If October was all about Halloween, November is all about JFK, because of the 50th anniversary of his assassination. A month of more than two dozen specials begins tonight with one of the most subversive.
“JFK: The Smoking Gun” (Reelz, 8 p.m.) doesn’t just say there was a second gunman; it comes right out and names him. And at first, it’s a compelling explanation: a Secret Service man in the trailing car accidentally hit the trigger of the gun he picked up when he heard the first shot and as the car accelerated, it fired the fatal blow.
It’s a theory that was forwarded (and debunked) but now revived by an Australian forensics expert Colin McLaren. He lays out the evidence in the two hour special about how the Secret Service may have covered up or hidden evidence, but the whole production is almost undone by bad re-enactments, worse even than those in the miniseries “The Kennedys” (Reelz, noon) which shows in its entirety today.
Queen Latifah, Venus Williams and Patti LaBelle are all honored in the third “Black Girls Rock!” (BET, 7 p.m.) event at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. Other honorees include Misty Copeland, Ameena Matthews and Marian Wright Edelman. Performers include Jennifer Hudson, Janelle Monae.
“The Real Housewives of Atlanta” (Bravo,8 p.m.) are back in action now that NeNe’s wedding – and network TV career — is over.
Before she talks to Iranian security, Carrie has to endure a lie detector test on “Homeland” (Showtime, 9 p.m.). She’s been pretty jittery already.
Leslie Stahl goes to Guantanamo on “60 Minutes” (CBS, 7:30 p.m.), but she’s only visiting.
“Secrets of Selfridges” (PBS, 8 p.m., check local listings) is a documentary on the department store that is the subject of the other Sunday night series on “Masterpiece Classic” (PBS, 9 p.m.), not the current one, “The Paradise.”
The doctor and his wife travel to Miami to clear their minds on “Masters of Sex” (Showtime, 10 p.m.).
In Vienna, racers have to sing with the famous boys’ choir on “The Amazing Race” (CBS, 8:30 p.m.).
One of the Springfield characters dies tonight on “The Simpsons” (Fox, 8 p.m.), but probably not Edna Crabapple.
It’s Indianapolis at Houston (NBC, 8:30 p.m.) in Sunday Night Football.
The musical “Miss Sadie Thompson” (TCM, 8 p.m.) was made from the film version of Somerset Maugham’s “Rain” (TCM, 10 p.m.).
Sunday Talk
ABC: Sen. Rand Paul, Senior White House Adviser Dan Pfeiffer, Nate Silver. CBS: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Mike Rogers, former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden. NBC: Mitt Romney, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, former senior White House adviser David Axelrod. CNN: Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Newt Gingrich. Fox News: Sen. Lindsey Graham, Scott Brown, Karl Rove, Evan Bayh.