The first new broadcast series of the fall TV season begin tonight and they’re not a great harbinger of the year.
The better of the two, and the most obvious, is “Red Band Society” (Fox, 9 p.m.), about a ward where teens with terminal illnesses get care — beautiful teens. The duty of the pilot is to identify the characters of this “Breakfast Club” in a hospital not so much by disease but by stereotype: Mean girl, nice guy, shy girl, comatose boy. It’s the boy in a coma who gets to narrate, suggesting that maybe he’ll snap out of it, or at least that he knows more than he lets on.
It’s hard to be critical of a show imbued with such good intentions, but it seems likely it will be as obvious and tough to watch after a while as “Glee.” And this one doesn’t have any songs. Octavia Spencer is very good in it, though, suggesting she might need a series where she plays more of a central role.
For more Spencer, you can catch the premium cable premiere of “Fruitvale Station” (Showtime, 6:30 p.m.), the highly regarded and awfully timely film about a black man’s shooting death by a rapid transit officer. Would that any TV series would be as immediate, relevant and free of stereotype.
The other new series tonight is just a mystery, with Debra Messing starring in “The Mysteries of Laura” (NBC, 10 p.m.) as a supposedly skilled police detective who spends half her time trying to keep her super-bratty twin boys in line and do the household duties. The mix of comedy and drama, obviously meant to emulate something somebody saw on cable, has rarely been done so clumsily. Messing loses sympathy among the other cardboard characters and there ought to be juvenile detention for the worst kids ever in a network TV series. Might be worth a watch just to see how bad TV can get.
A $1 million winner is named in the ninth season finale of “America’s Got Talent” (NBC, 8 p.m.) from among AcroArmy, Emily West, Mat Francol, Miguel Dakota, Quintavious Johnson and Sons of Serendip. The episode lasts two hours and not just because of those long pauses before they blurt the results. There are also guest performances by Ed Sheeran, Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Hudson, Pitbull, the Rockettes and Train.
“Extant” (CBS, 10 p.m.) reaches its finale, with Molly heading back into space in an effort to save Earth. Will we ever see Halle Berry back on TV?
Now that Teddy is dead (spoiler alert) “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History” (PBS, 8 and 10 p.m.) focuses squarely on the surviving couple, with FDR running for vice president in 1920 and contracting polio the summer after. He still won’t be president after two hours, though.
Sonia tries to question Eleanor as Marcus gets closer to his target on the season’s penultimate episode of “The Bridge” (FX, 10 p.m.).
Online, the 10-episode “Making a Scene with James Franco” (AOL, streaming) has the actor remaking scenes from famous movies, just as he did with “Bound 2.”
As if Gordon Ramsay isn’t loud enough, Wendy Williams is guest star on “Hell’s Kitchen” (Fox, 8 p.m.).
The cast of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” guest stars on “Top Chef Duels” (Bravo, 10 p.m.), suggesting perhaps that the duels have escalated into something needing police presence.
Yet another eviction on “Big Brother” (CBS, 8 p.m.) thins the group down to three. The month-long Wednesday night salute to Melvyn Douglas continues with “Billy Budd” (8 p.m.), “The Great Sinner” (10 p.m.), “That Uncertain Feeling” (midnight), “Fast Company” (1:30 a.m.), “Third Finger, Left Hand” (3 a.m.) and “Dangerous Corner” (4:45 a.m.).
Daytime Talk
Kelly & Michael: Julianna Margulies, Jeff Probst, Eric Ripert. The View: Neil Patrick Harris, Tim McGraw. The Talk: Smokey Robinson, David Arquette. Ellen DeGeneres: Ty Burrell, Hank Azaria, Bastille. Wendy Williams: Sherri Shepherd. Meredith Vieira: Octavia Spencer.
Late Talk
David Letterman: Michael Cera, Lyle Lovett (rerun). Jimmy Fallon: Liam Neeson, Terry Gilliam, Tim McGraw. Jimmy Kimmel: Ty Burrell, Len Goodman, Paolo Nutini. Seth Meyers: Tina Fey, Adam Pally, Grouplove. Craig Ferguson: Paul Reiser, Aimee Garcia. Carson Daly: Marc Maron, Kaiser Chiefs, Chuck E. Weiss (rerun). Tavis Smiley: Rita Moreno. Jon Stewart: Zephyr Teachout. Stephen Colbert: Viggo Mortensen. Conan O’Brien: Marisa Tomei, Jim Jeffries, Old Crow Medicine Show.