How does TV violence affect real violence?

I feel like we’ve been here before. Last Wednesday the USA Network postponed the season finale of “Mr. Robot” (9 p.m., USA) because they felt that some of its scenes might be traumatic for viewers to see on the same day that news coverage was filled with reports of two Roanoke, Virginia, journalists being assassinated on air by a former colleague.

Will viewers be any less traumatized tonight? Would it have been any more or less insensitive to air this finale episode a week before the shocking murders? Worse, will this rescheduling taint “Mr. Robot,” a smart, wellwritten paranoid thriller, by associating it with a horrific murder?

Television airs a great number of police procedurals, crime thrillers and gangster dramas with varying degrees of violence. At the same time, we live in a society where we can expect roughly 30,000 gun-related fatalities a year. If you do the math, that means an approximate average of 82 gun deaths per day. Each day. Every day.

Do shows like “Mr. Robot” contribute to that gun violence? Japan, South Korea and Great Britain are free societies and major importers of American entertainment. In addition, some Japanese and Korean entertainment is considered far gorier than our own. The British all but invented the murder mystery. A quaint popular TV series like “Midsomer Murders,” set in a bucolic countryside, averages three or four inventively gruesome murders per episode.

But the level of gun violence in those three countries is a tiny fraction of our own.

“Hannibal” was a beautifully produced series. But it was too sadistic for my tastes. “Criminal Minds” (9 p.m., WREG-TV Channel 3) often seems both sick and formulaic to me. But I don’t think either series ever inspired real violence.

You can change the channel and you can stop consuming entertainment entirely. But there will still be 82 gun deaths in America today. And tomorrow. And the next day and every day.

The fault, dear readers, lies not on our screens but in our indifference to those grim statistics.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Semifinalists receive their verdict on “America’s Got Talent” (7 p.m., WMCTV Channel 5).

The top five get their shopping lists on “MasterChef” (7 p.m., WHBQTV Channel 13).

The three-night nature extravaganza “Big Blue Live” (7 p.m., WKNOTV Channel 10) concludes.

Kevin gives his sister marching orders on “Kevin From Work” (7:30 p.m., ABC Family).

High-strung real estate brokers grovel for an affluent clientele in the eighth season premiere of the guilty pleasure series “Million Dollar Listings Los Angeles” (8 p.m., Bravo).

On two episodes of “The Carmichael Show” (WMC-TV Channel 5), health food disagrees with Joe (8 p.m.), Jerrod mentors (8:30 p.m.).

Alex won’t accept second-best on “Modern Family” (8 p.m., WATNTV Channel 24).

Contestants affect a Victorian take on the Orient on “Steampunk’d” (8 p.m., GSN).

Molly, J.D. and Ethan take on the hybrid’s foes on “Extant” (8 p.m., WREGTV Channel 3).

The top 10 compete on “Last Comic Standing” (9 p.m., WMC-TV Channel 5).

Neil DeGrasse Tyson tries to relax on “Key & Peele” (9 p.m., Comedy Central).

Robert Carradine and Terrell Owens participate on the season finale of “Celebrity Wife Swap” (9 p.m., WATN-TV Channel 24).

Bacon-wrapped items are on the menu on “Carnival Cravings with Anthony Anderson” (9 p.m., Food).

The one-hour special “Big Kenny and Family” (9 p.m., TLC) profiles a member of country duo Big & Rich.