1) “Succession” season-opener, 9 p.m. Sunday, HBO. The first two seasons were deluged with praise, including one Emmy for best drama series and two for best drama writing. Then – right after Kendall Roy (shown here)had a blistering statement against his dad – came a two-year, COVID-prolonged pause. Now the show is back and going at full-speed. Kendall plots while his dad considers stepping back. But who would fill in? His three offspring lobby, in an hour filled with schemes plus some bursts of humor.
2) “B Positive” season-opener, 9:30 p.m. Thursday, CBS. The remarkable Annaleigh Ashford has been everywhere lately. She did the Emmys and Tonys; she sang in the “Wicked” concert, the “Broadway’s Back” special and the vibrant opening of CBS’ fall preview. Now she’s back to where most people discovered her – playing Gina, the good (if daft) soul who donated a kidney to a guy she barely knew. They adjust to post-surgery life; also, he tries a new romance and she learns about a friend’s death.
3) “Roswell” season-finale, 8 and 9 p.m. today, CW. It’s changeover week for the mini-network, which offers solidly crafted dramas about whimsical subjects. There are season-openers of “Legends of Tomorrow and “Batwoman” on Wednesday and “Legacies” on Thursday; first this show wraps its third season, as the mysterious “Mr. Jones” looms. He stowed away on the spaceship, forced the 1947 crash-landing, later disguised as a local farmer. Now Liz probes for a solution in her lab, then confonts him.
4) “The Big Leap,” 9 p.m. today, Fox. There are big leaps this week in relationships. At the core is Nick (Scott Foley), showing his daughter how he directs this fictional dance-reality show. He knows what Mike and Paula don’t – that she’s an auto executive, responsible for his lay-off. We see changes for them … and for Gabby (a single mom) and Justin (her former dance partner) and Monica (the ruthless choreographer). Also, Wayne (the bigger-than-life producer) gets entangled in pieces of his past life.
5) “Impeachment,” 10 p.m. Tuesday, FX. This episode (the sixth in 10) is what the superb series has been pointing toward: Monica Lewinsky learns that her “friend,” Linda Tripp, has been recording their calls. Now the FBI is questioning her. She’s free to go … but advised not to. For 12 perplexing hours, Lewinsky (wonderfully played by Beanie Feldstein) and agents (including Colin Hanks) co-exist in a hotel room and a shopping mall, partly waiting for her mom. Tue result is both funny and tragic.
6) “Dopesick” debut, Wednesday, Hulu. The opioid epidemic has been massive. Almost a half-million Americans died of ovedoses in a 20-year stretch, studies say; many more lives were ruined. Danny Strong (“Game Change,” “Recount”) has written a brilliant, eight-episode script that does it all. We see Purdue Pharma (subsequently fined and dissolved) aggressively promoting OxyContin. But we also see personal stories, with Michael Keaton as an earnest doctor and Kaitlyn Dever as a pain-plagued miner.
7) “Home Sweet Home” debut, 8 p.m. Friday, NBC. This reality show takes people from opposite worlds and has them swap lives. Thatt’s been done in “Wife Swap” and “30 Days” and more; now it has Ava DuVernay (the “Selma” director) producing, with a sea of good intentions. In the opener, a Greek Orthodox family swaps with a two-mom Black family. Both families are deeply evolved, so similar phrases – “we’re all the same,” etc. – keep appearing. The intentions are sweet, but repetitious.
8) “Diana” opener, 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET Saturday, CNN; then 8 and 11 p.m. Sunday, with the second episode at 9 and midnight. If you missed Sunday’s opener, a good one, catch it this weekend. We see people who had much in common, yet were opposites. As a nanny, her employer says, Diana was “very tactile” and warm. And Prince Charles? “There was never anything tactile about him,” Diana once said. Then the second episode includes their wedding … and his ongoing love of Camilla Parker Bowles.
9) “Baptiste” season-opener, 10 p.m. Sunday, PBS. Who knew that PBS dramas could be this harsh? After painful (but well-made) episodes of “Call the Midwife” and “Grantchester” at 8 and 9 p.m., we re-meet Julien Baptiste, who found people in two seasons of cable’s “Missing” and one previous one of this show. This season sees him helping a desperate official (the superb Fiona Shaw) and, 14 months later, as a ruined man. That combination makes it hard to watch the flashback parts – but we can’t stop.
10) More. ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” has two Disney nights – heroes today, villains Tuesday. The latter leads into a 10 p.m. visit to the movie-academy museum. CBS’ “Equalizer” has a terrific hour, involving Saudi politics, at 8 p.m. Sunday. And the USA Network has a big week, debuting “Chucky” (well-filmed but creepy) at 10 p.m. Tuesday (also on Syfy) and “America’s Big Deal” (a reality show for home-shopping pitches) at 9 p.m. Thursday, plus starting a new “Sinner” at 10 p.m. Wednesday.