Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Wednesday, April 26. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu): While Erik Adams’ review of this adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s classic novel mentions how odd it feels to call something so chilling and relevant “gripping,” as though it were some thrilling fantasy, the description fits. This tale of Offred (Elisabeth Moss) and her efforts to regain some semblance of dignity in the dystopian near-future world of Gilead are exquisitely crafted episodes of television, not so much entertaining as compelling. The first three episodes drop today, with subsequent installments following weekly. Allison Shoemaker will be reviewing all the patriarchal ugliness.
Regular coverage
Harlots (Hulu)
Arrow (The CW, 8 p.m.)
Speechless (ABC, 8:30 p.m.)
The 100 (The CW, 9 p.m.)
Black-ish (ABC, 9:30 p.m.) (Be sure to check your DVRs—two episodes tonight)
Empire (Fox, 9 p.m.)
Designated Survivor (ABC, 10 p.m.)
Archer (FXX, 10 p.m.)
Fargo (FX, 10 p.m.)
Underground (WGN, 10 p.m.)
Wild card
Nova (PBS, 9 p.m.) If you’re fascinated by abandoned places, Chernobyl is probably in your top 10 list of bizarre locations to visit. And tonight’s episode, “Building Chernobyl’s Megatomb,” sounds like a bizarrely compelling entry in the world of Russia’s biggest nuclear disaster. After the 1986 explosion that rendered the surrounding landscape uninhabitable by dint of the radioactive fallout, it’s become a ghost town. But this documentary explores current efforts by engineers who are racing to “build a massive dome to contain the crumbling remains of Chernobyl’s reactor.”