What all the TV-loving kids will be talking about this week …
NBC "Rock"s with Brian Williams
Live, from New York, it's "Rock Center With Brian Williams," the "NBC Nightly News" anchor's new live newsmagazine, and the network's first new newsmagazine in nearly two decades.
Read more: Brian Williams Reluctantly Joins Twitter
Williams' evening news broadcast is the top-rated nightly broadcast news show, and one of the (few) bright spots on NBC's schedule. But even with a correspondent lineup that includes Ted Koppel and Meredith Viera, will viewers tune in close to bedtime to see reports on new airline boarding practices and antigovernment activists in Syria?
"Rock Center With Brian Williams" premieres Monday at 10/9c on NBC.
AMC Says Giddyup to "Hell on Wheels"
Does the title make it sound more like a racing-themed drama than a Western? Yes. But AMC's "Hell on Wheels" is the genre's best offering since "Deadwood" (we love "Justified," but it's only kind of a Western).
"Hell" stars rapper/actor Common as newly-freed former slave Elam Ferguson, Colm Meaney as greedy businessman Doc Durant and Anson Mount as Cullen Bohannon, a Confederate soldier who's committed to exacting revenge on the Union soldiers who killed his wife. Set during the Reconstruction era, the action follows Bohannon as he lands in a Nebraska community nicknamed "Hell on Wheels" because it travels along with the construction of the transcontinental railroad. And because everyone in Hell on Wheels seems to dislike each other intensely.
"Hell on Wheels" premieres Nov. 6 at 10/9c on AMC.
Read more: AMC's Western 'Hell on Wheels': First Look (Video)
NeNe and Company Return
It's season four and the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" continue to be one of rowdiest, and most interesting, group of "Housewives" on Bravo.
Read more: 'Real Housewives' Footage: Russell Armstrong Wanted to Sue Co-Star for Comments
Fussy attorney Phaedra wants to launch her own funeral home, Kandi's getting into the sex toy biz, Cynthia is launching her own modeling agency, Sheree is still fighting over money with her ex, and newly-single NeNe is dating, which leads to a major blowout between her and her boyfriend's other girlfriend.
"Real Housewives of Atlanta" returns Nov. 6 at 9/8c on Bravo.
A Never-Before-Seen Interview with Steve Jobs
Thanks to countless memorials and Walter Isaacson's new biography, it feels like there's little left to discover about Steve Jobs. PBS' "One Last Thing" special — the title is, of course, a play on the late Apple co-founder's famous product launch catchphrase — offers little new information. But it does feature a great, never-before-seen 1994 interview with Jobs, who shares his life philosophy.
"You tend to get told that the world is the way it is, but life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you," Jobs said, just after being diagnosed with cancer. "Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again."
"Steve Jobs: One Last Thing" premieres Nov. 2 at 10/9c on PBS.
Read more: 'Steve Jobs' Tops Every E-Book Chart It Can Find
MTV's Take on Occupy Wall Street
Here's hoping that this installment of MTV's usually compelling "True Life" series will go beyond the usual "why are you here?" interviews with OWS-ers. MTV's look at people living in Zuccotti Park since Sept. 17 has the chance to offer some insight into the movement's big-picture goals.
"True Life: Occupy Wall Street" premieres Oct. 5 6/5c on MTV.
