News

Here's some disappointing news: Susan Sarandon has dropped out of the Epix comedy Graves, which The Hollywood Reporter attributes to artistic differences. The comedy, about a former president traveling the country looking to repair the unintended consequences of his polices, would have been Sarandon's first TV series as a regular cast member.

Reactions were mixed to the premiere of Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris but don't expect major changes. "It’s not in our design to start from scratch and redo again, because we already have eight episodes in play... I think I need time to breathe in the opening act and be a little more personable, less hyper-scripted."

The days of TV shows coming up with their own odd ways of having characters sing birthday wishes may soon be over as a court has ruled that attempts to collect royalties on "Happy Birthday To You" are invalid.

Variety argues that Stephen Colbert is setting a new template for how late night talk shows should interview political figures, giving Colbert praise for recent interviews with Ted Cruz and Donald Trump that managed to be funny and substantive without turning into uncomfortable confrontation. If the musical guest gets to express their disdain afterwards, all the better.

Trevor Noah says that his debut as host of The Daily Show will function as a four-part miniseries. "The first episode will be a reintroduction of the show — but you can't just go off one episode like, 'Oh I know what this is about, I know what this is.' It takes a lot more time."

After spending much of the first season complaining about it, Eddie Huang — whose memoir was the basis for Fresh Off the Boat has quit the comedy where he used to narrate. The show will stop using narration.

Last night, The Tonight Show debuted its Empire parody, "Jimpire." The appearances by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson are the best part.

Sure, overnight ratings don't matter anymore, except they do to a degree. And the ratings for the first Monday of the season were a mixed bag. Blindspot and Life in Pieces got good sampling from its hit lead-in shows but Gotham was down quite a bit from its big debut last year and Minority Report lost a big chunk of that reduced audience. That's too bad about Gotham since the second season seemed to have finally found the show it should have been all along.

Listings

The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated) Check local listings

Portia de Rossi visits Ellen's show to discuss what's coming up for Scandal and Elizabeth North.

Nature (PBS) Check local listings

The 34th season kicks off with a two-part episode about humans taking care of orphaned animals. That includes sloths, kangaroos, flying foxes and koalas. You might need to find a medication that keeps your heart from completely melting away to watch.

America's Next Top Model (CW) 8:00 PM ET

The models are challenged to make a PSA that will be judged by a panel of children. I'll be so incredibly disappointed when no one decides to dress up as GI Joe characters or as Spider-Man and Firestar to explain the values of sharing. Or maybe someone could walk by with a rainbow sign.

Young & Hungry (ABC Family) 8:00 PM ET

ABC Family is giving viewers a break from the terrible Kevin from Work for a week for a double feature of Young & Hungry. First up, Gabi tries to convince Sofia not to move back to Florida with a spa day at a fancy hotel, only for things to go horribly wrong. Then, Josh is excited to release his first app in a year, an occasion Elliot and Yolanda have bought thoughtful presents. Not realizing it's an occasion that calls for presents, Gabi tries to claim she left her present on Muni before running off to the store.

Rosewood (Fox) 8:00 PM ET

Fox debuts another crime show, this time focusing on a sexy private pathologist (Morris Chestnut) who divides his time betwen jogging shirtless in Miami and helping the police solve crimes. He's helped by his "toxicology queen" sister and her fiance, a DNA specialist. At least it's not another Fox drama about a mystery-solving jerk.

Empire (Fox) 9:00 PM ET

Last season, Fox debuted a ratings phenomenon of a show with a music-industry soap that delivered a mix of addictive music, OMG moments and the great Cookie Lyon. Tonight, things pick up a few months after the first season ended, with Lucious imprisoned and looking to ensure not even prison bars can stop him from taking control of Empire back.

You know what could make that even better? Our own snicks will be livebloging Empire this season, from every time Cookie hits someone with a broom to Jamal's next hookup and the next person to get a shoe tossed at them.

Modern Family (ABC) 9:00 PM ET

As usual, a new Modern Family season starts with the Pritchets' "What I Did This Summer" essay. It includes Mitch's midlife career crisis putting him and Cam under financial stress, while the Dunphys deal with Hayley's relationship drama, with Jay and Gloria dealing with the competition to get Joe into a good preschool.

Big Brother (CBS) 9:30 PM ET

It's been a long and trying season, but tonight it ends and a winner is crowned. I find myself cheering for someone this time, as Vanessa has made it to the end despite many moments where it looked like she was done. That said, the last adorkable guy would be an acceptable winner, too.

Black-ish (ABC) 9:30 PM ET

ABC debuted one of the fall's most promising shows last year with this comedy pondering what African-American identity means in a world of increasing assimilation. It started strong, but it also had frustrating moments of slipping into casual misogyny and homophobia that it should have known enough to avoid. Let's hope that's over as the second season kicks off, with Dre and Bow fighting to keep their son from being expelled after performing a song with the n-word at the school talent show.

The Carbonaro Effect (Tru TV) 10:00 PM ET

Michael's working at a spa this week and he has a special anti-aging treatment. You could say his clients come away looking like a completely different person.

Nashville (ABC) 10:00 PM ET

The fourth season picks up with a visit from Steven Tyler, who joins Juliette on stage as she tries to get working again after giving birth. Meanwhile, there's an answer to the cliffhanger about Deacon's operation. Unfortunately, the episode description makes no mention of Will, after he came out in the season finale.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) 11:35 PM ET

Andrew Rannells joins Jimmy to discuss The Intern.

What will you be watching tonight? Please share in the comments!