CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
Last week’s season premiere focused on Penny and Leonard, who advanced their relationship by getting married impulsively in Las Vegas. This week, Sheldon and Amy’s relationship isn’t advancing – it’s in full retreat. They’ve broken up, and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) has taken to his Fun with Flags webcast to announce and explain his new relationship status. He may not have many viewers, but Amy (Mayim Bialik) is one of them.
Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET
With so few good new series presented this fall, it’s comforting to know that at least one of last year’s new shows has come back even stronger than before. Young Bruce Wayne has made his way, finally, into his late father’s hidden basement cave. Jim Gordon has been reinstated to the police force in a position of influence. And the villains! There are new ones joining the old ones, and most are finding that there’s power in numbers. Erin Richards has seen her role as Barbara Gordon go from minor player to major, and majorly twisted, baddie. And the new additions, James Frain and Jessica Lucas as Theo and Tabitha Galvin, may turn out to be the most twisted sibling TV villains since Kevin Spacey and Joan Severance played Mel and Susan Profitt on Wiseguy. (Lucas as Tabitha is pictured here.)
PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: Phil Rosenthal, the co-creator of
Everybody Loves Raymond (think of him as the answer to an SAT question: Phil Rosenthal is to Ray Romano as Larry David is to Jerry Seinfeld on
Seinfeld), steps out into his own TV series and spotlight here. Not in a sitcom, but in a very entertaining travel and food nonfiction series, in which he visits a new location each week and dives in, eager to know the local food, and especially the local people. It’s highly recommended, and you can
read my full review, and an interview with Rosenthal, on Bianculli’s Blog. And here’s your opportunity for personal feedback from an actual TV producer, director, writer and star: Rosenthal, in the interview, asks me to ask you to identify your favorite places to eat, where you live and around the world. Tonight’s series opener presents Phil sampling food, and interacting with the locals, in Tokyo.
Check local listings.
Comedy Central, 11:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: This new series is the most-awaited late-night show since – well, since Stephen Colbert took over Late Show from David Letterman on CBS. How will Trevor Noah, at age 31, and with a global perspective and biracial background, be different from the previous Daily Show host, the fabulous Jon Stewart? Well, for starters, Noah is biracial, from South Africa… and 31. As for how he puts his own imprint on this program? That starts tonight – so why wouldn’t you tune in to watch? And it's not exactly a slow news cycle, with weekend U.S. visits by both the Chinese leader and the Pope.
CBS, 11:35 p.m. ET
Last week, Stephen Colbert played host to, among many other guests, front-running Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Tonight, among Colbert’s guests is another prominent political figure: First Lady Michelle Obama (seen here over the weekend, before the state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan.