CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
This new episode has the gang offering different memories of their last encounter with the Captain (played by Kyle MacLachlan, who last portrayed the wealthy eccentric on this series two years ago). It allows for some fun comic exaggeration (as with Cobie Smulders as Robin, shown flirting with the Captain from afar) – but given the structure of this series, doesn’t it make this a series of flashbacks within one longer flashback? It’s a jumping-jack flashback – but it’s a gas, gas, gas.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
The granddad on Parenthood, Craig C. Nelson, was young enough to play the dad in this 1982 horror film, a Steven Spielberg thriller that used what were then state-of-the-art special effects to tell a scary story about a suburban family whose home becomes haunted by – well, let’s just call it paranormal activity. More than 30 years on, it’s fun to watch as a period piece, as well as on its own merits as a genre movie.
Fox, 9:00 p.m. ET
I haven’t seen this episode – my preview disc ended with “Chapter Four,” last week’s installment – so I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight. I don’t know whether I care, either, to tell the truth. But on a slow TV night, it’s something new, and Kevin Bacon, so far, has kept it interesting. So for now, I guess, I’ll keep following The Following.
TNT, 9:00 p.m. ET
If you were a fan of the old Dallas at all, tonight’s new episode of this 2.0 reboot has a sequence that’s not to be missed. J. R. Ewing, played by the late, great Larry Hagman, takes a morning phone call, and who’s on the other end? J. R.’s lifelong nemesis, Cliff Barnes – played, as always, by Ken Kercheval. What a treat.
Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET
Part 7. If you’ve been watching, or re-watching, this 2005 Sundance nonfiction documentary series about a man convicted of murdering his wife, keep watching – because something you haven’t seen before is just around the corner. Eight years ago, The Staircase told its story in eight one-hour segments, of which tonight’s installment is the seventh. But after next week, the 2013 telecast of The Staircase will keep going – with two new installments updating the story.