TV tonight: 'Good Place' is back, 'Mom' guests

The Good Place
NBC, 8:30 ET/PT

Good heads into its home stretch in its best shape yet. Eleanor’s secret is now out, which means that instead of lying to her friends, she’s relying on them for help, making it far easier for us to root for her success and for the show to tap into our natural urge to root for star Kristen Bell. As a sitcom, Good can be a bit disappointing — but approach it as a comic miniseries, telling a story with no significant gaps, and it becomes a much more intriguing project, and exactly the kind of experiment broadcast networks should be trying.

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Mom
CBS, 9 ET/PT

The promising comedy news continues over on Mom, as Adam gets a visit from two old hard-partying friends. Here’s the best part: The two friends are played by Nicole Sullivan and Allison Janney’s old West Wing buddy Bradley Whitford.

Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers — American Sons, American Murderers
ABC, 9 ET/PT

For some reason, there’s a renewed TV interest in Erik and Lyle Menendez, whose murder of their parents in 1989 led to one of our periodic “trials of the centuries.” Having already been the subject of one TV movie, their case is now inspiring an upcoming NBC crime series and this new two-hour ABC documentary, which includes a prison interview with Lyle.