Year: 2022

1) “Resident Alien” season-opener, 9 p.m., Syfy. This wonderfully weird show mixes solid drama, zesty sci-fi and an abundance of humor. An alien killed Dr. Harry, took over his body and prepared to kill all humans. There were technical woes and he tried to return home, but Max (shown here with him) stowed away and they crashed. Now “Harry” has a concussion and starts babbling the truth – which, of course, everyone ignores. He also think he’s a TV cop. The few humans who know his secret try to help him, with amusing results. Read more…

1) “Our Kind of People” (shown here) finale, 9 p.m., Fox. Officially, this is just the season-finale, but don’t expect it to return. Ratings have been weak and Fox didn’t order the second half of the season. The good news is that this mostly works well as a series finale; questions are answered, evil is punished, romance messes are bsettled. The bad news is that the final minute thrusts everything into permanent limbo. That’s typical of a show that kept making brash and soapy choices. Read more…

1) “Promised Land” (shown here) debut, 10 p.m., ABC. Amid the sprawling beauty of Sonoma Valley, the haves and have-nots scheme. The Sandovals have a vineyard and a winery; Carlos Rincon has just entered the country with his sisters. John Ortiz stars as the patriarch; better known are Bellamy Young as his antagonist and Christina Ochoa as Veronica. Ochoa starred in “Blood Drive” and “Valor,” then was Renn in “Animal Kingdom” and the secretive secretary in “A Million Little Things.” Read more…

1) Football, 3 p.m. ET, NBC and 6:30, CBS. The Tampa Bay Bucs host the Los Angeles Rams; then the Kansas City Chiefs host the Buffalo Bills. The opener offers two veteran quarterbacks: Last week, the Rams’ Matthew Stafford (shown here) got his first playoff win … and the Bucs’ Tom Brady, who has seven Super Bowl wins, got his 35th. In 2009, Stafford was the first person drafted; nine years earlier, Brady was the 199th. Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live,”  11:29 p.m., NBC. A decade after leaving “Saturday Night Live,” Will Forte finally returns as host. That fits neatly with the fact he’s now doing “MacGruber” (shown here) – originally an “SNL” character, then a failed movie, now a series – on Peacock. Forte did eight years on “SNL,” then had his own “Last Man on Earth” series for three years. He’s been busy with voice work and had a serious turn in “Nebraska.” Tonight’s music guest is Maneskin. Read more…

1) “Stars on Stage,” 9 p.m., PBS. This wraps up a series that gave three Broadway-style talents each an hour-long concert. Now it’s Brandon Victor Dixon’s turn. On Broadway, he’s portrayed the music greats – Eubie Blake and Berry Gordy; he’s won a Tony (for producing the “Hedwig” revival) and been nominated for two more. Still, more people may know him from two live TV performances – in “Rent” and a sensational, Emmy-nominated turn as Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar” (shown here). Read more…