Neal Justin’s TV picks for Nov. 1-6: ‘Mom,’ ‘Kareem: Minority of One,’ Chita Rivera, ‘Elementary’

I know producer Chuck Lorre would cringe at the idea he’s making up for the chauvinistic overtones of “Two and a Half Men,” but he’s doing just that with “Mom,” the sisters-are-doin’-it-for-themselves sitcom that keeps getting better. With one teensy exception, all the dialogue in the third-season premiere is spoken by smart, determined, complex women, most notably Bonnie, played with steel and sympathy by Emmy winner Allison Janney. Guest appearances by Ellen Burstyn as Bonnie’s mother, who abandoned her daughter when she was a baby, and Oscar nominee June Squibb as a perky ­coffee-shop regular help you forget network TV is not serving woman nearly as well as it did back when Mary Richards was trying to make it after all. 8 p.m. Thursday, WCCO, Ch. 4

In “Kareem: Minority of One,” sportscaster Pat O’Brien proposes that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is “the most misunderstood person in sports ever.” That theory is thoroughly examined with the help of none other than the basketball great himself, a once reticent interview subject who has opened up in recent years. Pat Riley, Arsenio Hall and Magic Johnson are among those offering assists. 9 p.m. Tuesday, HBO

Word that Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman will return New Year’s Day in a PBS production of “Sherlock” should do little to dampen enthusiasm for the new season of “Elementary,” with Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu doing their own take on the Dynamic Duo. Holmes tries to regain his balance after falling off the wagon, a bit of a nod to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original plot line, which has his hero seemingly tumble from a cliff. 9 p.m. WCCO, Ch. 4