Marvel’s pretty sure it’s finally got that whole movie spin-off thing worked out with Agent Carter
Here’s what up in the world of TV for Tuesday, January 6. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Marvel’s Agent Carter (ABC, 8 p.m.): Sure, sure, it might have taken Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. most of its first season and a corporate synergy-mandated tie-in with a Captain America movie for it to find its feet, but ABC and Marvel swear they’ve got all the kinks ironed out for their second spin-off series: After all, if the kids love the Captain America synergy, what could be better than an entire show built around Steve Rogers’ World War II love interest, Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter, with a dash of Dominic Cooper’s Howard Stark thrown in for flavor? Really though, Agent Carter might be worth sticking with, if Noel Murray’s very positive pre-air review of tonight’s two-hour premiere is any indication. Oliver Sava will be along later tonight to kick off weekly coverage.
The people’s top pick, now and forever
Person Of Interest (CBS, 10 p.m.): Meanwhile, Person Of Interest doesn’t need any blockbuster superhero movie tie-ins for it to be awesome and cool, for IT IS ITS OWN BLOCKBUSTER SUPERHERO MOVIE TIE-IN. Alexa Planje assures us that that sentiment is accurate, if a bit nonsensical, although she wants it noted she did not request the all-caps. (TOO LATE, ALEXA, AND YOU’RE WELCOME.)
Also noted
Cougar Town (TBS, 10 p.m.): TV’s most unkillable show, give or take a Futurama and maybe a Community, is back for what it claims is its final season. In reality, we’re pretty sure Cougar Town is going to bury us all, even if tonight does mark the beginning of the end for one Bobby Cobb, who is busy being a starship captain or somesuch. Les Chappell is on the case, and he’s got the comically oversized wine glass to prove it!
New Girl (Fox, 9 p.m.): Look alive, everyone, because Winston has graduated from the police academy, inching us one step closer to that New Girl/Brooklyn Nine-Nine crossover that would have probably already happened if this were 1995 but might not happen now because we just aren’t nearly as cool as 1995. Erik Adams will neither confirm nor deny that he has a 3,000-word essay ready to go on that time Chandler Bing appeared on Caroline In The City. (He totally does. It’s pretty good!)
Regular coverage
Marry Me (NBC, 9 p.m.)
The Mindy Project (Fox, 9:30 p.m.)
Elsewhere in TV Club
The two-part Inventory of 2015’s 76 most anticipated entertainments reaches its second part, otherwise known as its conclusion. Is it too late to include this as the 77th entry, particularly when that’s such a natural lead-in for everyone’s favorite show, The Quiz Broadcast? Meanwhile, back on something resembling planet Earth, Erik Adams talks to Expert Witness David Soldinger on the making of late-night Adult Swim programming. (Hey, we said resembling planet Earth.)
What else is on?
Parks And Recreation (NBC, 8 p.m.): The show doesn’t return for its final season until next week, but get used to the idea of Parks And Recreation airing on Tuesdays with this rerun of last season’s finale, an hour-long episode that is generally a good example of the show at its latter-day best, right up to the point that it does that totally unexpected, maybe awesome, definitely crazy thing that will either rejuvenate the show in its last year or run it completely into the ground. Here’s hoping for the former!
Ice Cold Killers (ID, 8 p.m.): Sadly, ID’s latest lurid true-crime offering does not appear to be setting up some kind of murderous crossover with Ice Road Truckers. Not yet, anyway…
King Of The Hill (Cartoon Network, 8:30 p.m.): In our ongoing effort to highlight at least one King Of The Hill episode each week, know that the second half of tonight’s rerun double-header is the show’s 8th season premiere and 150th episode, an occasion that the show celebrated by bringing in Brad Pitt for a bigtime guest role. And then they had him play Boomhauer’s rakish brother Patch, meaning he’s more or less completely incomprehensible. Just in case you thought the Irish traveler boxer in Snatch. was Pitt’s most indecipherable supporting turn. Brad Pitt seems like a good sport, basically.
Child Genius (Lifetime, 10 p.m.): This new show pits 20 smart kids against one another to find out which is the smartest. Also, for reasons that could probably best be described as “confusing,” the title for tonight’s premiere is “I Am Not A Tiger Mommy.” Such assurances aside, we’re pretty sure this can’t end well.
The Graduate/American Psycho (Sundance, 7:45 p.m./10 p.m.): Tonight is a damn good night for movies, and this is, in its way, kind of the perfect duo. One is maybe a little more aggressive in taking an ax to the shortcomings and the vapidness of modern American society … and honestly, the more brutal indictment might still be The Graduate, even allowing for the fact that American Psycho features a literal ax murder.
The Sting/Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (TCM, 8 p.m./10:15 p.m.): Our apologies. This is the perfect duo, in all possible senses. Go watch these.
NHL Hockey: Sharks at Wild (NBC Sports, 8 p.m.): So, so much college basketball on tonight, but let’s not forget about our pals in the NHL. Halfway through the season, San Jose finds itself tied for second in the Pacific Division with the Vancouver Canucks and the defending champion Los Angeles Kings, which means that the Sharks should be well on their way to another disappointing playoff defeat. Still, they probably need to rack up a few more victories now to ensure that inevitable defeat is suitably crushing.
In case you missed it
Jane The Virgin: In what looks more and more like an inexcusable oversight with each passing episode, we neglected to review the first few episodes of Jane The Virgin. Well, Oliver Sava lets us stick to at least one of our New Year’s resolutions by rectifying this error, and his review of the pilot is unsurprisingly pretty damn glowing.