Amy Adams returns to the small screen in HBO’s small-town crime series Sharp Objects

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Sunday, July 8. All times are Eastern.

Top pick

Sharp Objects (HBO, 9 p.m.): The last time Amy Adams was on TV, she was on The Office’s“Booze Cruise,” trying and failing to get in the way of Jim and Pam. Several years and blockbuster films later, Adams returns to the small screen to star in Sharp Objects, adapted from Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn’s novel, and directed by Big Little Lies’ Jean-Marc Vallée. Vallée made a huge splash for HBO last time around with that series, which involved a murder that tears apart a close-knit Monterey community. Sharp Objects appears to go much darker still, as Adams plays Camille, a reporter recently released from a mental hospital who is investigating the killings of pre-teen girls in her rural hometown. Laura Bogart is on the case and will be offering episodic reviews over the next eight weeks.

Regular coverage

Pose (FX, 9 p.m.)
The Affair (Showtime, 9 p.m.)
Preacher (AMC, 10 p.m.)

Wild card

Evel Live (History, 8 p.m.): A few decades ago, Evel Knievel was a legendary daredevil, famous for trying to jump the Snake River Canyon or 15 Ford Mustangs on his motorcycle. (He even had his own action figure!) Now “action sports superstar” Travis Pastrana attempts to pull off three of Knievel’s famous stunt attempts in just three hours, live from Las Vegas. This perilous list includes jumping the fountains at Caesar’s Palace; when Knievel tried, he got a crushed pelvis and femur, several fractures, and a concussion. Let’s see how Pastrana does!