Thursday’s TV highlights

SERIES

Community: The members of the study group choose their spring electives in this new episode. Troy and Britta (Donald Glover, Gillian Jacobs) take a basic acting class, and Abed (Danny Pudi) studies the 1980s sitcom “Who’s the Boss?” with a professor (Stephen Tobolowsky) who has written a book about it in this new episode (8 p.m. NBC).

The Vampire Diaries: With plans for a 1960s dance under way at school, Elena (Nina Dobrev) receives disturbing messages in this new episode (8 p.m. KTLA).

American Idol: Kelly Clarkson and Jason Aldean perform in this results episode (8 p.m. Fox).

The Paul Reiser Show: In the tradition of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the former star of “Mad About You” plays a fictionalized version of himself in this new sitcom. Amy Landecker, Ben Shenkman and Omid Djalili also star (8:30 p.m. NBC).

SoCal Connected: This new episode examines the limits of freedom of speech in a variety of cases, including animal rights activists and in Hollywood’s costumed characters (9 p.m. KCET).

Parks and Recreation: April and Andy (Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt) host a dinner party for their friends, and Ann (Rashida Jones) attends a singles party in an effort to jump-start her love life in this new episode (9:30 p.m. NBC).

30 Rock: With “TGS” on the verge of being canceled, Liz and Kenneth (Tina Fey, Jack McBrayer) put on their detective hats and try to locate Tracy (Tracy Morgan) in this new episode (10 p.m. NBC).

Triple Rush: This new series goes inside the wild world of New York bicycle couriers, who take extraordinary risks to stay ahead of the competition (10 p.m. Travel).

SPORTS

Baseball: The Colorado Rockies visit the New York Mets (10 a.m. MLB); Regional coverage (4 p.m. MLB); the St. Louis Cardinals visit the Dodgers (7 p.m. FS Prime).

Hockey: NHL Playoffs: The Montreal Canadiens visit the Boston Bruins (4 p.m. VS); the Buffalo Sabres visit the Philadelphia Flyers (6:30 p.m. VS); the Kings visit the San Jose Sharks (7 p.m. VS).