John Slattery as Leo Drummond and Madison Iseman as Sarah Plankmore in "The Rainmaker."
John Slattery as Leo Drummond and Madison Iseman as Sarah Plankmore in "The Rainmaker."Christopher Barr/USA Network
Your TV GPS, a look at the week ahead in television, appears every Monday morning onBostonGlobe.com. Today’s column covers Aug. 11-17.
Welcome to my first TV GPS, in which we try to wrap our arms around the coming week in TV. We’ve got a little sci-fi, a little legal drama, and even some football, which, believe it or not, is already being played. How did that happen? As Larry Sanders used to say, no flipping.
1. The xenomorphs are back in town, and coveted by two rival corporations, in the highly anticipated “Alien: Earth.” The new FX series, premiering Tuesday night, charts its own course by telling a story mostly liberated from the movie franchise. It’s a thrilling and thoughtful work of sci-fi, and a triumph for creator Noah Hawley (“Fargo”).
2. After steering clear of most things Trump, “South Park” has gone scorched earth in the first two episodes of its 27th season. We’ve seen the president literally in bed with Satan, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem blasting away at random dogs. The season has already taken on ICE, religion in schools, and even its corporate parent company, Paramount, which recently inked series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to a $1.5 billion streaming contract. What will episode 3 bring? Find out Wednesday night on Comedy Central.
3. John Grisham’s novel “The Rainmaker” was adapted into a 1997 movie, starring Matt Damon and directed by none other than Francis Ford Coppola. Now it’s a TV series, premiering Friday on USA, featuring John Slattery of “Mad Men.” The premise is prototypical Grisham: a young lawyer, played here by Milo Callaghan, encounters shady doings at his firm and must scramble to protect himself and make things right.
4. The British have long been neck-and-neck with the US when it comes to the brazen social experiment known as reality TV. Wednesday brings the season 2 premiere of the Netflix series “Love Is Blind: UK,” in which singles from across the pond court each other and hope to fall in love — without laying eyes on each other. Because beauty is more than skin deep and all that.
5. The Kansas City Chiefs, the team that took over from the Patriots as the NFL’s reigning dynasty (even if they got throttled by the Eagles in the Super Bowl in February), get the full docuseries treatment in “The Kingdom.” The series premieres Wednesday on ESPN, ESPN+, and Disney+. I probably won’t be watching; I got enough of Patrick Mahomes and Co. after they downed my 49ers in two recent Super Bowls. But still, respect.
Chris Vognar can be reached at chris.vognar@globe.com.