The Closer
The fifth season opener of this police procedural stresses drama over its trademark character comedy. Detective Brenda Leigh Johnson (Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick) investigates a quadruple murder: All evidence points to the husband, but nothing seems to add up. Meanwhile, she faces a possible personal loss of her own. Monday, June 8, at 9 p.m., TNT
Raising the Bar
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Season 2 of this ensemble legal drama co-created by Steven Bochco begins with a birthday party at which the main character (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is teased for his ’90s-style hair. The show itself is something of a throwback, with its earnest approach to social issues à la Bochco’s LA Law—but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In the first episode, the district attorney’s newly instituted hard line creates more friction than ever with the public defender’s office. Monday, June 8, at 10 p.m., TNT
Live From Lincoln Center: The Silk Road Ensemble With Yo-Yo Ma
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Lincoln Center, renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the ensemble—a loose-knit collective of international musicians who mingle elements of their many cultures—perform a free concert in New York City’s Damrosch Park. Selections range from traditional Chinese music to the “Arabian Waltz.” Tuesday, June 9, at 8 p.m., PBS
American Masters: Neil Young, Don’t Be Denied
Blending a new interview with previously unseen footage from Young’s own archives, this profile charts the long, eclectic career of one of rock ’n’ roll’s most original and iconoclastic artists—from his early days with Buffalo Springfield and Crazy Horse to his introspective solo work and more recent political turn. Interviewees include his sometime bandmates David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Stephen Stills (who calls him “willfully erratic”). Wednesday, June 10, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings
True Blood
Anna Paquin returns for a second season as Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic Louisiana waitress with a 173-year-old heartthrob, in this outlandish but entertaining fantasy series set in a near-future in which vampires coexist with humans by imbibing synthetic blood instead of biting necks. Author Charlaine Harris just published the ninth novel in her series of “Southern Vampire Mysteries,” on which the show is based. Sunday, June 14, at 9 p.m., HBO
Other highlights
Explorer: Easter Island Underworld
Explorers probe underground caves that may reveal the fate of Easter Island’s lost civilization of monolith carvers. Tuesday, June 9, at 10 p.m., National Geographic Channel
Starz Inside: The Face Is Familiar
A look at Hollywood character actors, including Samuel L. Jackson and many others, whose faces are more familiar than their names. Tuesday, June 9, at 10 p.m., Starz
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