Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Monday, October 3. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Scorpion (CBS, 9 p.m.): What’s that? Oh, nothing much—just the return of Team Scorpion and their weekly moments of creating chaos and then trying to fix it. That’s right, Scorpion is back for its third season. And you know what? Scorpion is coming for that nerd crowd, TBBT. Watch your back. The two-hour season premiere is titled “Civil War & More Civil War,” and no, Chris Evans is nowhere to be found. Never mind, TBBT. You could still win this one.
Conviction (ABC, 10 p.m.): The new shows are still a-coming, and this time, it’s in the form of the ashes of Marvel’s Agent Carter. We know, it still hurts. “When it comes to our justice system, nothing is ever black and white. Just ask Hayes Morrison.” Really, that opening to the Conviction press release is all anyone needs in order to know what this show is all about. But here’s some more. There is an Ashmore twin in this series. And yes, “Hayes Morrison” is played by Hayley Atwell.
“Hayes, a lawyer and former first daughter, is a hero—a controversial one. She finds herself in a tricky position, facing jail time for drug possession or accepting a job from her nemesis, New York District Attorney Conner Wallace.” If only real life drug possession charges could just be removed with a decent job offer. But wait, the CIU—that’s the super special unit Hayes will work in—only has five days to solve any given case. Whoops! Never mind, take the drug conviction! Also: Hayes. Morrison. Gwen Ihnat is writing Conviction off as yet another weak Shondaland wannabe. Sorry, Agent Carter fans.
Timeless (NBC, 10 p.m.): Then there’s Timeless, which won’t bend to your legal ultimatums, Conviction. In fact, we’re getting Timeless in the same time slot as Conviction—legal woes be damned! (Though, every single one of us who ever had a time travel idea as a kid could probably get in on some class-action… action.) While ABC is all about using the law to solve crime, Timeless is all about time travel to stop crime. Hit it, press release: “AN UNLIKELY TEAM IS TASKED WITH TRAVELING THROUGH TIME TO CHASE A CRIMINAL MASTERMIND—AND PROTECT THE PAST.” Now we know that sounds like it could be the Legends Of Tomorrow logline, verbatim. Honestly, it probably is.
But here, let’s see what else it’s got: “When one of the world’s most dangerous fugitives steals a state-of-the-art time machine, the U.S. government asks a history professor, Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer), a soldier, Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter), and a scientist, Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett) to embark on the adventure of a lifetime and chase the criminal mastermind, Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic) to the Hindenburg disaster of 1937.” So it’s Legends Of Tomorrow with less bloat and Abigail Spencer. Danette Chavez thinks that although the show has potential, it stumbles over its own hokiness. But just Abigail Spencer as the lead of a network television show is enough to sell us on this one, honestly.
Say, have you watched Rectify yet?
Premieres and finales
Milo Murphy’s Law (Disney XD, 8 p.m.): What are the kids watching tonight? The series premiere of Milo Murphy’s Law, of course. Kids just love cartoons based on Murphy’s Law, y’all. That’s right—Milo Murphy’s Law is all about the “adventures of the great-great-great-great-grandson of the originator of Murphy’s Law.” Kids are crazy!
Class Divide (HBO, 8 p.m.): HBO’s documentary of the week is all about the g-word: gentrification. Class Divide is a 2015 documentary about gentrification in New York City and “focuses on a single intersection in Chelsea, where children from both low-income public housing and an expensive private school interact.”
Halloween Baking Championship (Food Network, 9 p.m.): “Season 2 begins with seven bakers taking on the challenge of creating creepy bite-size monster treats and an appetizing zombie dessert.” Spooky, huh? No? What if we said the entire episode took place in this music video:
It doesn’t, but it’s spookier now, right? Come on, this is what we have to work with when synopses are talking about “creepy bite-size monster treats.” It was either this or some cannibalism courtesy of Hannibal. And we all know Hannibal is always on our minds.
Yours, Mine Or Ours (Bravo, 10 p.m.): “Bravo Media enlists boisterous real estate agent Reza Farahan (Shahs Of Sunset) and interior designer and decorator Taylor Spellman to help couples, living under separate roofs, figure out which residence they should call home… Each week, Reza and Taylor will help a new couple decide if they should renovate one of their current places to satisfy their partner’s needs and finally be under one roof, or if they should combine their budgets to buy a new home.” Why can’t grown adults just make their own decisions? (Please ignore the sinking feeling such a question creates when it comes to the upcoming election.) And why are grown adults allowing anyone from Shahs Of Sunset—a show we only really know anything about in relation to the Bitch Sesh podcast—to help them make decisions? By the way, this is all Ryan Seacrest’s fault.
Regular coverage
Marvel’s Luke Cage (Netflix)
WWE Monday Night RAW (USA, 8 p.m.)
Lucifer (Fox, 9 p.m.)
Streaming pick
Hannibal (Amazon Video): See? We told you Hannibal is always on our minds.