AMERICAN GANGSTER (2007) at 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on BBC America. To see Washington in another part of New York City and on a different end of the moral spectrum than his character in “The Taking of Pelham 123,” see this crime drama from Ridley Scott, in which Washington plays the 1970s drug kingpin Frank Lucas. The role of Lucas, who died in May, is one that Washington steps into easily, Manohla Dargis wrote in her review for The Times, “whether flashing his wolfish grin or draining the affect from Lucas’s face to show the soulless operator beneath the swagger and suit.” Russell Crowe plays Richie Roberts, the New Jersey detective who brings Lucas down.

What’s Streaming

POSTHUMOUS (2014) Rent on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu and YouTube. The filmmaker Lulu Wang is in theaters this weekend with “The Farewell,” starring Awkwafina. Wang’s feature debut, “Posthumous,” takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the art world through the story of an artist (Jack Huston) who gets famous after people think he’s dead. He isn’t, which creates potentially lucrative opportunities for him.