‘Masters’ offers quality sci-fi
I interrupt this summer of escapist fluff, network bingo tournaments and competing karaoke contests to announce an anthology series in which some of the best actors in the business sink their teeth into scripts based on speculative science fiction stories by some of the most acclaimed writers of the genre.
Of course, it speaks volumes that “Masters of Science Fiction” (10 p.m. tonight, ABC) is consigned to the slowest hour of the deadest night of the prime-time week during the slowest month of the TV year. But who’s complaining?
In tonight’s opener, “A Clean Escape,” the remarkable Judy Davis plays a psychiatrist who embarks on a session with a particularly difficult patient (Sam Waterston), a powerful man whose subconscious has blotted out the past 25 years.
Over the course of August, “Masters” will bring additional stories, written by Robert Heinlein and Harlan Ellison, among others, and starring John Hurt, Malcolm McDowell and Terry O’Quinn.
The ambitious, smart and lavishly produced miniseries “The Company” (8 p.m. Sunday, TNT) tackles more than 40 years of Cold War espionage, exploring the personalities behind the tactics of the “great game” between the Soviet KGB and the CIA. Airing over the next three Sunday nights, “The Company” can be enjoyed as three mini-movies, each with a distinct tone and story.
In the opening hours, young spies Jack (Chris O’Donnell) and his colleague Leo (Alessandro Nivola) join the CIA after their Yale crew-team coach recruits them. A fellow oarsman also gets a call, but he joins the KGB.
Tonight’s highlights
Lyrics matter on “The Singing Bee” (8 p.m., NBC).
Lindsay Lohan stars in the 2004 comedy “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen” (8 p.m., ABC).
On three episodes of “Fallen” (Family), the journey continues (8 p.m.), questions for the ancient one (9 p.m.), and the Redeemer ponders his destiny (10 p.m.).
Sunday’s highlights
Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): the relative stability of Kurdistan; a Sicilian mobster cornered; Helen Mirren.
Scheduled on “Dateline” (7 p.m., NBC): a controversial case goes to retrial.
Pranks and auditions on “Schooled” (8 p.m., CW).