1) “Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World” opener, 9-10 p.m., PBS. On Aug. 11, 1973, a Jamaican-born teen, dubbed DJ Kool Herc (shown here, later), used turntables and mega-speakers to make his sister’s party festive; hip hop was born. It would be six more years before rap records took off; by then, other hip hop facets – break-dancing, graffiti and DJ’s — had soared. This opener of a four-part film follows the early years of a genre that’s now in its 50th year.
2) “La Brea” return, 9 and 10 p.m., NBC. Things have been odd so far: People tumbled into a sinkhole, landed in 10,000 BC, beamed up to 1988, then jumped back down. Now come more weird twists: The first hour feels like Charlie Brown having the football snatched away; the second is a murder mystery that is left hanging. In between is personal drama, on a show that (except for the central mother and daughter) is poorly cast.
3) “Night Court,” 8 p.m., NBC. Two comedy giants (vertically and talent-wise) collide when Dan (John Larroquette) is lured back into the dating pool by a forceful stranger (Wendie Malick). The result has some good moments, but a sub-plot – the prosecutor seeking a quiet office – mostly flops.
4) “American Auto,” 8:30 p.m., NBC. Eric Stonestreet, the “Modern Family” Emmy-winner, returns as a schemer trying to polish the crumbling reputation of the boss (Ana Gasteyer). There are some fairly funny moments with that– and some funnier ones, when staffers throw themselves into creating fake followers for her Twitter account.
5) “Accused,” 9:01 p.m., Fox. A potentially excellent show seems to be sabotaging itself. For the second time in its first three episoeds, it has a disturbing hour about a teen boy with deep troubles. This guy fears that his mother’s hospice worker is wedging into the family. She’s well-played by Rachel Bilson and this hour has a sharper ending than the previous teen nightmare. Both, however, are drenched in despair.