1) “The Simpsons,” 8 p.m., Fox. “Treehouse of Horror” again has three tales – all of them weird and some very funny. The first is timely, as political rage creates red and blue monsters (shown here). The second (a Scrooge take-off) is so-so, but has a funny closing bit. The third is clever (albeit very adult); at the Pants For the Amply Rumped store, Homer gets killer jeans. Read more…
1) Election, Tuesday. It’s finally time to end the voting and start counting. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on PBS; 7 on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox; and 8 on CW, plus earlier on news channels. This takes patience; last time, it wasn’t final until Saturday. But at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central, Jon Stewart (shown here) has a live hour: “Indecision 2024: Nothing We Can Do About it Now.” Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. John Mulaney (shown here) hosts “SNL,” which is his home turf. He was a writer there for five years, co-creating the Stefon character. Since then, he’s hosted five times (plus five uncredited visits). Chappell Roan has her first time as music guest; her “Midwest Princess” album was No. 2 on the Billboard chart.
Read more…
1) “Coco” (2017), 8:30 p.m., Freeform. A Mexican tradition has Nov. 1 as “Day of the Dead,” a time to think of departed ancestors. So it’s logical that today Freeform airs this gem, with a boy entering the Land of the Dead (shown here). Freeform will show it Saturday and ABC will have its turn Sunday. The film won Oscars for best song (“Remember Me”) and best animated feature. Read more…
1) “Elsbeth,” 10 p.m., CBS. Mac wakes up on Halloween-with a haircut, a hangover, a tattoo, an arrest and a foggy notion (a nightmare? a memory?) that she shot someone. She’s a former child star, beautiful and clueless; now Elsbeth (in Halloween costume) investigates. Brittany O’Grady (center) is terrific as Mac, in an hour that’s clever and fun Read more…
So there is some logic to the TV world, after all:
Michael Emerson will soon be a recurring character on “Elsbeth,” the show that stars his wife, Carrie Preston. (They’re shown here.)
That starts Dec. 12, with Emerson-playing Milton Crawford. CBS says he’s a “haughty, soft-spoken judge” from a prominent New England family.
And yes, that combination has always seemed logical. “I would love, obviously, to have my husband come on the show,” Preston, 57, told the Television Critics Association session in July. Read more…
1) “Abbott Elementary,” 9:30 p.m., ABC. In an annual tradition, ABC has Halloween episodes for each of its comedies. That continues this year – but the network only has one comedy. At the school’s party (shown here), Janine and Gregory have a couple’s costume that doesn’t click. Also, parents question the hygiene of Barbara’s bobbing-for-apples event. Read more…
1) “Only Murders in the Building” season-finale, Hulu. After lots of twists, this gem reached a breakthrough last week: The young writer, we learned, apparently stole Sazz’s script, put his name on it and killed her. But now Mabel (Selena Gomez, shown here) is alone with him; she and her colleagues (Steve Martin and Martin Short) will be in mortal danger. Read more…
1) World Series, 8:08 p.m. ET, Fox; pre-game at 7. After two games in Dodger Stadium, the games move to Yankee Stadium, a familiar spot. The Yankees (shown here) are in their league-leading 41st Series, with 27 championships; the Dodgers are in their 22nd, , with seven. This continues Tuesday and, if needed, Wednesday and (in Los Angeles) Friday and Saturday. Read more…
The latest “Lincoln Lawyer” mini-series (shown here) is sleek, smart and kind of fun.
It also puts Netflix back in its sweet spot – light mini-series that thrust a hero into weirdly complicated cases.
Other streamers also do that, of course. The best is Hulu’s annual “Only Murders in the Building,” which wraps its fourth season Tuesday (Oct. 29).
But Netflix does it most often. It’s had Vince Vaughn in the 10-part “Bad Monkey,” Arnold Schwarzenegger in the eight-part “FUBAR,” Edgar Ramirez in the seven-part “Florida Man.” And its most consistent success is “The Lincoln Lawyer,” with Manuel Garcia-Ruffo; it recently released its third 10-part season. Read more…
