Baseball includes Cleveland at Detroit (MLB, 7 p.m.) and Dodgers at San Francisco (MLB, 10 p.m.).
College football includes Toledo at Cincinnati (ESPNU, 7 p.m.) and Baylor at Buffalo (ESPN, 8 p.m.).
It’s Phoenix at Chicago (ESPN2, 8 p.m.) in Game 3 of the WNBA finals.
And with the U.S. in the championship of the FIBA World Cup of basketball, a semifinal game will determine its opponent: Serbia vs. France (ESPN2, 4 p.m.).
Daytime Talk
Kelly & Michael: Connie Britton, Mindy Kaling. The View: Mayor Bill de Blasio, Hilary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Cheri Oteri, Michael Douglas (rerun). The Talk: Dylan Walsh, Haylie Duff. Ellen DeGeneres: Harry Connick Jr., Mireille Enos. Wendy Williams: Chaka Khan, Lil’ Jon (rerun).
Late Talk
David Letterman: Mindy Kaling, Jake Johannsen, Maddie & Tae. Jimmy Fallon: Glenn Close, Justin Long, Kurt Braunohler. Jimmy Kimmel: Sarah Silverman, Taraji P. Henson, Hunter Hayes (rerun). Seth Meyers: Gwen Stefani, Andy Roddick, Counting Crows (rerun). Craig Ferguson: Nikki Reed, Peter May. Carson Daly: John Turturro, OFF!, Katie Crown, Midlane (rerun). Tavis Smiley: Quincy Jones.