Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Tuesday, September 9. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Sons Of Anarchy (FX, 10 p.m.): Television’s loudest, ballsiest, most in-your-face drama—and it’ll be the first one to tell you all that—is back for one last round of motorcycle mayhem. The show has struggled to recapture the vitality that propelled its early years, but could this final season give the show the perfect opportunity to refocus and churn out one more strong batch of episodes? No idea, but hey, Marilyn Manson has a guest spot tonight, so that’s… something! Zack Handlen is on the case for the extra-long premiere—nearly two hours, including the commercials!—though frankly he’ll just be happy if the episode is better than the last episode he reviewed.
Also noted
Enemy Of The Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story (PBS, 8 p.m.): For those looking for action adventures with a touch more class than Sons Of Anarchy can provide, we direct you to this Helen Mirren-narrated documentary, which chronicles the heroic tale of a Russian-born Muslim woman with an Indian father and an American mother who ended up as an Allied radio operator in Nazi-occupied Paris. Yes, we realize that last sentence was a mouthful, but if that doesn’t pique your interest, we’re not sure what will.
Adam DeVine’s House Party (Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m.): The Workaholics star’s side project kicks off its second season tonight, although we should point out just how weird the scheduling for this is. After tonight’s premiere, the show is immediately moving back to Thursday nights, and we do mean immediately: The next episode airs two days from now. We guess tonight’s Tosh.0 lead-in must be worth any sacrifice.
TV Club Classic
30 Rock (3 p.m.): Brandon Nowalk is resting up before starting the sixth season of The Shield, but Erik Adams is back from his own break to examine a pair of episodes that gave us two of Liz Lemon’s great lost loves: Dennis Duffy and Conan O’Brien. You’re too good for at least one of them, Liz! (Probably.)
Elsewhere in TV Club
It’s day two of our big fall television preview, as a crack squad of TV Clubbers offer their early thoughts on Tim and Eric’s latest offering, the Viola Davis-starring How To Get Away With Murder, the Kate Walsh vehicle Bad Judge, and more. Plus, be sure to check out the first half of the preview if you haven’t had a chance yet.
What else is on?
Utopia (Fox, 8 p.m.): So sure, the first episode of this three-part reality series masquerading as some sort of profound social experiment was kind of a complete fiasco, but maybe everything will magically fix itself in the second episode! I mean, stranger things have happened. That horse becoming pope…
Hotel Hell (Fox, 9 p.m.): It’s the season finale of the fourth or fifth most important entry in the Gordon Ramsey Yelling At People Empire, and this time around “a Northern California landmark has succumbed to a raucous party atmosphere that is preventing guests from getting any rest.” Hopefully this is going to prominently involve Gordon Ramsey screaming at a redwood about how it needs to get its act together, because you just know that damn redwood has been coasting for the last thousand or so years.
Robin Williams Remembered (PBS, 9 p.m.): For those who aren’t just kind of ready to get away from the topic of celebrity deaths for a little while—and, for the record, there’s nothing wrong with either impulse—PBS’ Pioneers Of Television has this tribute, which features an archival interview with Williams, clips from his career, and remembrances from friends and fellow comedians.
Superhuman Animals (BBC America, 9 p.m.): “Extraordinary sense of smell in the animal world is explored. Helen dives into shark-infested waters with only a small pouch of liquid as her defense; and Patrick controls the behavior of a swarm of bees.” We’re not totally sure how any of those concepts connect together, but we’re guessing it’s all going to be pretty damn impressive. Also possibly a bit smelly, but that thankfully isn’t much of an issue on television.
Sullivan & Son (TBS, 10 p.m.): The sitcom wraps up its third season with a guest spot from John Michael Higgins, who returns as a nosy neighbor completely incapable of keeping a secret.
Alien: Resurrection/Alien: Resurrection (FX Movie Channel, 7:00 p.m./9:30 p.m.): We realize it’s not exactly unheard of for movie channels to run the same movie back to back, but we just find it kind of hilarious that this movie is taking up a full five hours of primetime (and primetime-adjacent) real estate. We recommend making the most of this opportunity by watching the first time with an eye on the film’s big-picture themes, then rewatching with renewed focus on the subtle character dynamics and wordplay. Should be a rewarding evening!
Beavis And Butt-Head Do America (MovieMax, 7:30 p.m.): Yeah, this movie is perfect. Go watch it.
WNBA Finals: Game 2: Chicago at Phoenix (ESPN, 9 p.m.): We’ll admit that we don’t know that much about women’s basketball, but we do know enough to say that the Chicago Sky are led by young superstar Elena Delle Donne and the Phoenix Mercury feature league legend Diana Taurasi, and they’re more than enough to make this worth checking out.
In case you missed it
Gravity Falls: Disney’s reliably unreliable scheduling means the show was left out of yesterday’s listings, but no matter: The episode itself was amazing, and Alasdair Wilkins has the lowdown at the link.