Style, 8:00 p.m. ET
If you watched the Oscars Sunday, you saw the live recreation of one musical number from this 2002 film musical. Now revisit the whole thing – and compare and contrast with Les Miserables, the most recent big-screen, big-budget musical. Chicago is the better film, and the Academy agreed, honoring it as Best Picture. It won several other Oscars as well, including Best Supporting Actress, an award won by Les Miserables as well – the latter by Anne Hathaway, the former by Catherine Zeta-Jones (pictured). And both the 2013 Oscars telecast and the 2002 Chicago, by the way, were produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.
CW, 9:00 p.m. ET
I’m on record as not thinking very much of this show – but the pilot was so obsessed with establishing its show-within-the-show conceit that it was hard to judge whether it was going to go anywhere worthwhile. By the end of tonight’s Episode 2, we should have a clearer idea. But I’m not optimistic.
HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
MINISERIES PREMIERE: HBO is showing its newest, five-hour period miniseries over three nights: two hours tonight, two more tomorrow, and the conclusion on Thursday. Tom Stoppard adapts the WWI-era novels by Ford Madox Ford, and Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch has the central role as Christopher, a man with a wife who’s unfaithful and unpredictable (Rebecca Hall, who’s captivating) and a woman he adores, but never seems to connect with (Adelaide Clemens). Whether or not he’s at war, Christopher is never at peace (“I haven’t a friend in the world,” he says at one point, matter-of-factly), while his wife will say and do horrible or outrageous things simply to shatter his stiff British countenance. “At last,” she tells him after one such outburst, “I’ve changed the expression on your face.” It’s all about people who love each other at the wrong times – and though Cumberbatch and Hall are great together, and the supporting cast is strong, this miniseries veers between two subtle and too obvious. Calling it Downton Abbey with nudity, though, is both an accurate and affectionate assessment – though the nudity is much more upstairs than downstairs.
NBC, 10:00 p.m. ET
This second episode of the second season continues to reset the plot, establish and strengthen new characters, and try to reboot a bit under a different show producer. Tonight’s highlight: a planned live musical showcase for diva Veronica Moore, played by Jennifer Hudson – who, in real life, just performed live at the Oscars Sunday night.
FX, 10:00 p.m. ET
The momentum generated by Justified the past two weeks justifies its status as one of the most exciting drama series on TV right now – and tonight, both Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) and Boyd (Walton Goggins) are in a high gear, take-no-prisoners mode. And when Raylan is talking about taking no prisoners, he often means it literally.