‘Watson’ Grills Sherlock, Celebrating Johnny Carson’s 100th, Remembering ‘The Brady Bunch,’ Heat Wave in the ‘DMV’

Watson

Who’s that raiding Dr. John Watson’s (Morris Chestnut) fridge in the wee hours? None other than the presumed-dead Sherlock Holmes (charismatic Robert Carlyle), who vaguely credits “trickery” to explain his resurrection after a year in the shadows. While Watson tries to pry answers from the playful master detective, Holmes instead urges his former sidekick to walk him through his latest medical mystery, which involves a team of scientists who may have brought back a “zombie virus” from an expedition to Siberia.

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Here’s Johnny — again. No one dominated late-night TV the way Johnny Carson did during his 30-year reign as host of NBC‘s The Tonight Show (1962-1992). To celebrate the centennial of his birth on Thursday, the nostalgia channel airs a weeklong tribute (through Saturday) featuring several of Carson’s most memorable episodes (11/10c, 8 pm/PT), with commentary each night from his renowned bandleader, Doc Severinsen. The party gets started with a vintage episode from 1982 featuring Burt Reynolds and Richard Lewis. Reynolds returns Thursday (Carson’s birth date) for an epic 1973 gathering including Buddy Hackett, Don Rickles, Dean Martin, and Carol Wayne. Those were the days.

TV We Love

Here’s the story … of The Brady Bunch, that cheerfully corny blended-family sitcom (1969-74) that has lived on long beyond its expiration date in endless syndication (and several ill-advised reboots). Barry Williams and Christopher Knight, who played eldest and middle sons Greg and Peter, reflect on growing up in the show’s media spotlight and basking in the Brady afterglow decades later.

DMV

And how was your day in the office? This droll workplace sitcom, set in an embattled branch of the Hollywood Department of Motor Vehicles, checks in on a particularly trying day, when a heat wave tests the resolve of the facility’s air-conditioning unit and the sanity of its customers and employees. After a new clerk publicly melts down, Colette (Harriet Dyer) is worried that hunky new hire Noa (Alex Tarrant), on whom she has a major crush, will follow suit. As befits the rules of TV comedy, the more she tries to make things better, the worse things get for her. As her co-worker Gregg (Tim Meadows) points out, speaking like a seasoned driving examiner, “You can’t stay in your lane, and when you drift, you cause damage.”

Celebrity Weakest Link

X marks the spot — make that “ex” — when Jane Lynch welcomes an “ex-wives club” of eight reality-TV veterans to the podium to endure her scorn as they answer trivia questions, playing for charity. Don’t expect much charity from Lynch when she introduces Real Housewives alums Dorinda Medley, Cynthia Bailey, Jill Zarin, and Vicky Gunvalson alongside Tamar Braxton, Kate Gosselin, Shanna Moakler, and Kendra Wilkinson. [Note: This episode has been postponed for the deciding seventh game of baseball’s ALCS series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners.]

INSIDE MONDAY TV:

• Monday Night Football (7 pm/ET, ABC and ESPN): The Tampa Bay Buccaneers play the Detroit Lions. A later game between the Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks (10 pm/ET) is available to stream on the ESPN app.
• The Neighborhood (8/7c, CBS): While Dave (Max Greenfield) broods over losing his job, Calvin (Cedric the Entertainer) and Marty (Marcel Spears) postpone the grand opening of Westside Fuse Box because of permit delays.
• FBI (9/8c, CBS): The team pursues art thieves who left a security guard dead while stealing paintings from a cultural exchange.
• Brilliant Minds (10/9c, NBC): Two patients in critical condition provide new challenges for Dr. Wolf (Zachary Quinto) and Dr. Nichols (Teddy Sears).
• Ratified (10/9c, PBS): An Independent Lens documentary explores Virginia’s path to becoming the 38^th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.