1) “Good Trouble” return, 8 p.m., Freeform. Here is an explosive episode – visually, aurally and emotionally. It’s time for the verdict in the trial of a cop who shot a black teen; that’s a case that has enmeshed Callie, a law clerk (Maia Mitchell, shown here with Beau Michoff) and her neighbor Malika, an activist) The story is told powerfully … sometimes with intense percussion in the background. That’s Dennis, wracked with self-loathing, pounding his drum set. Both stories are pack with fierce impact.
2) “The Lavender Scare,” 9 p.m., PBS. Frank Kameny was 6 when he chose a career in astronomy. He got a Harvard doctorate, worked for the federal government, dreamed of being an astronaut … and was fired in 1957. Thousands of other were hit by Dwight Eisenhower’s mandate against gays in federal jobs, but Kameny fought the hardest, calling it a civil rights issue. Bill Clinton would rescind the mandate in ’95; Barack Obama would praise Kamely. His story and others are strongly told here.
3) “Alternatino with Arturo Castro” debut, 10:30 p.m., Comedy Central. Anyone mourning the end of “Broad City” can perk up: Castro – who played Jaime in that show – has what could be the next great sketch show. A Guatemalan native who played a druglord’s son in “Narcos,” Castro is a gifted actor; that’s evident in one sketch, in which he plays a high-end robot with low self-esteem. But his real gift is comedy, cleverly written and played, which pierces stereotypes in every direction.
4) “The Detour” season-opener, 10:30 p.m., TBS. Nate (Jason Jones) goes to the ends of the Earth (almost literally) to find his daughter. Tonight, he eludes cartel gunfire in Paraguay, swims in New Zealand and, in Tibet, has the most spectacular tumble in TV history. It’s a fairly funny episode that leads to a possible breakthrough in his search.
5) Much more. If you don’t mind reruns, CBS has “NCIS” at 8; ABC has Johnny Galecki returning to “The Conners” at 8, plus “Modern Family” at 9 and 10. And if you do? At 9, CW has “The 100.” At 10, things are crowded: Comedy Central has a fairly good “Drunk History,” CBS has “Blood & Treasure,” FX has “Pose” and the Oprah Winfrey Network debuts “Ambitions,” a soap-style tale with Robin Givens, Brian White and Essence Atkins among Atlanta’s scheming elite.