Law & Order: SVU/Ironside (NBC, 9:00 p.m.) – Tonight is the series premiere of Ironside, but SVU gets top billing because they are actually going to try to smush the Trayvon Martin killing, Paula Deen’s racism fiasco, and controversial stop-and-frisk laws all into one 42-minute episode. If you were wondering if the show plans to cover any of these issues with the nuance and subtlety they require, please watch the preview I’ve posted below, which features Cybill Shepherd — the episode’s celebrity chef AND killer — saying “If we were down home, I’d be getting a medal.” This could be a total disaster. I’ve already set my DVR.
The Bridge (FX, 10:00 p.m.) – Season finale. The first season comes to a close tonight with Marco and Sonia trying to track down a missing girl. This show got to be … oh, let’s say “a bit much” this season, but I still enjoyed it. It’ll be nice to clear it out of the Wednesday at 10 p.m. logjam, though, because ….
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia/The League (FXX, 10-11:00 p.m.) – … these two shows have been really strong this season, especially Sunny‘s award episode and last week’s murder-porn-road-trip extravaganza featuring Rafi and Dirty Randy, and …
South Park/Key & Peele (Comedy Central, 10-11:00 p.m.) – … Comedy Central has their own must-watch comedy block from 10 to 11. The first and last sketch from last week’s Key & Peele — the fight outside the club and the valets discussing people messin’ with the Batmans – slayed me.
Super Fun Night/Modern Family (ABC, 8:30-9:30 p.m.) – Everyone hated the Super Fun Night pilot so much that ABC decided to scrap it completely and use the second episode as the series premiere tonight. Related.
LATE NIGHT GUESTS: Tim Allen and Kenny Rogers on Kimmel; Kerry Washington and Ariel Tweto on Letterman; Robin Williams on Ferguson; Kathy Griffin, Newt Gingrich, and Demi Lovato on Leno; Paul Giamatti and Anthony Mackie on Fallon; Sandra Bullock on Stewart; Chris Matthews on Colbert; and Cee-Lo and Stephen Merchant are on Conan (after baseball).