CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
Abby Elliott, who did some excellent but underappreciated work on Saturday Night Live, continues her recurring guest role on this sitcom as Ted’s seemingly unhinged new girlfriend. She’s not likely to end up as the titular Mother – but in the meantime, she promises to be a very funny distraction.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
George Cukor directed this 1933 version of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved family story, and provided Katharine Hepburn, as Jo, with an early, meaty starring role. Her co-stars include Joan Bennett and Spring Byington, but it’s Hepburn who runs away with this one.
Fox, 9:00 p.m. ET
This is the fourth episode – the last one sent to critics in advance – and it’s the one that will either impress its fans or test the loyalty of viewers. There are suggestions that this series already is borrowing from the “Red John” story line on The Mentalist, as well as from the traumatized-child backstory of Dexter. It’s an interesting amalgam, but also an increasingly unsettling one.
TNT, 9:00 p.m. ET
As long as Larry Hagman appears in these new episodes, I’ll keep noting them. TV icons such as J.R. Ewing just don’t come around that often.
TCM, 10:15 p.m. ET
If you like, think of this 1940 movie as a prequel to Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. Based on Robert E. Sherwood’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play, it tells of Abraham Lincoln’s early years, with Raymond Massey reprising the title role from the stage version. And watch for the woman playing Mary Todd, who eventually becomes Abe’s wife: She’s played by Ruth Gordon, making her cinematic debut.