1) “Marble Hall Murders” opener, 9 p.m., PBS. The fall TV season gets an early start here. It’s the third mini-series with an editor (Lesley Manville, shown here) probing a murder, while imagining chats with a fictional detective … whom we see in a related novel. This six-parter has deep characters and sharp twists — in the main murders and in the novel.
2) “The Marlow Murder Club” opener, 8 p.m., PBS. In the English tradition, these amiable women are again solving crimes. The season has three tales, each running two weeks. This one is quite clever, complete with one suspect who has a poison-plant garden … which seems to be another English thing.
3) Football, 7:30 p.m. ET. The pro season starts next week (Wednesday, Thursday and next Sunday), but for now, college games get the Sunday spotlight. Notre Dame (ranked No. 4 pre-season) faces Wisconsin on NBC; Mississippi (No. 9) faces Louisville (No. 24) on ABC.
4) “The Walking Dead: Dead City,” 9 p.m., AMC, rerunning at 10:04,. Ever since “Breakout Kings” 15 years ago, Jimmi Simpson has been the cable king of fragile characters. Now he tops himself as Dillard, an ex-cop who has a bar and is oddly fond of a chained-up zombie. Tonight brings a startling transformation, propelling the show in a new direction.
5) MORE: It’s a great cartoon day, with “Toy Story 2” at 7 p.m. on the Disney Channel and a marathon on Freeform. That starts with the delightful “Rio” and “Rio 2” at 7 and 9 a.m. and peaks with “Inside Out” at 7:05 p.m.. Also, CBS reruns “Tracker” (Colter uncovers a secret relationship) and “Marshals” (Kayce goes rogue, searching for a girl) at 9 and 10 p.m.