Programming Note

Tonight looks very promising for American TV viewers. The sophomore season of that popular British historical drama, Downton Abbey, will debut at 9 p.m. ET/PT under PBS’ Masterpiece Classic umbrella. And ABC-TV’s underappreciated series, Pan Am, returns at 10 p.m. for the first of at least three new episodes. Since these shows are going to overlap, may I recommend that you record one and watch the other?