“Hell on Wheels”
Sunday 10pm, AMC
Those still lamenting the loss of the late, great HBO Western “Deadwood” might want to give this new offering from AMC a try. This basic-cable channel, currently riding high on the massive success of zombie thriller “The Walking Dead,” continues to take chances with a series set in the 1860s. Relative unknown Anson Mount plays a former Confederate soldier tracking down the people who murdered his wife. His quest for vengeance takes him to the violent moving city that surrounds the creation of the transcontinental railroad. As he gets drawn into the shady wheelings and dealings around the nation’s western expansion, the Cheyenne lash out over the tracks being built on their ancestral land. The cast also includes rapper/actor Common and Colm Meaney (“Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine”).
“The Heart, She Holler”
Sunday 12:30am, Adult Swim
If you’re into weird, twisted stuff on the cutting edge of humor, Adult Swim is your channel. Cartoon Network’s awkward teenage brother is best known for pop-culture bait like “Robot Chicken” and “Venture Bros.,” but it also includes some totally bizarre shows, like this new six-night mini-series that sends up everything from “Dynasty” to “Twin Peaks.” The series follows what happens after a wealthy tycoon who more or less runs an isolated Southern town leaves his entire fortune to his long-lost son (Patton Oswalt, Ratatouille), inducing his crazy hick sisters (one of them played by Kristen Schaal, formerly Mel on “Flight of the Conchords”) to try to murder him. The preview is bananas—there’s sex with disembodied ghost hands. What else do you need to know?
“Kung-Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness”
Monday 5:30pm, Nickelodeon
As far as computer-animated kids movies go, you could do a lot worse than Dreamworks’ Kung-Fu Panda and its recent sequel. The animation is slick and lush, the setting is interesting, and the characters and plot, though not terribly original, are fun enough for kids (talking animals that do martial arts!) and relatively tolerable for adults. This spin-off TV series throws the same characters from the films into new kung-fu adventures. Don’t listen for the voice actors from the movies, though: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, and Angelina Jolie are kind of busy. However, Lucy Liu will reprise her role as Master Viper. (Translation: someone please get Ling Woo a regular on-screen job.)