At the core of the underrated, forever unnominated “Sons of Anarchy” (FX, 10 p.m.) is Shakespeare remade on motorcycles, a young prince taking over the kingdom from the corrupt leader who married his mom. There’s a lot of violence and retribution on top of all that. And as the fifth season begins, there are threads from last season to tie up as Jax and Clay have never been so far apart, Gemma is striking out on her own and there’s a whole new rival gang to keep an eye on.
There is a spectacular truck jacking as the action begins, and one of he most gruesome deaths on any TV series. There’s one great guest star this season – Jimmy Smits as a tattooed pimp, and one that’s not so good – Harold Perrineau as a cliched gang leader (later this season, there’s more interesting casting, with Ashley Tisdale and Joel McHale). One particularly unsavory aspect is the race wars depicted, bringing the n word back to television.
There’s an unusual guest star on “Parenthood” (NBC, 10 p.m.) this season as well, with Ray Romano taking a role as a family photographer. There’s a whole lot of family to shoot. On paper “Parenthood,” is a dream show with a strong cast that just keeps stronger. In reality, each scene seems built on characters talking over one another, constantly arguing that may be meant to play as chaotic comedy but comes off as headache-inducing argument for living alone.
Public defenders explain their process and invite us along on a couple of cases on the new docu-series “Criminal Defense” (National Geographic, 10 p.m.), which flies along since a couple of cases are included and resolved within a half hour. Would that the criminal justice system went so fast.
With Witney Carson and Cole Horibe eliminated last week the final four dance on “So You Think You Can Dance” (Fox, 9 p.m.) – Tiffany Maher, Eliana Girard, Chehon Wespi-Tschopp and Cyrus Spencer — with their final performances before a pair of winners are unveiled next week.
The first opera of Wagner’s Ring will be presented on “Great Performances from the Met” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings), “Das Rheingold.” Which has nothing to do with the New York beer of the same name.
The two night miniseries of “The Crimson Petal and the White” (Encore, 8 p.m.) reaches its conclusion after a twist or two.
The 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2011 is marke today by a special on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center on “Nova” (PBS, 8 p.m., check local listings), “Hotel Ground Zero” (History, 8 p.m.), “102 Minutes hat Changed America” (History, 9 p.m.), “The Rising” (Science, 9 p.m.) and “The 9/11 Surfer” (Discovery, 10 p.m.).
Auditions for “The Voice” (NBC, 8 p.m.) crawl along; each judge gets 16 acts each this year, so this process may take til Thanksgiving.
The new sitcoms “Go On” (NBC, 9 p.m.) and “The New Normal” (NBC, 9:30 p.m.) each present new episodes.
The finale of “Dance Moms” (Lifetime, 9 p.m.) takes place at Nationals in Beverly Hills.
Chocolate bunnies get “Chopped” (Food Network, 10 p.m.).
Cary Grant is featured on Turner Movie Classics tonight, with “Monkey Business” (8 p.m.), “People Will Talk” (10 p.m.), “I Was a Male War Bride” (midnight), “The Awful Truth” (2 a.m.) and “The Bishop’s Wife” (3:45 a.m.).
Daytime Talk
Kelly & Michael: Matthew Perry, Olivia Wilde. Katie Couric: Aimee Copeland, Danica Patrick. The View: George Stephanopoulos, Jennifer Hudson. The Talk: Shaun T. Ellen DeGeneres: Britney Spears, Simon Cowell.
Late Talk
David Letterman: Roseanne Barr, Aubrey Plaza, Jeff the Brotherhood (rerun). Jay Leno: Katie Couric, Dax Shepard, Emeli Sande (rerun). Jimmy Kimmel: Dr. Phil McGraw, Dakota Johnson, Rita Ora. Jimmy Fallon: Woody Harrelson, Kenan Thompson, Cat Power. Craig Ferguson: Adam Goldberg, Alison Becker. Tavis Smiley: Colin Powell. Carson Daly: Piers Morgan, Thee Oh Sees (rerun). Jon Stewart: Austan Goolsbee (rerun). Stephen Colbert: Bill Richardson (rerun). Conan O’Brien: Eva Longoria, James Marsden, Roy Wood Jr. Chelsea Handler: Kate Walsh, Ben Gleib, Jen Kirkman, Lavell Crawford.
Anyone that has been keeping up with Sons of Anarchy has to be super excited for the show’s return tonight. I know because I am! It seems like I’ve waited forever for this show to make it back to TV and maybe it’s just the anticipation of what will happen to SAMCRO now that Jax is at the head of the table. I’ve got my Hopper set to record the new season because I don’t want to miss anything just in case I don’t make it home in time to catch an episode. There were a lot of things about last season that were shocking like Piney’s death and the inevitable attempt on Clay’s life that put him in the hospital. A lot of my Dish co-workers watch the show and we’ve had discussions about Clay’s next course of action. Many people believe that Clay will not sit quietly on the sidelines while Jax runs SAMCRO. The club is his life and it’s all he’s ever known. I guess we will see how long it takes for something to happen between the two.