“Fashion Star”
Tuesday 9:30pm, NBC
“Project Runway” is over the hill and Bravo’s “Fashion Show” limped through two mostly dreadful seasons, but the twists to this show actually make it pretty interesting. You have your supermodel host (Elle Macpherson), your panel of fashionista mentors (designer John Varvatos, unlikely fashion mogul Jessica Simpson, and alleged style icon Nicole Richie), and your gaggle of would-be world-famous designers. But instead of concentrating on the creative process, this show will focus on salability. Each episode starts off with an elaborate fashion show, and then a panel of judges from retailers H&M, Macy’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue will try to secure the rights to sell a designer’s work. The looks selected by the buyers will be available in stores immediately. That’s pretty damned cool.
“Community”
Thursday 8pm, NBC
The Greendale Human Being is cheering because “Community” is finally back. The cult-favorite comedy got unceremoniously benched last fall after Season 3 started with —let’s be honest—a pretty crappy string of episodes. Things were getting better before the show about an unconventional study group at a community college was put into scheduling limbo. Fans of the show are justifiably concerned that NBC’s lack of support, and the less-than-stellar ratings, might lead to cancellation at the end of the year. But it is getting close to syndication territory (that makes the bean counters happy), and the show recently got a PR boost when Jim Rash, who plays the hilariously inappropriate dean of the school, won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for his work on The Descendants last month. So here’s hoping the remainder of Season 3 lives up to its potential, and gets us to six seasons and a movie. It’s only fair to Abed.
“Frozen Planet”
Sunday 8pm, Discovery
The documentary filmmakers behind “Blue Planet” and “Planet Earth” return for this latest nature series, this time focusing on life in the North and South poles. After an overview, subsequent episodes focus on spring, summer, and winter in the Arctic and Antarctic, with stunning footage of seabirds, polar bears, narwhals, seals, wolves, and other astonishing creatures. In addition to a behind-the-scenes special and a chapter devoted to human populations in these extreme climates, a controversial seventh part will air dealing with climate change and how it is seriously impacting these regions and their ecosystems. Alec Baldwin narrates.