Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE: This is Season 32 of The Simpsons, which began when Ronald Reagan still was in the White House. And more than three decades later, The Simpsons still delivers, even though it gets less attention than it did at its pop-culture zenith. Tonight’s season premiere is a takeoff on the CBS series Undercover Boss – with Mr. Burns going undercover at his own nuclear power plant, and adopting a friendlier, less imperious persona embraced by everyone. Well, almost everyone. There’s always Smithers, who misses his old boss….
Showtime, 8:00 p.m. ET
On-air promos for this week’s episode show how inflamed things are getting, even deep inside the Beltway corridors. Correspondents for The Circus take to the Hill – and take its temperature.
FX, 9:00 p.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE: It’s been three years since a new season of
Fargo, and Noah Hawley’s fourth try at embodying the Coen Brothers
Fargo movie spirit by presenting his own stand-alone stories is just as good as the first three. In other words, it’s must-see television. And first and foremost, watch for Chris Rock, whose starring performance here is easily the best, and most surprising, dramatic role of his career. For my full review on NPR’s
Fresh Air with Terry Gross,
visit the Fresh Air website. For a full review and more info here at TVWW, see
David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower, and
Mike Hughes' Open Mike.
HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
Last week’s episode, a full-hour flashback set in Korea, was a wild departure – shocking, sexy, and supremely supernatural. Tonight’s episode returns to the U.S., but following the ramifications of last week’s encounters with a femme fatale praying mantis (or is it, in this case, preying mantis?). Yet it also dives, once again, into the past. This time, lots of pasts, real and imagined.
Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET
MINISERIES PREMIERE: This two-part drama, concluding tomorrow night, takes a behind-closed-doors approach to the run-up to the 2016 presidential election and beyond. Jeff Daniels stars as Comey, with other interesting casting choices peppered among the sizable cast list. Holly Hunter plays Sally Yates, William Sadler is Michael Flynn, Richard Thomas is Chuck Rosenberg, Peter Coyote is Robert Mueller, and, showing up deep into night one, Brendan Gleeson as Donald Trump.
For more information on the miniseries, see Mike Hughes' Open Mike.
HBO, 11:00 p.m. ET
Okay, John Oliver, the floor is all yours. Run with it…