Your weekly guide to TV’s best and worst one-hour shows
Mama checks in with a few hard-working series stepping up to fill the usual TV void for the holiday week:
“Copper” (Sunday, 10 p.m., BBC America)
Mama’s favorite summer cop series returned last week to the Civil War-era streets of New York City, and this week introduces famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass (Eamonn Walker), who’s a guest in the house of traitor Elizabeth (Anastasia Griffith). Donal Logue, whose own detective series “Terriers” was put down way before its time, is a welcome addition as the less-than-angelic new head of the Sixth Ward. Although the corrupt general doesn’t get nearly enough screen time in the upcoming episode, every scene he’s in ensures watching this series is worth your time.
“Dexter” (Sunday, 9 p.m., Showtime)
They promise this is the final-season premiere for our favorite serial killer, and after last season’s wild ride, it’s probably for the best. We pick up six months after incest-inclined sis Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) capped her crazy season by shooting LaGuerta (Lauren Vélez) to protect Dexter (Michael C. Hall), who over the course of seven seasons has gone from justice-seeking vigilante to standard butt-covering murderer. There isn’t much to root for at this point except for his demise.
“Falling Skies” (Sunday, 10 p.m., TNT)
After meeting the still-alive president (guest-star Stephen Collins) in an action-packed — and yet trudging — episode last week, Tom (Noah Wyle) and Pope (Colin Cunningham) are set up for their own mini drama when they must rely on each other to survive that plane crash. Considering their love/hate (but mostly hate) relationship has made them one of Mama’s favorite couples from this series, their banter should improve this episode. And is it too soon to start a game to count how many ways Michael Hogan can say he hates aliens; he did it so beautifully on “Battlestar Galactica” that they decided to cast him in the same part for this series.
“Perception” (Tuesday, 10 p.m., TNT)
As the nutty professor, Eric McCormack is outstanding portraying a wide range of feelings about his paranoid schizophrenia. The problem? The rest of the cast doesn’t appear to be on the same show, as their characters are distractingly caricaturish in what could be a very thoughtful story about those with mental illness functioning in the real world. Added to the cast this year is Scott Wolf, who apparently decided to overcompensate for the lifeless Moretti (Rachael Leigh Cook) by gesturing so often when he talks, it’s like watching a mime who speaks.