Back to the ‘Futurama,’ ‘Glee’ Reunion on ‘Weakest Link,’ Baking for Halloween, Happy Birthday to Agatha Christie

Futurama

The 13th season of the rebooted animated sci-fi comedy from Matt Groening and David X. Cohen opens with the incorrigible robot Bender experiencing an atypical existential inferiority complex because of his size. “Am I … short?” he wonders in horror. His next step: digital steroids, which he characteristically abuses, with predictably unfortunate side effects. Very tall NBA star Victor Wembanyama is among the guest voices, along with the head of Guillermo del Toro. All 10 episodes are available for binge-watching on Hulu, while FXX presents two episodes weekly.

Celebrity Weakest Link

Tapping into her Emmy-winning persona of Glee‘s caustic Coach Sue Sylvester, Jane Lynch returns as host of a celebrity version of Weakest Link, reuniting with eight alums of the fabled musical series. At the podiums, answering trivia questions under Lynch’s withering gaze and mocking repartee (“Who should have stayed in the locker they got shoved into?”): former Glee cast members Amber Riley (Mercedes), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina), Heather Morris (Brittany), Alex Newell (Unique), Chord Overstreet (Sam), Dot Marie Jones (Coach Beiste), Becca Tobin (Kitty), and Max Adler (Karofsky). After they fail to meet Lynch’s high standards, she consoles them: “Cheer up, gang. You choked the first time you went to Regionals, too.”

Name That Tune

An hour earlier, Fox stages another TV reunion in the musical game show’s Season 5 premiere, with host Jane Krakowski cheering on Modern Family alums Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Ariel Winter as they face off to decipher the songs Randy Jackson‘s band is teasing. Celebrity battles alternate with contests featuring everyday contestants, including in the opener a university program director from Tampa and a retired assembly worker from Nevada.

Halloween Baking Championship

Can you already smell the pumpkin spice? Halloween gets an early jump (or jump scare) with the 11th season of the ghoulish baking competition. Host John Henson welcomes 10 bakers to a creepy house tricked out for the holiday and for baking. The first challenge involves creating yummies that reflect the contestants’ greatest Halloween fears while pumping edible blood. The bottom three are then tasked to create desserts with witch symbols to ward off evil spirits — and, they hope, a ruling by judges Carla Hall, Zac Young, and Stephanie Boswell to determine which is sent home.

Murder at the Gallop

The Queen of Mystery, whose books and stories continue to be adapted for the small and big screen, is celebrated on her 135th birthday by a daytime run of movies inspired by her literary puzzles, starting early with three 1960s mystery-comedies starring Margaret Rutherford as a blustery version of Miss Marple (Murder She Said, Murder at the Gallop, Murder Ahoy) followed by the 1966 thriller Ten Little Indians (10:45 am/9:45c), based on And Then There Were None, and also from 1966, The Alphabet Murders (12:30 pm/11:30c), starring Tony Randall as Hercule Poirot.

A much more highly regarded interpretation of Poirot by David Suchet is streaming on Acorn TV, which launches a new package of Poirot: The Early Cases for the occasion, with 45 episodes that originally aired during the first six seasons from 1989 to 1996.

INSIDE MONDAY TV:

• Monday Night Football (7 pm/ET, ABC and ESPN): The Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the Houston Texans.
• Antiques Roadshow (8/7c, PBS): The 29th season continues with “Vintage” episodes, including a return to San Jose, where memorable objects from 15 years ago are reappraised to reveal what they’re worth today.
• Celebrations With Lacey Chabert (8/7c and 9/8c, Hallmark Channel): The popular Hallmark star returns for a second season of the show that spotlights everyday heroes, including Helen, “The Mother of Las Fotos,” who empowers teen girls of color through photography, and Billy, a jazz musician who gives inner-city youths free lessons.
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (11:35/10:35c, NBC): The late-night show visits Detroit for the first time, with Keegan-Michael Key, Detroit Pistons all-star Cade Cunningham and Common among the scheduled guests at a Sunday night taping from the Detroit Opera House.
• Binge Alert: Series arriving on Netflix include all six seasons of the musical drama Nashville, the 14th season of Call the Midwife and the eighth and final season of the CBS crime drama S.W.A.T.