Showtime, 7:00 p.m. ET
This Coen Brothers movie from 2007 is a masterpiece. Its cinematography is evocative and unforgettable. Its leading performances – from Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Javier Bardem – are remarkable. (And that’s not to minimize the contributions of supporting players Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, and Garret Dillahunt. It’s just that Jones, Brolin, and Bardem all embody unshakably original, fully realized characters.) Its dramatic tension, when it occurs, is dialed up to 11, with co-directors Joel and Ethan Coen slowing time to a virtual standstill, or exploding things in a sudden volley of violence – and sometimes both, in the same scene. And the message of the movie, so successfully midwifed from Cormac McCarthy’s novel, is even more relevant and haunting in 2021. Sad, but true.
NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET
In tonight’s new episode, Ted Danson’s newbie mayor gets advice on a new initiative from his former adversary, and now assistant, played so wryly by Holly Hunter. And any episode that finds a way for Danson and Hunter to share more screen time is an episode well worth watching. That’s one political point on which we all should be able to agree.