Best-bets for July 18: great storytellers from Detroit and the South

1) “Justified: City Primeval” openers, 10 and 11:15 p.m., FX. Eight years after its finale, the terrific “Justified” series has been cleverly spliced onto another tale. Raylan (Timothy Olyphant, shown heree) isn’t in the “City Primeval” novel, but both were created by Elmore Leonard and they fit well. Raylan, from Kentucky, is whisked to Detroit with his troublemaking teen (well-played by Olyphant’s real daughter Vivian). There’s humor, violence and vivid characters. Read more…

1) “Justified: City Primeval” openers, 10 and 11:15 p.m., FX. Eight years after its finale, the terrific “Justified” series has been cleverly spliced onto another tale. Raylan (Timothy Olyphant, shown heree) isn’t in the “City Primeval” novel, but both were created by Elmore Leonard and they fit well. Raylan, from Kentucky, is whisked to Detroit with his troublemaking teen (well-played by Olyphant’s real daughter Vivian). There’s humor, violence and vivid characters.

2) “Southern Storytellers” debut, 9 p.m., PBS. Southerners have often told great tales, from the books of Faulkner and Capote to the poems of Angelou and songs of Parton. Now we meet current people who continue that tradition. They aren’t famous as writers (although Billy Bob Thornton and Mary Steenburgen have alternate fame as actors), but they’ve drawn awards and esteem. They talk about a South of open spaces, open lives and quiet emotions.

3) “Fantastic Friends” opener, 9 p.m., CW. Here are people linked to sci-fi epics. James and Oliver Phelps, twins in real life, played the Weasley twins in Harry Potter films; Maisie Williams made her acting debut (at 14) as Arya, a key “Game of Thrones” character. Now we see them frolic on the island of St. Lucia. That’s in a travel series that next week takes the twins to Iceland … the site of today’s “Down to Earth with Zac Efron” opener at 8.

4) “Sharknado” (2013), 6 p.m.,, Syfy. We’re in the midst of TV’s shark season: “SharkFest” is on the National Geographic Channel; “Shark Week” starts Sunday on Discovery. But now we can pause for sheer silliness – wacky films about shark storms. The sequels air at 8 and 10 p.m., midnight and 2 and 4 a.m.; they also precede this, at noon (the fourth film) and 1:57 (third) and 3:57 p.m. (second).

5) “CMA Fest: 50 Years of Fan Fest,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. On Wednesday, ABC will offer three hours of high-octane music from this year’s “CMA Fest” in Nashville. First, here’s this film, which debuted in Hulu, viewing the fest’s 50-year history. Also tonight “America’s Got Talent,” 8-10 p.m. on NBC.

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