Concerns about the horribleness of being young are voiced in a town hall-style debate MTV calls Underemployed

Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Tuesday, October 16. All times are Eastern.

TOP PICK

Underemployed (MTV, 10 p.m.): Stoned Hannah Horvath’s claim that she may be a voice of a generation gets shored up by the debut of MTV’s own “college-educated 20-somethings just scraping by” dramedy, which takes its voice from a member of another generation. Can Dirty Sexy Money creator and Six Feet Under writer Craig Wright properly articulate the unbearable lightness of being an overqualified post-grad? Farihah Zaman and Erik Adams find out.

30 For 30 (ESPN, 8 p.m.): The presidential debate preempts most of tonight’s regular programming; to make up for the lack of a new New Girl, imagine that tonight’s 30 For 30—about the acquisition and transportation of James Naismith’s original rules for basketball—refers to the sport as “Peach-Basket Catch-It-Up.”

Raising Hope (Fox, 8 p.m.): Cloris Leachman is a funny lady and a wonderful distraction at stuffy press conferences, but would it be so bad if her Raising Hope character wasn’t rescued from the nursing home? In exchange for a Maw Maw-less series, Phil Dyess-Nugent promises to visit the home once a week.

The Voice (NBC, 8 p.m.): The “steal” option threatens to tear asunder America’s greatest friendship, as Adam Levine and Blake Shelton tussle over one of the other judge’s rejects. Caroline Framke wonders if they’d do the same thing over the last slice of pizza.

Ben And Kate (Fox, 8:30 p.m.): Pouring comedic salt into a deep emotional wound, the woman formerly known as The Future Mrs. Ben Fox is moving into the house Ben always wanted to share with her. Sonia Saraiya can be his shoulder to cry on.

Sons Of Anarchy (FX, 10 p.m.): A brown paper bag of something sinister passes hands between Pope and Jax. Zack Handlen’s guess: It’s Pope’s prized baseball-card collection, handed over to the Sons for temporary safe keeping.

Dawson’s Creek (11 a.m.): In a mix-up of farcical proportions, Dawson’s date with Joey suddenly becomes a double date with Mitch and Miss Kennedy. Is it too much for Brandon Nowalk to ask “Reunited” for just one slammed door?

Presidential Debate (multiple networks, 9 p.m.): President Obama already made it through one of those Reddit “Ask Me Anything” sessions, and if that site’s moderators could keep its nastiest/trolliest users on topic, surely the prescreened participants in this town hall won’t force the president or Mitt Romney to field any question that isn’t a big squishy beach ball of inquiry.

Emily Owens, M.D. (The CW, 9 p.m.): Like The CW’s other two fall premières, this warmhearted medical drama is stuffed with voiceover—but it’s handled marginally better than Beauty And The Beast. In response, Brandon Nowalk and Carrie Raisler will compose their review entirely through inner monologue.

The Men Who Built America (History, 9 p.m.): Because everything’s just a variation on The Expendables these days, here are the authors of the American Dream—titans of industry such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Ford—Voltroned into a four-part miniseries that Mitt Romney’s definitely pissed about having to skip because of the debate.

Extreme Cheapskates (TLC, 10 p.m.): Forget couponing—who needs to sort through websites and circulars when you can save money by simply refusing to spend it? Just dumpster-dive, wash your clothes in the snow, and only flush the toilet once a week like the penny-pinching folks profiled in this new TLC series.

The Social Network (FX, 7:30 p.m.): Or, The Men Who Built The America Of The 21st Century, where a million dollars isn’t cool (a billion dollars is), and you know that The Social Network is on because everyone on Facebook and Twitter (and maybe even some weird MySpace hangers on) are voicing their opinions about it.

Friday The 13th: Part III (AMC, 8 p.m.): In which Jason Voorhees ditches the burlap sack from Friday The 13th: Part II for his signature hockey mask and proceeds to commit several 3-D-ready slayings (which will just look like out-of-focus implements poking at the camera for this presentation).

MLB Playoff: Game 3: Yankees at Tigers (TBS, 8 p.m.): All 13 runs in the ALCS have been scored after the sixth inning—with all but three being notched in the eighth frame or later. In other words: You can probably catch most of the debate without missing the most exciting parts of this game.

Alphas: The tiny, repeated popping you heard around 8 Eastern last night were the sounds of nerd brains exploding over an Alphas with both Sean Astin and Summer Glau is guest-starring roles. Todd VanDerWerff tries to register his opinion while picking up the pieces.