The Frontline report ESPN was too afraid (of the NFL?) to cosign
Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Tuesday, October 8. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Frontline (PBS, 9 p.m.): Such is the power (in clout) of the National Football League that ESPN backed out of its involvement in this Frontline special about football-induced concussions, presumably as to not anger a highly lucrative business partner. Yet such is the power (in contact) of the NFL that pros are indisputably suffering for years due to head injuries suffered on the field, so Frontline pushed forward. Did the show’s drive get this report into the endzone? Linesman Kevin McFarland will have the ruling.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC, 8 p.m.): The agents track down a missing scientist—is it, perhaps, the scientist whose experiments in radiation inadvertently created Spider-Man? (No.) Is it Hank McCoy? (No.) Bruce Banner? (Definitely not.) David Sims wants you to know he considers himself a scientist of words, so maybe he’s the target of the search. (No he’s not.)
The Originals (The CW, 8 p.m.): In an effort to differentiate itself from the season’s other New Orleans-set horror show—as well as the other show about munching on the local flavors of the Big Easy—The Originals moves to its regular night and time. This is where you can find it every week from now on, Rowan Kaiser gha-rawn-tees.
30 For 30 (ESPN, 8 p.m.): The documentary series presents a look at the Spirits Of St. Louis, pretty much the closest the already lively American Basketball Association came to producing its own Harlem Globetrotters. Kevin McFarland just likes watching footage of players using that distinctive red-white-and-blue ball.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox, 8:30 p.m.): A fetching medical examiner (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) catches Jake’s eye—a plot that catches Molly Eichel’s eye, because if Ellis’ work elsewhere has illustrated, this is the sort of attraction that could keep a Peralta-Santiago pairing on ice for good.
Supernatural (The CW, 9 p.m.): Vengeful angels are after the Winchesters in the show’s ninth-season premiere. Eric Thurm learned the hard way not to mess with an angel—maybe he’ll tell you all about it in the stray observations.