1) “Elsbeth,” 8-11 p.m., CBS. With the season-opener coming up Oct. 12, we get a three-rerun blitz. The first two are excellent — Vanessa Williams as an upscale jewelry customer, Eric McCormack leading a “wellness” camp. The third (shown here) brings a shoddy ending to the story that had Michael Emerson (husband of series star Carrie Preston) as a corrupt judge. Read more…
1) “Chicago P.D.” season-opener, 10 p.m., NBC. Easily the best of the three Chicago shows, this has another tough, propulsive hour. The unit has been disbanded and Voight is on Rapid Response duty. He soon finds a reason to re-assemble his colleagues and to add a terrific new one (shown here). Read more…
When “The Hard Hat Riot” arrives — 9 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 30) on PBS — it will deliver everything we expect from a great documentary.
It has two strong sides, dozens of passionate voices, plenty of conflicting values. In big and small ways, it shows the world transforming.
But the film (shown here) has one other distinction: For now, at least, it’s the second-to-last one aired by the award-winning “American Experience.” Read more…
1) “Murder in a Small Town,” 8 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. As a wedding nears, people on both sides — wealthy bride, blue-collar groom — fume. Something bad may be looming; then again, the series title tells us that. What follows is typical of this show — layered characters and smart plot twists, navigated by a deeply human police chief. The lone out-of-sync element is the new mayor (Marcia Gay Harden), shown in last week’s episode, confronting the librarian (Kristin Kreuk). Read more…
1) “Futurama,” 8-11 p.m., FXX. This is a great time for fans of Matt Groening’s clever cartoons. On Sunday, “The Simpsons” started its 37th season on Fox. And recently, “Futurama” — a pizza guy (right) unfrozen in the year 3000 — started its 13th. Today’s new episodes are at 8 — Bender (left) goes to a camp for screen addicts — and 8:30. Reruns start at 9, with Leela (center) involved with a presidential campaign. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live” season-opener, 11:29 p.m. Saturday, NBC. The 50th season was big, including nine Emmys for the “SNL50” special. Now the show is back, adding five people and losing one veteran (Heidi Gardner) and three newer people (Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Devon Walker). Bad Bunny hosts the opener, with Doja Cat (shown here) as music guest. Read more…
1) “Unforgotten” finale, 10 p.m., PBS. This six-parter has had a deep tangle of suspects. The victim was a hateful and hated man — a cruel boss, landlord, husband, father and more. Now Sunny (shown here) and Jesse reach a jolting discovery. Also ending are “Professor T” and “The Marlow Murder Club,” at 8 and 9; they have stories that are smart, but much gentler than “Unforgotten.” Read more…
For TV people, the problem is clear: Their audiences are smaller and older and less-engaged.
And one solution? Try more mysteries.
Americans are pretty good at making mysteries; the British and their colonists are great at it. Such shows — less action, more thinking — can be done on TV’s tightening budgets.
So now there’s an abundance, including two streamers (Acorn and Britbox), the Sunday stronghold on PBS and scattered shows elsewhere.
On Sunday (Sept. 28), PBS wraps up three of its mysteries, including the richly layered “Unforgotten.” The next day, Acorn starts an engrossing six-parter, “Murder Before Evensong” (shown here). The following Sunday (Oct. 5), PBS introduces one of its best shows, “Maigret.” And in between, there’s more, led by Fox’s “Murder in a Small Town” and CBS’ “Elsbeth.” Let’s take a chronological look: Read more…
1) “I Was a Child Bride,” 8-10 p.m., Lifetime. Courtney Stodden was a teen model and singer when Doug Hutchison — a skilled actor who played the head of DHARMA on “Lost” — became her coach. They married when she was 16 and he was almost 51. (They’re shown here, later in the marriage.) Stodden narrates this, with Maggie Lawson (“Psych” and the upcoming “Boston Blue”) as her mom. Read more…
1) “Omara,” 10 p.m., PBS. We follow Omara Portuondo (shown here), now 94, on tour. (It’s the third one, she says, that promoters called a “farewell tour.”) Her gorgeous voice reflects a life of joy and pain. Her mother was ostracized for marrying a Black man; her sister later moved to the U.S. Omara stayed in Cuba and, with the Buena Vista Social Club, won Grammys and fame. Read more…
Best-bets for Sept. 26: “Farm Aid” is back; so is “SNL” 
Best-bets for Sept. 25: quick reruns of new shows 
Best-bets for Sept. 24: Hellish reality and college fun 
