“Masterpiece Classic” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) presents a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations.” Douglas Booth stars as Pip, a poor orphan who comes upon a mysterious inheritance after being favored by a reclusive eccentric, the gothic Miss Havisham (Gillian Anderson), a woman still wearing the tatters of her wedding dress many years after being jilted at the altar. The greatest shut-in in Western literature, Havisham is surrounded by the decaying ruins of her wedding party and attended to by her adopted daughter, Estella (Vanessa Kirby).

While certainly a visual treat, this new “Expectations” is more peculiar than engaging. For starters, Booth’s Pip often looks like a dandy from some 1980s New Wave music video. He’s prettier than Estella and often comes off like a petulant, boozy social climber. It’s difficult to empathize with his plight.

The two-parter (concluding next Sunday) is all but stolen by Anderson’s Havisham. Everything about her performance, from her voice to her wardrobe to the way she is lit, is over the top. At her best, she is ethereal and mad, but after a while she seems like a theme park ghost.

• “Game of Thrones” (8 p.m., HBO) returns for a second season. This tale of warring kingdoms and struggles for successions unfolds in epic fashion. The season opener offers a grand hopscotching overview of the proceedings, taking us from the North to the East — from a beachside religious ritual to a frozen wasteland where a bully reigns over an incestuous harem.

It’s obviously difficult to develop a sense of irony or humor with violent death right around the corner, destiny at your doorstep and a knife at your throat. There’s so little time for witty repartee. Could that be why I find so many characters forgettable? Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion is a welcome exception.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (6 p.m., CBS): art as a sound investment; sugar seen as a toxin; the end of the shuttle program.

• Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton host the 47th annual Academy of Country Music Awards (7 p.m., CBS).

• Emma strives to clear Mary Margaret on “Once Upon a Time” (7 p.m., ABC).

• Winter is no picnic on a “Frozen Planet” (7 p.m., Discovery).

• A new challenge for Peggy on “Mad Men” (9 p.m., AMC).