“The Alienist” has its premiere on TNT. And Steven Soderbergh’s mini-series, previously released as a smartphone app, shows in a more traditional form on HBO.

What’s on TV

THE ALIENIST 9 p.m. on TNT. The most expensive show produced by TNT is based on Caleb Carr’s best-selling 1994 historical thriller about a psychiatrist (or alienist, as they were once called) in Gilded Age New York who tries to catch a serial killer. His team’s method? Piecing together a picture of the killer’s mental traits in attempt to get inside his head. Daniel Brühl plays the title character; the cast includes Dakota Fanning as a headstrong secretary and Luke Evans as an illustrator. Their performances are bolstered by meticulously designed period sets and costumes, which help maintain the novel’s rich historical specificity. “Every detail matters,” Jakob Verbruggen, a director and executive producer of the series, recently told The New York Times. “We could only sell this world if we made it 100 percent believable.”