It’s a good week for superheroes. The CW loads up on fresh fare with formidable action figures.
“The Flash” offers its midseason premiere at 8 p.m. Tuesday, and Barry weighs whether he should tell Patty that he is the Flash. Our advice: Don’t.
The “Arrow” midseason premiere, at 8 p.m. Wednesday, reveals details about Felicity’s fate. An ominous sign: Oliver is seeing revenge against Darhk in an episode called “Blood Debts.”
The CW tries to extend its superhero success with “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” debuting at 8 p.m. Thursday. In the premiere, time traveler Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) assembles a team to take on an evil dictator who’s immortal. The best moments belong to Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller, who played brothers on “Prison Break.” They supply edge and humor as the team’s bad-boy members. The CW follows the “Legends” premiere with the return of “The 100” at 9 p.m. Thursday.
To prepare for the “Legends of Tomorrow” premiere, The CW offers two specials after “The Flash.” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Their Time Is Now” airs at 9 p.m. Tuesday, and “DC Films Presents: Dawn of the Justice League” follows at 9:30 p.m. The latter offers a trailer for the feature “Suicide Squad.”
“Marvel’s Captain America: 75 Heroic Years” is an ABC special at 8 p.m. Tuesday saluting the influential comic-book favorite. Sharing their thoughts are Stan Lee, Clark Gregg,Ming-Na Wen, Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell. ABC promises “an exclusive announcement from Marvel Comics.”
The special leads into the two-hour season premiere of “Marvel’s Agent Carter” with Atwell at 9 p.m. Tuesday. Carter moves from New York to Los Angeles, where the series can explore Hollywood in the post-World War II era.
CBS’ entertaining “Supergirl” brings on a new villain at 8 p.m. Monday (today). The excellent Henry Czerny plays Toyman, the very bad daddy of Winn (Jeremy Jordan).
For human heroes, look to “NCIS” at 8 p.m. Tuesday on CBS. The long-running drama explores a human-trafficking ring in an episode directed by regular Rocky Carroll.
The premieres this week also include a four-part, eight-hour version of Leo Tolstoy’s “War & Peace,” which gets a simulcast at 9 p.m. Monday (today) on Lifetime, A&E and History. Andrew Davies adapted the sprawling novel. Paul Dano is very promising as Pierre. “Downton Abbey” fans will be happy to see Lily James as Natasha. The cast also includes James Norton (as Andrei), Gillian Anderson, Jim Broadbent, Brian Cox, Stephen Rea and Greta Scacchi. If you miss miniseries of old, you’ll want to give this one a try.
More cable premieres: “London Spy” puts a new spin on espionage drama at 10 p.m. Thursday on BBC America. The show comes from novelist Tom Rob Smith. The top-notch cast includes Ben Whishaw of “Spectre,” Oscar winner Broadbent (“Iris”) and Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (“45 Years”).
Zach Galifianakis flexes his distinctive comic muscles in “Baskets,” an FX series debuting at 10 p.m. Thursday. His character longs to be a professional clown.
PBS’ “American Experience” explores the real “Bonnie & Clyde” in a documentary at 9 p.m. Tuesday. They were quite a lot different from Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, who played the gangsters in a landmark 1967 film.
