What’s on TV Thursday: ‘Silence of the Lambs’ and ‘The Rundown’

Photo

A new talk-show host arrives on BET with a fresh perspective. And two shows with rabid fan bases return to the CW.

What’s on TV

THE RUNDOWN WITH ROBIN THEDE 11 p.m. on BET. Ms. Thede, formerly the head writer for “The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore,” will dive into her own show on Thursday as the only black female talk-show host on the air. And there will be another distinction that separates her from the pack: “We’re not going to spend a half-hour telling you Trump is bad, because black people didn’t vote for him anyway,” she told The New York Times in an interview this week.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 8 p.m. on BBC America. Twenty-five years before his methodical, menacing turn on “Westworld,” Anthony Hopkins changed cinema by slipping into the role (and mask) of Hannibal Lecter in Jonathan Demme’s psycho-thriller. His seductive frostiness and overwhelming brilliance led the American Film Institute to name him the greatest villain of the century; his electric and terrifying tête-à-tête with Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) still induces shivers.

GOTHAM 8 p.m. on Fox. The young Bruce Wayne of this Batman origin series continues to mature and embrace darker and more theatrical impulses. In this episode, Bruce (David Mazouz) seeks to uncover the meaning of a knife that seems to incite violence wherever it goes. Meanwhile, Ra’s al Ghul (Alexander Siddig) goes to extremes to achieve what he wants.

Photo

ARROW 9 p.m. on the CW. Two shows with rabid fan bases return to the CW on Thursday night. Season 5 of “Arrow,” the ever soapy and explosive superhero series, ended with a literal bang: The Lian Yu island blew up, leaving the survival of almost every character (except for the protagonist, Oliver Queen, and his son) in doubt. The showrunners have teased that Thursday’s season premiere will take place five months after the explosion — and will feature the death of a major character. At 8, SUPERNATURAL returns for its 13th (count them!) season; it’s the network’s longest-running show, and a spinoff is in the works. The rugged Winchester brothers, who inspire fan conventions all over the world, will continue to battle demons — emotional and literal — after deaths in their family.

What’s Streaming

Photo

I LOVE YOU, AMERICA on Hulu. Sarah Silverman threw herself into the 2016 election with brio and bite, campaigning for Bernie Sanders and then scolding his rabble-rousing supporters at the Democratic National Convention. (“You’re being ridiculous,” she said to jeers while onstage with Al Franken.) Her new series continues her pursuit of political and social issues, as she traipses across the country to talk with people who share and abhor her views. But this won’t be a complete about-face for the potty-mouthed comedian. “Anything heady or even trying to be intellectual is sandwiched in a very, very bready sandwich of aggressively stupid,” she told Jimmy Fallon about her new series.

Continue reading the main story