Ellen Gray's weekend TV picks
This week, she features "Sherlock," "The Following" and more.
* SHERLOCK. 9:58 p.m. Sunday, WHYY12.
PBS wants to own your Sunday night, with the possibly unprecedented combination of "Downton Abbey" at 9, followed immediately by the season premiere of "Sherlock," in which the return from the dead of our ingenious hero (Benedict Cumberbatch) is finally explained (or not). "The Empty Hearse," written by Mark Gatiss, who also plays Sherlock's brother Mycroft, is funnier than the title sounds. Not so amused: Watson (Martin Freeman).
* THE FOLLOWING. 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Fox 29.
Philadelphia's Kevin Bacon returns as serial-killer expert Ryan Hardy in a special post-NFC championship premiere before "The Following" moves to 9 p.m. Mondays startingJan. 27. Would it shock you to learn Sherlock may not be the only character resurrected this weekend? Didn't think so.
* LOOKING. 10:30 p.m. Sunday, HBO.
It took me a few episodes to warm to this new set-in-San Francisco dramedy about gay men looking for connection. Lancaster, Pa., native Jonathan Groff ("Glee") plays a video-game designer hoping to take his love life to the next level.
* NEAL BRENNAN: WOMEN AND BLACK DUDES. Midnight Saturday, Comedy Central.
Villanova's Brennan, best known for co-creating "Chappelle's Show" with Dave Chappelle, gets out in front of the cameras in this hourlong special in which he talks about, among other things, meeting the Obamas.