NEW YORK ‘RUNWAY’
After a lackluster season of “Project Runway,” where the contestants couldn’t walk to Mood to buy fabric because it was too far away from the Los Angeles studio where the show was taping, the best-known fashion reality show comes crawling back to the Big Apple, measuring tape between its legs. What’s new this time? Well, host/judge Heidi Klum has a new haircut. There are 16 new contestants. As usual,
it’s a diverse group. Texan Amy Sarabi has worked at Old Navy. China’s Ping Wu is a physical therapist as well as a fashion designer. Jay Sario was born in the Phillippines and is a lead stylist for Gap Inc., children’s division. Jesse Le Roy of Orlando, Fla., is an actor and a designer for the House of Kilroy. We’ll know very soon whether they are in or out.
* PROJECT RUNWAY
Thursday, 10 p.m., Lifetime
Dining in the canal zone
Anthony Bourdain launches the sixth season of his show “No Reservations” with a trip to Panama. Can’t tell for sure, but this would appear to be his first visit to Central America.
* NO RESERVATIONS
Monday, 10 p.m., Travel
Mormon friendly
For years, Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) has battled Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton). Now, with Roman dead, Bill and his ever-growing family — three wives, nine children — can breathe easy. Or can they? Having struggled to mend rifts that threatened his family, Bill now faces a host of new personal and professional challenges. He’s launching the Mormon-friendly Blackfeet Magic casino with his Native American partners and contemplating a run for the Utah state senate. Look for Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn) to have a controversial role at the new casino, Nicki (Chloe Sevigny) to fight with her ex, J.J. Walker (Zeljko Ivanek), and for Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin) to face burnout as a home shopping personality.
* BIG LOVE
Today, 9 p.m, HBO
In olden times
A close-knit English village in the 1840s is the focus of “Return to Cranford.” The series picks up with the arrival of the railroad to town, and then a shocking event derails Cranford from its innocence. Matty Jenkyns (Judi Dench) and her friends prevail at all costs.
* RETURN TO CRANFORD
Today, 9 p.m., PBS
Gospel truth
HE’s been dead for nearly 45 years, but soul singer Sam Cooke’s music has stood the test of time. Songs like “You Send Me” and “A Change is Gonna Come” sound as great as they did when first released in the early 1960s. In the portrait of Cooke (above right, with Muhammad Ali) on “American Masters,” viewers will learn how the singer combined spirituality and sensuality to create his legacy. Before he was murdered at age 32 in 1964, Cooke sang in his father’s Chicago Baptist church. By the age of 19, he became lead vocalist for the gospel group The Soul Stirrers. Women began to flock to concerts to experience Sam — not Jesus. He was a mentor to Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding. Giving testimony to Cooke’s talent are a range of men who knew him at the time: record producers Lou Adler and Jerry Wexler, Herb Albert, Dick Clark, Sam Moore and Smokey Robinson. Narrated by Danny Glover.
* AMERICAN MASTERS: SAM COOKE
Monday, 9 p.m., PBS
Spy in training
The two-hour season premiere finds Chuck (Zachary Levi) training to become a full-fledged spy, but he flunks out of spy school and loses his girlfriend. In the second hour, his girlfriend’s BFF, Carina, comes through town. Chuck wants to hash out his relationship problems while they are working on a mission together. In Monday’s episode, Ellie and Awesome stumble onto an international incident when a visiting dictator (Armand Assante) becomes the target of an assassination.
* CHUCK
Today, 9 p.m., NBC
Monday, 8 p.m., NBC