TV top picks
6 p.m. on FOX The Orville
Family Guy mentor Seth MacFarlane applies his sensibilities — not all of them comedic — to the premiere of this outer-space saga. The intergalactic vessel Orville’s part-human, part-alien crew gets lots of life lessons while crossing the cosmos. Series creator and executive producer MacFarlane plays the ship’s commander, sharing duties with a first officer (Adrianne Palicki, above,
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) who’s his ex-wife. Scott Grimes also stars.
6 p.m. on STARZ Outlander
The third season — or “book” — of this sexy time-traveling soap opera picks up the action as Claire (Golden Globe nominee Caitriona Balfe) steps through the stones and back into 1948, where her pregnancy with 18th-century lover Jamie’s (Sam Heughan) child not surprisingly takes a toll on her marriage to husband Frank (Tobias Menzies). It’s the beginning of a years-long separation for the time-crossed soulmates.
7 p.m. on AMC Fear the Walking Dead
As the action resumes for Season 3 in a two-hour episode, the Clark and Otto parties have managed to secure an uneasy truce with the Nation, but that fragile peace will hold only as long as former enemies can find a way to survive together. Broke Jaw Ranch is a powder keg waiting to go off, with a decimated militia and dwindling resources in the face of growing numbers of walkers.
7 p.m. on SUNDANCE Top of the Lake: China Girl
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) returns to her Golden Globe-winning role as Detective Robin Griffin in this new three-part, six-hour sequel, which airs nightly through Tuesday. Robin is back in Sydney and partnered with Miranda Hilmarson (Gwendoline Christie, Game
of Thrones), an eager new recruit, but the case of an Asian girl whose body washes up on a beach awakens personal demons for Robin.
8 p.m. on ABC The 2018 Miss America Competition
With Chris Harrison (The Bachelor) returning as host, it won’t be a rose handed out at the end but a tiara, as a new titleholder is announced at the end of this event from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. ESPN sportscaster Sage Steele is back as co-host as 51 women — representing every U.S. state plus the District of Columbia — vie for victory. Judges include Maria Menounos, country music’s Thomas Rhett and American Idol Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks.