What’s on TV

THE OUTSIDER 9 p.m. on HBO; stream on HBO platforms. This new dark drama series reinvents the 2018 Stephen King novel of the same name, to thrilling effect. The show starts out with an investigation into a boy’s murder in small-town Georgia. The cop on the case, Ralph (Ben Mendelsohn), and a private investigator, Holly (Cynthia Erivo), find clear-cut evidence against a local Little League coach named Terry (Jason Bateman, who also directed the first two episodes). Then they discover evidence that shows Terry was in two places at once the night of the murder. Frustrated with the contradiction, Ralph isn’t willing to look into the unexplainable. Yet Holly urges him to keep an open mind if they want to get to the bottom of the murder. The one factor that may convince Ralph to see beyond cold hard facts is that he just lost his son and is looking for answers of his own.

THE 25TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS 7 p.m. on CW. Taye Diggs hosts this annual awards show, broadcast live from Santa Monica. Among the strong contenders chosen by the Critics Choice Association are “The Irishman,” with 14 nominations, “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” with 12, and “Little Women,” which racked up 9.