1) “Talamasca” openers, 9 and 10:14 p.m., AMC; also 11:17 and 12:31. Far from her “Downton Abbey” world, Elizabeth McGovern plays a recruiter for a secret group that tries to control supernatural forces. Now she eyes a brilliant and tormented young man (they’re shown here). This Anne Rice spin-off evolves way too slowly, but it’s beautifully written, acted and filmed. Read more…
There’s good news for fans of tough, taut drama:
“Dark Winds” (shown here) will be back for its fourth season. It arrives earlier than usual (Feb. 15 on the AMC cable channel) and gets its three main characters back together.
Based on Tony Hillerman novels, the show has been produced by the late Robert Redford and George R.R. Martin, the “Games of Thrones” author. In each of its first three seasons, it had a 100-percent score among critics tabulated by Rotten Tomatoes. Read more…
1) “Kissinger,” 9-10:30 p.m. today and Tuesday, PBS. This deep and balanced portrait has ample time for Henry Kissinger’s son, his former colleagues (some defending him, some not) and historians. It views Kissinger (shown here) a genius, shaped by the Holocaust, who won the Nobel Peace Prize … and whose policies are linked to the devastation of Chile, Cambodia, Bangladesh and more. Read more…
1) New Christmas movies, 8 p.m. Hallmark and 8 p.m. ET, Great American Family. Yes, Christmas films … six days before Halloween. Both channels rerun previous ones all ay, then have a new one. For “GAF,” it’s “A Royal Icing Christmas.” For Hallmark, “Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper” has a weatherman (Robert Buckley, shown here) return home, where (surprise?) he sees his former teen crush. Read more…
1) “Boston Blue,” 10 p.m., CBS. With his son (a Boston cop) out of the hospital, Danny Donnie Wahlberg, shown here with Gloria Reuben and Sonequa Martin-Green) plans to return to New York soon. Then a murder case drops in front of him … literally. This hour reflects the show’s strengths — good characters, twisty story, action — and a flaw: With so many regulars, it tries to include everyone; that requires a clumsy plot detour. Read more…
Big things seem to happen in Ryan Kiera Armstrong’s shows.
She kicks people, shoots people, sets them on fire. She kills and is killed. Also, she plays the violin.
For someone who’s only 15, she’s been busy. But in “The Lowdown,” she has an opposite experience.
The show (on Hulu and 9 p.m. Tuesdays on FX) stars Ethan Hawke as a Lee, a writer who is brash, booming and a bit foolhardy; Armstrong (shown here) plays his daughter Francis, watching and absorbing and, on occasion, salvaging. “You have to be the counterbalance,” she said. Read more…
1) “Elsbeth,” 10 p.m., CBS. As a young widow, Raquel (Julia Fox, shown here) finds fame and fortune as a “grief influencer.” Things seem fine … until her husband turns out to be alive. It’s a clever hour, following a “Matlock” in which Matty and Olympia — once friends, now foes — must combine when the law firm probes its security breach. Read more…
1) “Anyone But You” (2023), 8 p.m., FX, rerunning at 10. Here’s a romantic comedy that gets it all right — clever plot (borrowing from Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”), sharp direction and skilled stars (Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney, shown here). They have a great meet-cute and an arbitrary break-up, then keep bickering back toward love. Read more…
“Saturday Night Live” will have a lot of first-timers in November.
It will be the first time hosting for Nikki Glaser (shown here) and Glen Powell and the first time as music guests for Sombr and Olivia Dean.
The season started with three new episodes, pauses for a rerun Oct. 25, then has another string of three new ones. Coming up (11:30 p.m. on NBC) are: Read more…
1) “Doc,” 9 p.m., Fox. Yes, TV is stuffed with Ozempic ads, forever hinting at weight-loss benefits. But here’s a smart and neatly calibrated story: One doctor hates the notion of eagerly prescribing these pills; another (Amy, shown here in a previous episode) is hesitant. Alongside that, we see patients at opposite extremes. There’s another good patient story and some so-so doctor ones Read more…
Best-bets for Dec. 7: near the end of “The Road” 
Best-bets for Dec. 6: big games and big laughs 
Best-bets for Dec. 5: Battles begin, Rudolph returns 
