NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET
Sheryl Crow is among the guest advisers brought in to help singers get through the next phase of this singing competition – but the real competition is between this recent NBC upstart and the long-reigning American Idol. And this season, The Voice is winning, while is no idle threat. Idol threat, definitely. But idle threat? No way.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
When I was a kid, the annual showing of this 1939 classic film musical was one of TV’s most treasured, and most eagerly anticipated, events. It’s not quite the same any more – not on cable, and not when anyone can buy the DVD – but on TCM, without commercial interruption, it’s treated better than it ever was.
Fox, 9:00 p.m. ET
Next week is the season finale for this series, and this week has Ryan (Kevin Bacon) and his team storming killer Joe’s secluded hideout. What’s going to happen next? What happens every week: Joe’s acolytes will surprise authorities by infiltrating deeper than expected. Long, long ago, Ryan should have adopted the motto of Fox Mulder on The X-Files: “Trust no one.” I’m just saying…
National Geographic, 9:00 p.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE: “Focus Pocus” and “It’s About Time” are the subjects of tonight’s doubleheader season opener – and if you want your mind blown, or at least tickled, this is the place to exercise and massage that particular organ. Especially with “Focus Pocus,” you have to see it to believe it. And even then…
Sundance, 9:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: Aden Young stars in this new six-part Sundance Channel series as Daniel Holden, a man released from a Georgia prison after 20 years on Death Row. His guilt or innocence is one mystery here; another is how, and whether, Daniel will adjust to life on the outside after spending more than half his life in solitary. For full reviews, see Eric Gould’s
Cold Light Reader, and check out my own review on NPR’s
Fresh Air with Terry Gross.