BBC America, 8:00 p.m. ET
This is the original Tron, from 1982, not the sequel. And while the plot, like the entire movie, hasn't improved with time, the state of state-of-the-art computer graphics certainly has. Watching Tron more than 30 years later is like watching the computer-game equivalent of a silent film. We've come a long way, baby - and so has Jeff Bridges, who stars in this goofy-looking Disney movie about a man trapped in a computer game.
IFC, 8:00 p.m. ET
Another of my so-called “spider-web movies.” The Shawshank Redemption gets me every time, and won’t let me go. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman are fantastic as the convicts who form a slow but sure bond – and that scene with the music over the loudspeaker? One of the best scenes Stephen King ever wrote – and that’s saying something.
USA, 9:00 p.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE: Dr. Hank (Mark Feuerstein) has recovered from last season’s emergency brain surgery, and he’s back for a new season. What’s most noteworthy, though, is who’s joining this series for the first time: Frances Conroy, late of Six Feet Under and, most recently, a pair of creepy star turns on American Horror Story.
USA, 10:01 p.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE: John Stamos joins the cast this season – but Callie Thorne, as the star, remains the major reason to watch. Though honestly, I wish she were starring in a better show. After her work on Rescue Me, Necessary Roughness seems painfully diluted.
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET
My favorite installments of this show are when Stephen Colbert comes face to face with a truly stellar talent, and manages to crack the veneer and get attention with some outrageous bit of mid-interview comedy business. He did it, very memorably, with Stephen Sondheim, and Aaron Sorkin, and Maurice Sendak – and tonight, I hope he does it again. Colbert’s guest, for tonight’s expanded one-hour edition: Paul McCartney.