TV picks: ‘The Conners,’ ‘The Rookie,’ ‘Making a Murderer Part 2’ and more
What's new or noteworthy on television in the coming week.
Charmed. Reboot of the old WB series, from Jane the Virgin producer Jennie Snyder Urman, is paired with the 8 p.m. show Supergirl, moving from Mondays to help create a new outpost for the network on Sundays. Melonie Diaz, Sarah Jeffery, and Madeleine Mantock star as half-sisters who discover they've inherited witchy powers only after their mother's mysterious death. The siblings' ethnic diversity is only one of the things that distinguishes this show from the original, but it doesn't hurt. 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, CW.
The Alec Baldwin Show. A recent Hollywood Reporter profile of Baldwin quoted an ABC exec as saying that the actor and Saturday Night Live presidential impersonator's new talk show would engage in "the warm bath style of interviewing." That doesn't exactly sound like Baldwin, but I guess we'll see. Guests for the premiere are Robert De Niro and Taraji P. Henson. 10 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, ABC.
Camping. Jennifer Garner isn't afraid to be annoying — really, really annoying — in this cringe-worthy new comedy about a woman trying to control every aspect of an outdoorsy weekend gathering celebrating the birthday of her husband. David Tennant (Doctor Who, Broadchurch), who's sadly left his Scottish accent at home, plays the hapless husband. Based on a British series, it's produced by Lena Dunham with her fellow Girls producer Jenni Konner. 10 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, HBO.
The Conners. Killing off TV moms is nothing new, but this Roseanne spin-off, ordered after a racist tweet derailed the second season of its star's triumphant return to ABC, is a trickier proposition than most. How exactly will Roseanne Conner (Roseanne Barr) die, and will the millions who showed up for her sitcom revival rally around, or abandon, the family she's leaving behind? (Or, for that matter, believe that she's truly gone?) 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, ABC.
>>READ MORE: 'Kevin Can Wait,' and why this TV mom had to die
The Kids Are Alright. As the oldest sibling in a family of seven kids, I was probably the best possible audience for this 1970s-set series, inspired by creator Tim Doyle's experiences growing up as one of eight boys. Your mileage may vary, but Mary McCormack kills as the mother of this unruly brood. 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, ABC.
The Rookie. Castle's Nathan Fillion returns to crime-fighting in a less whimsical, but no less far-fetched role, as John Nolan, a 40-year-old from a small town who decides to reinvent himself as a Los Angeles police officer. It's a move greeted with understandable skepticism by his bosses and fellow cops, who don't even bother to point out that the Firefly star, while still impossibly handsome, hasn't seen 40 in a while. Yet it's hard not to root for Nolan as he tries to bring grown-up common sense to police work, and for Fillion, who's trying something here that requires more sincerity than swagger. 10 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, ABC.
Nova: Addiction. Would it make a difference in the way we approach drug treatment if we understood the science behind addiction? The PBS program tries to destigmatize a deadly disease by using MRI scans, not frying pans, to show us brains on drugs. 9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, WHYY12.
Daredevil. Just because you saw a building fall on Marvel's blind hero doesn't mean he can't rise from the rubble. And Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) isn't the only character making a comeback in the third season. Friday, Oct. 19, Netflix.
Making a Murderer Part Two. Filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos follow up their explosive true-crime documentary series with 10 more episodes that look at the appeals process and the legal teams fighting to overturn the convictions of Steven Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, in the 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. Friday, Oct. 19, Netflix.
My Dinner With Hervé. Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) stars as the late actor Hervé Villechaize — Tattoo on Fantasy Island — and Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey, The Fall) as a journalist trying to interview him over the course of a single crazy night. The film was inspired by director Sacha Gervasi's own experiences as the last journalist to interview the troubled performer before he took his own life. 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, HBO.