Tonight's TV Hot List: Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010

Boardwalk Empire
9/8c HBO
Move over, Snooki, because Nucky is taking over the Jersey shore. That's Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (Steve Buscemi), a Prohibition-era Atlantic City politician-cum-gangster in this new drama from Emmy-winning Sopranos scribe Terence Winter. In tonight's 72-minute premiere, directed by executive producer Martin Scorsese, Nucky takes control of the illegal booze market, though it's pretty clear nothing happens without his say-so, including how his protégé, a feisty WWI vet (Michael Pitt), makes a living. — Joe Friedrich
Mad Men
10/9c AMC
The Mountain Dew ad concept fizzled and fell flat. Despite Don and his "boys will be boys" office mentality — no matter how inappropriate — Peggy canned Joey for his insulting behavior toward Joan. And Don's love life takes yet another turn. The aftermath of all this in-and-out-of-office intrigue spills into tonight's episode. And to up the ante, Peggy receives a gift that could lead to professional "ad"-versities. Could it have something to do with her alleged "lesbian high jinks?" — Ray Stackhouse
Martha Stewart Presents: The Women Who Dress America
9/8c Hallmark
Hallmark continues to feature all things Martha with this prime-time special in which the style maven interviews four major players in the fashion world: Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, Tory Burch and Jenna Lyons. Each woman has a one-on-one with Stewart to discuss what inspires their creativity and what to expect in the years ahead. — Brie Hearn
25 Greatest TV Characters of All Time
8/7c TV Guide Network
One of the greatest qualities of TV shows is that they give us characters we get to know really well. We revisit them episode after episode, at times seeing them grow or even regress. This special counts down television's Top 25 TV characters and includes some from TV's early days as well as some from more recent times. So who made the cut?  Wacky Lucy Ricardo, grumpy Archie Bunker and stylish Carrie Bradshaw, just to name a few. And this all-inclusive list contains animated favorites, too. — Jennifer Sankowski
The Gates
9/8c ABC
Don't you just hate it when you're the last to find out that your neighbors are a bunch of supernatural weirdos? Sarah (Marisol Nichols) doesn't relish being in that position so she withdraws from those who kept her in the dark and opts to hang out with Devon, which may be a bad idea. The Season 1 finale for the "vampires, witches, werewolves and demons series" follows this episode. — Michael Chant
Fantasia for Real
10/9c VH1
In the second-season opener, Fantasia thinks she's living the dream. She's finally got everyone cleared out of her house, and she's about to release her third album. Then things start to turn. Aunt Bunny shows up to confront her about tabloid rumors concerning her love life, and to make matters worse, low ticket sales threaten to cancel his first performance in London. Meanwhile, Teeny finally has his own place, but Aunt Bunny wonders if he'll be able to afford to keep it. — Fred Mitchell
Sunday Night Football
8:15/7:15c NBC
If both teams had won last weekend, tonight's Manning v. Manning matchup would be all about the dueling siblings. But with the Colts falling to the Texans last weekend, Manning the Elder will be concentrating more on righting the Indy ship than doling out turf noogies to his kid brother. Of course, runners Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs of the N.Y. Giants will be more than happy to test the holes in the defensive hull that allowed Houston's Arian Foster to ramble for a whopping 231 yards. — Dave Roeder