TV tonight: 'The Voice,' 'Mother,' 'Mob Doctor'

• 'The Voice' rolls out its live "playoffs"

The Voice
NBC, 8 ET/PT

Just in time for election week, TV's most complicated talent contest shifts into its own voting phase with tonight's live "playoffs." (Just coming up with the titles for The Voice's various rounds must be a full-time job.) Twenty singers will be cut to 12, with viewers choosing two from each of the four teams to move on and the judges' choices filling the last spots.

How I Met Your Mother
CBS, 8 ET/PT

Ted's latest relationship hits a breaking point, and that collective yawn you hear America suppressing is a sign of how far CBS has allowed its once-powerful Monday lineup to fall. Yes, credit The Voice for hastening that collapse, then blame the rest of the problems on CBS: Mother has lingered past its prime; Partners is ill-cast and charm-free; and 2 Broke Girls, a show that desperately needed to shake up a terrible supporting cast, stood pat to the point where it may be beyond redemption. The only series showing any signs of creative life in the entire lineup is Mike & Molly (which tonight features a guest shot by Gerald McRaney). Need one add that one out of five is not enough?

The Mob Doctor
Fox, 8 ET/PT

You think CBS has Monday troubles? Consider Fox, which apparently has such a depleted programming larder, it's stuck with its DOA Doctor. To add to the indignity, trapped tonight in the guest cast is the wonderful Shohreh Aghdashloo, who starred in one of the better seasons of one of Fox's best dramas, former Monday occupant 24.