The Olympics are over, which means that NBC is back in the 10 p.m. drama pool. Here’s a look at some of what you can watch once the dog is walked and the kids are safely in bed to prevent them from permanent scarring at the hands of pre-news programming.
* “The Good Wife” (Tuesday, 10 p.m., CBS): Peter’s (Chris Noth) home at last and he’s brought openly gay actor Alan Cumming with him, so he must have really undergone some changes in prison. Actually, Alicia (Julianna Margulies) has nothing to worry about, since Cumming is just playing a new member of Peter’s political team working on his public rehabilitation. Christine Baranski’s Diane, meanwhile, finally gets an interesting love interest in Gary Cole.
* “Parenthood” (Tuesday, 10 p.m., NBC): Of all last fall’s announced series, Mama was looking forward to this one the most. Yes, a TV remake of the great Ron Howard movie has been tried before, but this one comes with the pedigree of “Friday Night Lights” creator Jason Katims and “West Wing” director Thomas Schlamme. The cast features Lauren Graham, a fan favorite from her days on “Gilmore Girls,” Peter Krause, Erika Christensen and Mae Whitman. It’s a sprawling, delightful, more dramatic “Modern Family,” and with any luck it will get NBC back in the business of making quality dramas at 10 p.m.
* “Nip/Tuck” (Wednesday, 10 p.m., FX): What, what, what could this outrageous, excessive, bloated, cartoonish, campy, glitzy, gory, boring, addictive, disappointing display of TV firsts and clichés offer us in its final hour to top its own grotesquerie? We’ve seen a gorgeous woman with male genitalia (Famke Janssen), a gorgeous man with no genitalia (Bruno Campos). We’ve also been subjected to seeing Sean do it with a sex doll, Christian do it with anybody who was willing (including Rosie O’Donnell), Mario Lopez’s behind, Sharon Gless’s Uncle Junior glasses, doo-doo in a hot tub, and blood, blood, blood. Mama’s hope? Kiss already, boys.