TV to watch

Tells the story of a psychopathic killer who drives a stolen Mercedes into a crowd and a recently retired detective who tries to bring him down.

AMERICAN GOTHIC centers on a prominent Boston family reeling in the wake of the chilling discovery that someone in their midst is linked to an infamous string of murders. As shocking secrets from the past and present are revealed, their mounting suspicion and paranoia that one of them is a killer threatens to tear the family apart.

A well-meaning but struggling writer decides to lead a sort of double life by pretending to be a private detective using the methods he read about in old detective novels.

Dory (Alia Shawkat), Portia (Meredith Hagner), Elliott (John Early) and Drew (John Reynolds) must deal with the disastrous consequences of successfully tracking down missing classmate Chantal (Clare McNulty) in season two of TBS' dark comedy Search Party, returning Sunday, November 19. As the friends' paranoia grows, their relationships fray, and it becomes increasingly difficult to trust that no one will discover the group's secret. These privileged, self-absorbed 20-somethings are in danger.

Memphis, Tennessee, 1972. Mac Conway and his friend Arthur have just returned home after serving in Vietnam. They reconnect with their families and try to find jobs. However, work is hard to come by for Vietnam vets. Conway gets contacted by a man known simply as The Broker. He recruits hitmen for assignments and believes that Conway would be ideal for this sort of work. Conway is reluctant, but is drawn in once he discovers that Arthur has already accepted a similar offer from The Broker. The Broker gives Conway a code name - Quarry.

Modern day noir story about Psychiatrist Eldon Chance, who's in a rut. He's middle-aged, his wife wants a divorce, which might put a strain on his relationship with his astute teenage daughter he deeply cares about, and he's getting tired of his professional work. Chance's natural talent for psychoanalysis allows him to easily assess everyone that wants his help but that doesn't mean he can actually cure them or even help them. Everything changes however, when he meets mysterious and attractive Jaclyn Blackstone, who turns out to have both dark secrets and big psychological as well as private problems. But her most immediate problem is her abusive ex-husband Raymond Blackstone, who also happens to be a corrupt cop with connections. Chance falls for Jaclyn and becomes obsessed with helping her but he quickly realizes that he's in over his head. Help eventually comes in the form of a hulking man called D. While clearly a bit unhinged, asocial and disturbed, D is also highly skilled, calculated, smart and efficient and possesses huge knowledge of tactics, weaponry and hand-to-hand combat. He is also highly focused and loyal and agrees to help Chance find a way to deal with the new and dangerous situation he's put himself in over Jaclyn.

Nick Sax awakes on a hospital gurney. He's a hit man who used to be a cop; it's all part of the job. What's troubling Sax isn't his serious injury, but the seriously perky flying blue horse that claims it is the imaginary friend of someone who is in serious trouble. The horse's name? Happy, of course. Adapted from a Grant Morrison story.

Wayne and Dahlia Malloy spent their youth pulling cons with a traveling band of modern Irish travelers roaming about the US. Now years later, Wayne hits a spiritual and midlife crisis and begins to question their lifestyle just as his wife, newly sprung from prison, rejoins the family. They decide to finally settle down in suburbia where they battle to live a normal life while trying to escape their former friends.

Housewife and mother

Charlie Haverford is a scammer with a small chain of fortune-telling storefronts and contracts building tricks for a family that controls the business in the greater chunk of Los Angeles. A blow to the head from a client's angry boyfriend intersects with a hypnosis session while auditioning a new "clairvoyant," and suddenly, a man whose entire life has been based on fraud begins to see and feel some very real and fundamental truths. Charlie's wife Linda is sick and tired of their mediocre life and wants to break away from Fonso, the single father who runs the Marks family's psychic empire, and controls the Haverford's future. Rossellini co-stars as Rita, the cunning, seductive, and sadistic matriarch of the Marks clan.

When you first saw him, Lieutenant Columbo looked like a bum that just came off the street. He had a bumbling demeanor, was overly polite and seemed to chomp on the same short cigar on a daily basis. However, beneath all that comical exterior was probably the most dogged investigator in the Los Angeles Police Department. Columbo was often called on to investigate high profile murders that involved the rich and famous. The culprits were often amused by him, and just as they thought they were going to get away with murder, Columbo would find a way to trap them or find enough evidence to make them confess.

James, a young grifter, attempts to prey upon Pastor Byron Brown, who turns out to be far more dangerous than he suspects. A cast of Coen brothers-type characters complicate their plans to outplay each other.

A one-hour drama inspired by David Simon's acclaimed non-fiction book "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets." It is at once a mundane yet compelling look in and around a Homicide unit of the Baltimore Police Department, a group of determined individuals who are committed to their grim job at hand.

Robert McCall is "The Equalizer", a private detective with a lot of contacts who is available for hire if you have a problem that you don't know how to solve. His no-nonsense attitude, compassion, and experience with dealing with a wide variety of situations makes him a powerful and useful detective.

Ex-cop and recovering alcoholic Hank Dolworth partners with his best friend, former criminal Britt Pollack, in an unlicensed private investigation business.

Each week, viewers saw the gritty reality of life in a New York City Police unit, as the officers go about their work with a grim determination, and a willingness to break the same laws that they're supposed to be enforcing. Two partners, Detectives Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) and John Kelly (David Caruso) (later replaced by Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits)), were the central characters in this weekly Police drama, and personified very different approaches to their difficult job. Sipowicz's brash gruffness (covering an emotional vulnerability) was tempered by the precise and controlled demeanor of the two partners with whom he has worked.

Sam McCloud is a marshal from Taos, New Mexico, who takes a temporary assignment in the New York City Police Department. His keen sense of detail and detecting subtle clues, learned from his experience, enable him to nab unsuspecting criminals despite his unbelieving boss.