Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Sunday, April 30. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
American Gods (Starz, 10 p.m.): The much-awaited series, based on Neil Gaiman’s novel, finally makes its way to Starz to kick off an eight-episode run. An convict named Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) is released early to attend the funeral of his wife, and along his travels he meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane), who hires him as a bodyguard. But Mr. Wednesday alludes to a giant battle brewing, which Gaiman fans know involves old gods like Odin vs. new gods like Media (Gillian Anderson), alongside other characters like Mr. World (Crispin Glover), Easter (Kristin Chenoweth), Mr. Nancy (Orlando Jones), and Jesus Christ (Jeremy Davies). In her pre-air review, Danette Chavez enthuses that showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green somewhat expand on the novel: “Though Fuller and Green have mostly remained faithful to their source material, they’ve followed Gaiman’s example in breathing new life into iconic figures.” The heroic Emily L. Stephens will take on weekly reviews.