1) Sports overload. The baseball playoffs have Game Five (if needed) of the best-of-seven series with Tampa Bay and Cleveland. That’s 8 p.m. ET on TBS and TruTV, during football’s day. At noon, Fox has a rematch of last year’s Big Ten championship (shown here), with Ohio State and Indiana. ABC has Alabama-Tennessee at 3:30 and Notre Dame-Brigham Young at 7:30. Read more…
1) “Rainmaker” season-opener, 10 p.m., USA Network. The first season (shown here) had quick appeal, with Rudy jumping from law school to a ragged little firm, battling the giants. Now that he’s won a big case? The firm is still an underdog, Rudy isn’t and his ex-girlfriend is floundering. A new case is coming, but it doesn’t quite gel in this first hour. Read more…
1) “Cupertino,” 10 p.m., CBS. Last week’s debut was terrific, but this episode adds the show’s best (and most enigmatic) character. His name is Bo and we won’t spoil any surprises about him. He’ll pop up a lot in future episodes, which each have a separate story to tell. This one, a dandy, starts with a tech guy (shown here) overwhelmed by a scowling suitcoat row. Read more…
1) “The Lowdown” season-openers, 9 p,m, and 10:11-11:21 p.m, FX. Lee (Ethan Hawke, shown here) isn’t really geared for success. He makes a mess of his award-acceptance speech … and a bigger problem looms. Stumbling toward town is a guy (Tommy Lee Jones) who can disrupt his world. Great actors collide, in a show that’s sometimes overwrought, but mostly compelling. Read more…
1) “NCIS: Origins,” 10 p.m.. CBS. Fans have been waiting for Gibbs (Mark Harmon) to return to civilization.; now he does, briefly: In present day, he asks a favor of Woody (Bobby Moynihan, shown here with Harmon). Then we’re in the “Origins” era, 34 years ago, as people try to save Woody. Playing Casey Bloom is Sean Harmon, who has also played younger versions of his dad. Read more…
1) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” season-finale, 9 p.m. today, FX. There may be a slasher in Dee’s neighborhood, so she wants the guys to help. (They’re shown here in a previous episode.) They refuse, of course, and plan their own sleepover. Then things build in wild — and, at times, wildly funny — ways. Read more…
1) “Marble Hall Murders” finale, 9 p.m., PBS. It’s time to solve the murder of Eliot … and of his grandmother (shown here), long ago … and of the matriarch in the novel he wrote, hinting at real life. That wraps an ingenious, six-part story. We see Susan solve the real murders and imagine chats with the fictional detective … who solves the one in Eliot’s novel. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. This has been one of the show’s fastest starts: “SNL” has its third new show of the season, before some shows have their first. It’s the third time hosting for comedian Shane Gillis and the second as music guest for Rosalia (shown here). She’s had 13 No. 1 songs in her native Spain and a No. 4 album in the U.S. Read more…
1) “Fire Country” season-opener, 9 p.m., CBS. There have been plenty of crises in this little town, but none like this: In the midst of a festival (shown here), a sudden sinkhole swallows people and cars. The result offers a strong mix of action and drama, while also adding a key character to the show. Read more…
1) “Cupertino,” 10 p.m., CBS. The season’s best new, broadcast-network show starts with a great pairing (shown here): He’s a veteran lawyer, big, confident and imposing; she’s a first-year lawyer, a tad timid, from a deeply religious family. For different reasons, they’ve been fired by an evil firm. The result, from the “Elsbeth” producers, ripples with rage and fun. Read more…
