Get smart
"Best of Enemies," a documentary that revisits the 1968 debates between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal, shows that bullying and name-calling can trump smart conversation even when both participants are card-carrying members of the intelligentsia. The stars may have SAT-caliber vocabularies, but their commentary quickly dissolves into schoolyard retorts that audiences were instantly drawn to. Want to blame someone for the kind of immature banter that dominates time on news networks? Start with these clowns.
8 p.m., TPT, Ch. 2
Case dismissed
"Conviction," a new twist on the legal procedural, is garbage, yet there's something compelling about star Hayley Atwell. The actress, who showed promise in ABC's "Agent Carter," plays a former First Daughter, blackmailed into running something called an Integrity Department that's commissioned to rescue long-shot clients from injustice. Umm, OK. Atwell rises above the ridiculous premise with the kind of mettle and charm you want in a TV star.
9 p.m., KSTP, Ch. 5
Oh, the humanity!
Time travel is an interesting concept for a series — as long as you bounce back to an era before "Quantum Leap." "Timeless" — in which a group of scientists visit key moments in history in an effort to save the world — is one of several new shows that seem to think modern-day settings aren't ripe enough for a weekly drama. This fast-paced effort starts with the Hindenburg crash.
9 p.m., KARE, Ch. 11
Neal Justin
