He is the captain now

Any doubt that "Manhattan" is worth watching should be dashed by the knowledge that Thomas Schlamme is one of the executive producers and directed the Season 2 premiere of the drama about creation of the atomic bomb. Never heard of Schlamme? That's because TV directors may be the most underappreciated artists in the business — somewhere between the union drivers and the breakfast caterers. Schlamme, who won Emmys for directing episodes of "The West Wing" and "Sports Night," continues to be a credential worth trusting. 8 p.m. WGN America

Horse play

Under the category of sheer coincidences comes the airing of "The Real Trojan Horse" (8 p.m. TPT, Ch. 2), a look at the basis of Homer's epic Greek poem, against "Trojan War," (8 p.m. ESPN) a new "30 for 30" doc that looks at football coach Pete Carroll's reign at the University of Southern California.

Burn, baby, burn

The heat is still on when "Chicago Fire" returns with Severide (Taylor Kinney) dealing with a demotion, Gabby (Monica Raymund) dealing with her pregnancy and the squad dealing with the return of Matt (Jesse Spencer), who had disappeared after looking into a strip club. Hey, fires are dangerous, but don't even think about messing with a Chi-town lap dancer! 9 p.m. KARE, Ch. 11

Neal Justin