PERSON OF INTEREST
Thursday, 9 p.m., CBS
BUCKWILD
Thursday, 10 p.m., MTV
ELEMENTARY
Thursday, 10 p.m., CBS
TWO AND A HALF MEN
Thursday, 8:30 p.m., CBS
THE BIG BANG THEORY
Thursday, 8 p.m., CBS
She’s a maniac
Everyone, watch out: Abby Lee’s back on “Dance Moms.” The hard-driving, hoarse, vitriolic Pittsburgh-based dance instructor screams at kids and then she screams at their mothers as she whips little ballerinas into shape. The new season begins with a casting call — may be for more than one dancer — that the girls who have already registered with Lee have to join. The moms try to be understanding but they gossip about the corpulent Lee, who shrieks at one person after another. The girls look victimized, but they like wearing lipstick.
DANCE MOMS
Monday, 8 and 9 p.m., Lifetime
To Finch, with love
Finch (Michael Emerson, right) goes undercover as a high school substitute teacher to protect a teen genius Person of Interest in the winter season premiere of the popular crime procedural. Meanwhile, Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson) undertakes a dangerous mission to stop the FBI from determining that an imprisoned Reese (Jim Caviezel) is the so-called Man In a Suit. Co-starring Kevin Chapman as Detective Fusco. Guest stars include Brennan Brown and Brendan Griffin.
PERSON OF INTEREST
Thursday, 9 p.m., CBS
Banjo bacchanalia
New Jersey was never the same after “Jersey Shore.” Wonder what will become of West Virginia, the setting of MTV’s new wanton youth opera, “Buckwild.” A gaggle of rowdy boys and “carefree” girls gather in Sissonville, W. Va., to do what kids do: booze, brawl and well, you know. We’ll meet Shain, high school prom king; Anna, a rich girl slumming it with the lowlifes; Ashley (above right, with Cara), a tomboy; Shae, a spicy Southern belle and Shain’s best friend, Joey. Who is the next Snooki? The next Situation? The next J Woww? You can while away your winter hours figuring it out.
BUCKWILD
Thursday, 10 p.m., MTV
Death by rinse cycle
Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller, pictured) and Joan (Lucy Liu) investigate the murder of the general manager of a luxury Manhattan hotel whose body is found inside an industrial laundry machine. Meanwhile, since Joan’s time as a sober companion with Sherlock is almost up, he offers her an apprenticeship as a detective. Co-starring Aidan Quinn. Guest star Mark Moses (“Mad Men,” “Desperate Housewives”) will steal some scenes.
ELEMENTARY
Thursday, 10 p.m., CBS
Cuckoo’s nest
Who is the next person to go crazy on “Two and a Half Men,” the Chuck Lorre sitcom? Will it be Jon Cryer (left), who may have been the only “normal” person on the show all these years? Will it be Ashton Kutcher (right), recruited from the ashes of his film career to play shaggy entrepreneur Walden Schmidt? Or will it be Conchata Ferrell, who plays the long-suffering sarcastic housekeeper? The rest of the season should be interesting as Alan (Cryer) uses Walden’s money to invest in a fashion line. They say Angus T. Jones still has a job on this show. Let’s see if he shows up this week. Also with Holland Taylor.
TWO AND A HALF MEN
Thursday, 8:30 p.m., CBS
Sheldon’s shame
Now, this is a really crazy premise: Sheldon (Jim Parsons, right) gets accused of sexual harassment at the university and winds up getting Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Raj (Kunal Nayyar) and Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) in trouble. Regina King guest stars as Mrs. Davis, the university’s employee relations director. Mayim Bialik co-stars.
THE BIG BANG THEORY
Thursday, 8 p.m., CBS