TV top picks
6 p.m. on FREE grown-ish
This new spinoff of blackish finds Zoey Johnson (Yara Shahidi) beginning her freshman year of college, where this popular but entitled 17-year-old quickly learns that things don’t always go her way out in the real world in the series premiere “Late Registration.” That’s immediately followed by “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe,” in which Zoey experiences “fear of missing out” for the first time as she frantically tries to juggle schoolwork, extracurricular activities and partying. Francia Raisa also stars.
7 p.m. on FOX The X-Files
If the truth about supernatural activities is still out there, you can’t stop FBI veterans Mulder and Scully from seeking it. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, pictured, return, along with original executive producer Chris Carter, for what effectively is the 11th television season of the franchise with a limited run of 10 new episodes, starting with “My Struggle III” — and hinging in part on the search for the couple’s son.
7 p.m. on NBC The Blacklist
The series resumes its fifth season as Liz (Megan Boone) struggles to deal with Tom’s fate in the new episode “Ruin.” She tries to make a clean start with no ties to her past — but, not surprisingly, that lasts only so long as a remnant of her history eventually thrusts her into a fight to survive. Famke Janssen reprises her guest role that she carried into the short-lived spinoff series The Blacklist: Redemption.
7 p.m. on CBS The Amazing Race
With “You’re a Champion, Prove It,” the 30th around-the-world competition begins for two-person teams faced with challenges at every stop. Undoubtedly for the Emmy-winning show’s fans, it’s a happy circumstance that it returns to an earlier time period, though host Phil Keoghan maintained the belief that devotees would find and follow it wherever it was on the schedule. Participants — who head for Iceland first — include former NBA stars Cedric Ceballos and Shawn Marion, and Big Brother alums Cody Nickson and Jessica Graf.
8 p.m. on NBC Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
The cliffhanger left dangling over this drama’s December break is picked up immediately as the series returns with the new episode “Gone Baby Gone” — and that title is an exact description of what happens here. Young Noah’s (Ryan Buggle) disappearance, while in Sheila’s (guest star Brooke Shields) care, leaves Benson (Mariska Hargitay) both angry and desperate as she and her squad seek the child.