Your TV GPS, a look at the week ahead in television, appears every Monday morning on BostonGlobe.com. Today’s column covers Sept. 23-29.
Cerebral, sexy, and Spock-like: just a few adjectives that describe Zachary Quinto. So it doesn’t seem like a leap for the actor who donned Vulcan ears in three “Star Trek” movies to play the brainy lead in the new network series “Brilliant Minds.” The original medical drama set at Bronx General debuts at 10 p.m. tonight on NBC before streaming on Peacock.
Inspired by the files of famed author Oliver Sacks, “Brilliant Minds” casts Quinto as the unconventional, motorcycle-driving Dr. Oliver Wolf. Unfortunately, he suffers from prosopagnosia, or face blindness. While he can’t remember visages, the good doctor can recognize mental secrets beneath the surface that other medical practitioners overlook.
The New York neurologist uses unconventional methods to unlock his patients’ minds. His clients revere him. His bosses, not so much.
What other winning viewing opportunities caught our eye this week?
1. “Saturday Night Live” has been the laugh track of our lives for half a century. On Saturday night at 11:30 p.m. on NBC, “SNL” will launch its 50th season with recent Emmy winner Jean Smart (“Hacks”) in her hosting debut. First-timer Jelly Roll will be the musical guest. Since October 1975, the groundbreaking show executive produced by Lorne Michaels has entertained with characters ranging from Gilda Radner’s Rosanne Rosannadanna to Eddie Murphy’s Mr. Rogers to Bowen Yang’s iceberg that sunk the Titanic. And that’s just the iceberg’s tip. To contextualize the milestone, “The Ed Sullivan Show” ran for only 23 years. That CBS Sunday night variety series, which introduced the Beatles to a national broadcast audience, aired from 1948 to 1971. For the 50th anniversary season, three new cast members will join the stage at 30 Rock (Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and internet personality Jane Wickline) as “SNL” continues to evolve, displaying no signs of slowing down.
2. On Tuesday at 9 p.m., foodie reality series “Last Bite Hotel” opens its doors on the Food Network. Hilarious Tituss Burgess (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) hosts the competition held at a spooky remote inn. His macabre hotel manager brings together eight chefs over six episodes. While vying for dominance, the culinary stars are allowed to pack only 13 recipe items that they must stretch to the cooking battle’s finale. Burgess banishes losers to unlucky Room 13. Let the cake batter fly in this twisty take on a cutthroat food fight with $25,000 at stake.
3. The week’s mystery pick is “Murder in a Small Town,” a new eight-episode series premiering Tuesday on Fox at 8 p.m. It’s that old story: An urban detective on the verge of a breakdown moves to the country. What does he discover there? More corpses, and deeply buried secrets. In this Canadian iteration, Detective Karl Alberg (Rossif Sutherland, son of the late Donald Sutherland) heads for the small coastal town of Gibsons, British Columbia. When bodies start washing up on the Sunshine Coast, the bearded, dyed-in-the-wool snoop, now chief of police, can’t curb his compulsion to solve crimes. Stir in librarian love interest Cassandra Lee (Kristen Kreuk, “Smallville”) and a secretive local citizen (James Cromwell, “Succession”).
4. The seemingly endless awards-show cycle is back on track post-pandemic. On Thursday at 8 p.m., the “People’s Choice Country Awards” will broadcast live from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry on NBC, then stream on Peacock. Shania Twain (“I Feel Like a Woman”) emcees the two-hour event, which will feature big hair, cowboy boots, and performances, tributes, and pre-written banter. Slated to receive the Country Champion Award is Kane Brown, following last year’s inaugural winner, Wynonna Judd. The fan-picked kudos will provide a pile-on of talent expected to include Beyoncé (with 17 nominations), Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Lady A, and The War and Treaty.
5. As pumpkin spice lattes return and Halloween nears, “Witches: Truth Behind the Trials” premieres on Sunday at 9 p.m. on National Geographic before streaming on Hulu and Disney+ the next day. Using historical recreations, court records, and contemporary experts, the six-part documentary digs into the legal persecution of so-called witches in the United States, Sweden, Scotland, Ireland, England, and Germany.
Thelma Adams can be reached at [email protected].
