Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Tuesday, September 6. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Atlanta (FX, 10 p.m.): Donald Glover makes his return to TV in his dramedy about life in the Atlanta rap scene, which is arguably the scene in which all TV shows should be set. (And if you’re now wondering, “Even Mad Men?”, our response is “Especially Mad Men.”) In his pre-air review, Vikram Murthi praises the show for taking an unflinching look at race and identity, not by sermonizing but by letting those things guide the show’s comedy. Joshua Alston will be on hand with weekly reviews.
StartUp (Crackle, 3:01 a.m.): Martin Freeman follows up his work on Fargo by continuing his tour of all America’s most unconvincing accents, as he plays an FBI agent from the… Mid-Atlantic, we guess? Who even knows? Anyway, Freeman is chasing down an Adam Brody-led white collar crime outfit, and the entire season drops tonight on Crackle’s streaming service, which Crackle would like to remind everyone is very much a thing. They got an Emmy nomination, you know!
9/11 Inside The Pentagon (PBS, 8 p.m.): This coming Sunday marks the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, so expect a good amount of retrospectives. This hour-long effort from PBS should be one of the better ones, as it focuses on a part of that day that remains relatively overlooked, namely the attack on the Pentagon. The documentary features interviews with Pentagon personnel and first responders, plus Department Of Defense footage.
Premieres and finales
Queen Sugar (OWN, 10 p.m.): “The premiere of the series about estranged siblings who come together to save their family’s ailing sugarcane farm in Louisiana.” We don’t ask for much (that’s a total lie), but please, please let this be just like that great King Of The Hill episode where they visited Bill’s Louisiana relatives.
One more for good measure.
A Season With Florida State Football (Showtime, 10 p.m.): For those blissfully unfamiliar with various college football fandoms, supporters of the Florida State Seminoles are renowned for their unwavering demands that people should be talking ’bout the ’Noles. (Unless it’s about all the awful stuff associated with the program, in which case please switch over to talking shit about the Florida Gators, or maybe the Miami Hurricanes.) Anyway, with all that very much acknowledged, Florida State could be pretty good this year, and running back Dalvin Cook is an extraordinary player, so we suppose it does make sense Showtime would spend a whole season talking ’bout the ’Noles. The first episode airs tonight, featuring a recap of their opener against Ole Miss.
Zoo (CBS, 9 p.m.): The second season wraps up with a two-hour finale. So, uh, what’s been going on with this show? Last we checked in the world’s animals had all turned into homicidal psychopaths. Any of them started talking in evil English accents yet, maybe while smoking a pipe and lazily plotting how best to kill all the humans? Has that exact thing happened? And, if not, why not? (We would also settle for the show revealing Gorilla Grodd has been behind the whole thing, because it’s become damn clear The Flash has no interest in using him.)
Difficult People (Hulu, 3:01 a.m.): We’re not totally sure, but we believe everything we just wrote about Zoo is also true of Difficult People, which is also wrapping up its second season. It sure would explain why Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner are so socially maladapted if they were constantly afraid of being eaten by crazed lions! And, again, if that isn’t what’s happening here, why the hell isn’t it? Come on Hulu, don’t save the good stuff for season three!
SmackDown! SmackDown! SmackDown!
WWE SmackDown Live (USA, 8 p.m.): Both LaToya Ferguson and Kyle Fowle are busy this week, so—against literally everyone’s better judgment—Alasdair Wilkins is fulfilling his destiny and making his wrestling reviewing debut. We hope it’ll go something like this…
But all our anxiety nightmares tell us it’ll be more like this…
Regular coverage
Halt And Catch Fire (AMC, 10 p.m.)
Streaming pick
“The Mob Doctor,” The Mob Doctor (Crackle): Crackle! It’s a thing that has shows! Like this one! (And you might think we’re an asshole for picking The Mob Doctor, but that was absolutely, 100 percent the first thing that came up when we visited the Crackle page. So this is entirely Crackle’s own doing.)