Wrongful convictions, ticking clocks
True crime buffs are in luck. If you’ve already binged on Netflix’s revival of “The Staircase,” check out “The Last Defense” (10 p.m., ABC). Produced by Viola Davis (“How To Get Away With Murder) and Julius Tennon, the seven-episode documentary series examines flaws in the American justice system through the prism of death-row cases. It re-examines well-documented capital cases using contemporary news footage as well as interviews with loved ones of the incarcerated, prosecutors, defense attorneys and journalists.
The first “Defense” looks back at the 1997 conviction of Darlie Routier, a Dallas-area mother and wife. A jury was convinced that she stabbed her two sons to death and turned the knife on herself to deflect blame.
On death row for more than two decades, Routier and her husband continue to assert her innocence as “Last Defense” finds holes in her prosecution and a political atmosphere insistent on a hasty conviction and death sentence.
Next week “Defense” examines the case of Julius Jones, who was a 21-year-old student on a scholarship when he was sentenced to death for an Oklahoma carjacking murder in 2001.
Like “The Staircase,” ABC’s “Last Defense” was screened at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival last April. The fine line between cinema and television continues to blur.
FASHION FILES
“The Bold Type” (8 p.m., Freeform, TV-14) returns for a second season. Based on the recollections of a Cosmopolitan editor, it offers a rather toothless satire of office life at a women’s lifestyle magazine called Scarlet.
The accent here is on fashion and pretty faces. Not unlike “journalists” on shows from “Sex and the City” to “Girls,” protagonist Jane (Katie Stevens) talks a lot about being a writer but is more likely to be seen shopping than reading.
The best part of “Bold” is the presence of Jacqueline (Melora Hardin, “Transparent,” “The Office,” “Monk”) as a hapless editorial director given to revealing and embarrassing gaffes.
It’s fun to contrast her pitiable cluelessness with the editor played by Julianna Margulies on “Dietland.” That series’ audacious anger and subversive anti-consumerist message make “The Bold Type” seem not only like kid stuff but last year’s model.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
› A journalist’s research is deemed criminal on “Bull” (9 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-14).
› “The Zimmern List” (9 p.m., Travel, TV-G) visits Atlanta.
› Smurf makes the most of prison on “Animal Kingdom” (9 p.m., TNT, TV-MA).
› Tides and storms loom large on “Deadliest Catch” (9 p.m., Discovery).
› Rocky Carroll narrates “48 Hours: NCIS” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
› Talents audition in a variety of styles on “World of Dance” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
› Bickering brothers put their family’s apparel business in jeopardy on “The Profit” (10 p.m., CNBC, TV-PG).
› David confronts his future on the season finale of “Legion” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).
› A suspect is lured to a grim end on “NCIS” (8 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-PG).
› X Marx the spot on “The Bachelorette” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
› Acts audition on “America’s Got Talent” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
› Jamie Foxx hosts “Beat Shazam” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).
› Hazard arrives on “The Flash” (8 p.m., CW, repeat, TV-PG).
› Andy Cohen hosts “Love Connection” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
› Octavia strikes a curious alliance on “The 100” (9 p.m., CW, repeat TV-14).