Agatha Raisin Returns, Riveted by Jeans’ History, Smithsonian on Slavery, Amy Acker Heats Up ‘Lone Star’

Season Premiere

A fourth season of the delightful light mystery, starring Ashley Jensen (Ugly Betty) as the PR maven-turned-private eye, opens with the first of three feature-length capers. In the opener, Agatha is whisked by struggling author James (Jamie Glover) from the Cotswolds to the decidedly unglamorous Snoth-on-Sea resort town, where she’s quickly implicated in the murder of an obnoxious stranger. When her scarf is revealed as the murder weapon, Agatha scoffs: “I’d imagine it’s the most stylish thing she’s ever had around her neck.” Eventually, the rest of her plucky team arrive at the Palace Hotel to keep Agatha from risking her own neck in a case involving stolen jewelry, fake identities and an assailant in a bear costume.

9/8c

We are what we wear—and nowhere is that more evident than in our relationship with jeans, that most familiar item of clothing described by a textiles curator as “the quintessential American garment.” American Experience delivers an entertaining and enlightening dual history lesson in Riveted, which weaves threads of our nation’s past into a cultural tapestry of denim’s ever-changing status in society: from slave cloth dyed in indigo to cowboy chic in dude ranches (inspired by Western movies), the ’60s youth movement and the ’70s explosion in designer jeans. Who knew a single pair carried so much history in its seams?

A powerful four-week docuseries (airing each Monday in February), narrated by executive producer Courtney B. Vance, explores the long global legacy of slavery from Africa to the U.S., the Caribbean and the Middle East. The premiere, “Agents of Change,” examines the impact of uprisings, with NCIS: New Orleans star CCH Pounder learning about a large 1811 rebellion in Louisiana. A descendant of the 1839 revolt aboard the Amistad slave ship researches his connection to the event.

8/7c

Having thawed from the seemingly endless ice storm, 126 Capt. Owen Strand (Rob Lowe) hopes to heat things up with Catherine (Angel and Person of Interest star Amy Acker), the Texas governor’s chief of staff—but first they need to survive an awkward first date. For the rest of the crew, it’s another harrowing tour of duty, when they join the search for a missing girl after arriving at a house fire. And new father Judd’s (Jim Parrack) paternal instincts kick in when he meets teenager Wyatt (Jackson Pace).

Nathan Chen takes the ice in the men’s Figure Skating short program, a highlight of live prime-time coverage along with men’s Alpine Skiing. USA Network airs the women’s Ice Hockey match between the U.S. and Canada (11:10 pm/ET). Other featured sports streaming live on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app include Speed Skating, Biathlon, Ski Jumping, Short Track, Luge and Curling. For the latest listings, by sport, of what and how to watch, where and when, go to nbcolympics.com/schedule.

Inside Monday TV:

• Angela Black (Spectrum on Demand): Downton Abbey’s Joanne Froggatt stars in a six-part psychological thriller from Harry and Jack Williams (The Missing) in the title role of a suburban Londoner whose seemingly perfect life as a wife and mother hides a history of domestic abuse from which she sees no escape.
• The Cleaning Lady (9/8c, Fox): A pivotal episode of the crime melodrama confronts Thony (Élodie Yung) with her toughest crisis yet, when an ICE raid leaves Fiona (Martha Millan) vulnerable to deportation, and to save her sister-in-law, she must weigh her duty to FBI agent Garrett (Oliver Hudson) and her loyalty to gangster Arman (Adan Canto), who’s been there for her ailing son.
• Love & Hip Hop: Lineage to Legacy (9/8c, VH1): Cast members of Love & Hip Hop and Black Ink Crew come together to reflect on the effect of slavery on Black culture with MTV News’ Dometi Pongo and Dr. Gina Paige, cofounder of AfricanAncestry.com. She administers DNA tests designed to reveal their African ethnicity and country of origin.
• Clotilda: Last American Slave Ship (10/9c, National Geographic): Another Black History Month special about slavery follows maritime archeologists as they enter the wreck of the schooner Clotilda, which carried 110 kidnapped Africans to Alabama before traffickers burned and sunk the ship in 1860 to cover their tracks.
• Owned (10/9c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org): A provocative installment of Independent Lens studies the legacy of racist housing policies in post-WWII America, resulting in segregated communities of unequal economic opportunity.