The (guest) stars come out this week to add a little shine to their shows:
“Treme” (Tonight, 10 p.m., HBO) Forget Halloween, it’s Christmas in the bayou this week as our favorite New Orleans residents celebrate to the bottom of the bottle. Every week this series showcases local musicians, and this week you’ll get a glimpse of no fewer than three real-life chiefs sparring with Big Chief Albert (Clarke Peters), whose family finds out about his cancer. Add to that Isabella Rossellini as Annie Tee’s (Lucia Micarelli) overbearing mom — although this does help explain Annie’s unusual accent — and the escalating animosity between crusading lawyer Toni (Melissa Leo) and the corrupt NOPD, and you can guarantee that this season won’t be jolly or bright. But there will be plenty of good music to make up for it.
“The Mentalist” (Tonight, 10:30 p.m., CBS) A couple of familiar faces return this week — William Forsythe as Rigsby’s (Owain Yeoman) wayward dad and Pruitt Taylor Vince as straight-laced CBI chief J.J. LaRoche — amid an investigation into a possible gang war. But if you want to watch the more compelling episodes in Patrick Jane’s (Simon Baker) past, tune in for the Monday marathon on TNT as it covers the highlights of the Red John hunt, which has dominated the series since it began in 2008. We learned in the pilot that Red John murdered Jane’s wife and daughter, causing Jane to ditch his lucrative career as a TV psychic and assist the police instead.
“Private Practice” (Tuesday, 10 p.m., ABC) After spending three weeks mourning the deceased Dr. Pete (Tim Daly), St. Ambrose has already found his replacement: a new younger, less-expensive doctor played by the younger, less-expensive Matt Long (of “Mad Men”), who starts a guest stint this week.
“Criminal Minds” (Wednesday, 9 p.m., CBS) Every week, Mama imagines that the gross-out procedural writers must pull out their hair trying to come up with a more outrageous crime. This week, the BAU team hunts down a sicko who amputates victims before killing them. They’re searching for an amateur surgeon, but the special guest star is Ray Wise, the “Twin Peaks” dad who ended up being the killer. He plays a character named Dr. John Nelson, so you can take a stab at who the whack job might be.
“American Horror Story: Asylum” (Wednesday, 10 p.m., FX) Robin Weigert can cash a couple of paychecks from FX this month. In addition to her recurring role as a lawyer to the Sons of Anarchy, she’s playing to mom a mental patient in the nauseatingly sadistic Asylum this week.