Unnoticed on Tuesdays, Fox has interesting shows

Interesting things can be found in odd, unvisited corners of the TV world,
One of those corners is any Tuesday on Fox. That’s where you’ll find:
— On Nov. 26, the season-finale of “Murder in a Small Town.” Flaws and all, it’s an excellent hour; if need be, it could be considered a good series-finale.
— On Dec. 3, back-to-back episodes of “Accused” (shown here). The two hours are wildly different in tone; they remind us why people hate and/or love anthologies.
Neither show has gathered much attention. One recent week found “Murder” (8 p.m.) at No. 75 in the ratings, “Accused” (9 p.m.) at No.97.
Still, both offers subtle character drama.
“Murder” is thoroughly Canadian, in a good way. Gone are the cliches that used to riddle U.S. cop shows.
Rossif Sutherland (Kiefer’s half-brother) plays the police chief, a towering guy with sad eyes, soft voice and bland sweaters. Others – his two top deputies, an office manager, his daughter and his sometimes girlfriend (Kristin Kreuk) — offer that same mix of warmth, pain and empathy.
The plots are usually solid, so it’s a surprise when this one goes astray.
The story (which started the previous week) involves a serial killer. There are moments – we won’t say anything to spoil the plot – that go against the show’s usual solid realism. And yet, with these characters and this setting, any flaws are easy to forgive.
“Accused” is a true anthology. Each week, we see a fictional court case and the story behind it.
This can be a tough ride for viewers. Last year’s series-opener – Michael Chiklis as father of a school shooter – was devastating. The same was true of the opening episodes this season. First, Felicity Huffman was someone who felt her ESP could help find a child; then Taylor Schilling was consumed by road rage.
But anthologies can vary sharply, as we see on Dec. 3. The first hour is a dark tale, with Ken Jeong as a guy learning about his wife’s past; the second steps into a time when artificial intelligence seems everywhere.
There are AI waiters; most music is done via AI. And when an executive (Sonequa Martin-Green, shown here, of “Star Trek: Discovery”) is too busy, she gets an A.I. sex companion for her husband (Mike Colter of “Luke Cage”).
Yes, this requires a suspension of disbelief. (It’s hard to imagine that any heterosexual woman would be too busy to have sex with Mike Colter.) But it’s also interesting and well told; it’s one of the odd pleasures we find in TV’s least-visited corners.