NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET
SERIES RETURN: NBC, with the dismal stretch it’s been having the past few months, probably was counting the days until this popular show returned. But there’s a catch. Two of the judges, Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera, have vacated their pivoting red chairs for this new season, allowing two other performers to sell themselves as judges and mentors as well as musical talents. Coincidentally, the two new arrivals are single-name celebrities: Shakira and Usher. So the action, for this fourth edition, has to establish a new chemistry – but these early audition rounds are the most dynamic part of the series, so it’s now or never.
NBC, 10:00 p.m. ET
SERIES RETURN: NBC, with the dismal stretch it’s been having the past few months, probably was counting the days until this popular show returned. But there’s a catch. After so many weeks in hibernation, will this series attract the same number of fans as when the Revolution was first televised? Hard to say. But if you need a reminder, the last thing this series about a “powerless” future society showed us, lo those many months ago, was a helicopter in flight.
A&E, 10:00 p.m. ET
Episode two of this series gives a stronger idea of where this new series plans to go: both inside the head of young Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore, pictured), and outside the town where he and his feisty mom (Vera Farmiga) have set up the newly named “Bates Motel.” Norman goes into the woods near this small town, and finds some creepy goings-on that have nothing to do with Norman or his mother.
Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET
Episode two of this miniseries gives a stronger idea of where it’s headed as well – and as one body appears and another disappears, the plot thickens in both directions. And no matter where it goes, two performances shine and dominate: Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men as a New Zealand detective (pictured) with a troubled past, and Peter Mullan as a suspect who’s giving her reasons to have a troubled present.
Showtime, 11:00 p.m. ET
David Steinberg talks to two more comics this week, and this time they’re both comediennes: the great Carol Burnett, and the hilariously grating Susie Essman (pictured), who plays Susie Greene, Larry David’s very vocal nemesis, on Curb Your Enthusiasm – on which, by the way, Steinberg serves as a director.