Premiere Week Continues With Some Familiar Faces in New Roles

The stars of several much-loved series are returning to TV in roles that play to their strengths while highlighting previously underutilized talents. Fans of The West Wing, The Middle, Luke Cage and Westworld will want to take a closer look at the slate of new shows debuting tonight. Elsewhere, fans of several long-running series, most notably Law & Order: SVU and Grey's Anatomy can look forward to the start of new — and in some cases record-breaking — seasons.

SERIES PREMIERE: From Michelle and Robert King (creators of The Good Wife and The Good Fight) comes Evil, in which a forensic psychologist (Westworld's Katja Hebers) joins a priest-in-training (Mike Colter) to investigate possessions and other inexplicable events. In the series premiere, the team attempts to determine if a serial killer is a psychopath or possessed by a demon. Watch the preview | Read our pilot script review. 10:00 PM ET on CBS

SERIES PREMIERE: Bradley Whitford plays a miserable former Princeton music professor who finds a reason to go on after inadvertently becoming the director of a local church's ragtag choir in Perfect Harmony. Watch the preview. 8:30 PM ET on NBC

SERIES PREMIERE: Patricia Heaton returns to CBS in Carol's Second Act, where she plays a former teacher who embarks on a second career as a doctor. The premiere episode finds Carol beginning her internship on the wrong foot as she struggles to follow orders while trying to help a patient. Kyle MacLachlan costars. Watch the preview. 9:30 PM ET on CBS

SEASON PREMIERE: Returning for its fourth and final season, The Good Place finds Eleanor assuming the role of architect while the rest of the gang deals with a variety of complications in their new neighborhood. If you can't recall all of the show's many twists and turns, our Omar Gallaga has this refresher. 9:00 PM ET on NBC

SERIES PREMIERE: Will Sunnyside, the latest from uberproducer Mike Schur (Parks & Rec, The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) go where none of his series have gone before? That's the question our Aaron Barnhart asks in his review of the new series, which stars Kal Penn as a former NYC councilman who finds purpose helping Immigrants pursue their dreams. Watch the preview. 9:30 PM ET on NBC

SEASON PREMIERE: Dick Wolf's Law & Order: SVU returns for a record-breaking Season 21, and our Sarah D. Bunting says there's hope it could be a return to form for the series. The premiere episode finds Benson investigating attempted rape charges against a major media mogul. 10:00 PM ET on NBC

SERIES PREMIERE: Walton Goggins (Justified) takes the lead in The Unicorn, playing a widower who, with the help of friends and his two daughters, decides to try dating again a year after his late-wife's death. Watch the preview. 8:30 PM ET on CBS

SEASON PREMIERE: Another long-running show returns for a new season, as Grey's Anatomy enters Season 16 with Meredith, Alex, Grey, and Richard being fired for insurance fraud. Elsewhere, Maggie reaches a turning point. 8:00 PM ET on ABC

SEASON PREMIERE: The second season of A Million Little Things catches up with each of the show's characters as they face a turning point. Eddie is tempted to tell Katherine the truth as Delilah goes into labor. Meanwhile, Regina and Rome face baby questions of their own. 9:00 PM ET on ABC

ALSO TONIGHT

• Thursday Night Football sees the Philadelphia Eagles face the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. 8:00 PM ET on FOX
• How to Get Away With Murder examines the ongoing fallout from Christopher's disappearance at the start of the series' sixth season. 10:00 PM ET on ABC
• Mom finds Bonnie and Adam struggling to enjoy their honeymoon as the show returns for Season 7. 9:00 PM ET on CBS
• Superstore picks up after Mateo is detained by ICE. Meanwhile, the employees fear a new robot will replace them. 8:00 PM ET on NBC
• Young Sheldon returns for its third season, with Mary worrying about Sheldon's well being. 8:00 PM ET on CBS

Mike Attebery is Senior Editor at Primetimer and the author of seven mystery thrillers. Follow him on Twitter at @mikeattebery.