What to Watch Thursday: ‘Silence of the Lambs’ sequel series ‘Clarice’ premieres

Clarice (10 p.m., CBS) - This much anticipated new series acts as a sequel to the “Silence of the Lambs” movie, picking up with FBI Agent Clarice Starling in 1993, a year after she rescued Catherine Martin from serial killer Buffalo Bill’s basement. In the series opener, titled “The Silence is Over,” Agent Starling gets an assignment to join the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, VICAP, to investigate three serial killings. She isn’t exactly welcome in the unit, but must still try to do her job while dealing with sexism and mistrust. Because of the way film and TV rights to Thomas Harris’ books about Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling were sold, we won’t hear about Hannibal Lecter in this series — at least not by name. But Buffalo Bill does come up, as does his victim, Catherine Martin. Based at least on the first three episodes made available by CBS, “Clarice” is quite good, especially for a network drama. It isn’t as stylistic as the avant-garde “Hannibal,” another “Silence of the Lambs”-related TV series that aired on NBC, but it’s compelling enough to hold my interest for more episodes (and by the way, anyone who thinks networks only air boring, formulaic crime shows should check out “Evil” — also on CBS — and then tell me how you sleep at night). Michael Cudlitz, a favorite from “Southland,” plays Clarice’s VICAP supervisor, and Jayne Atkinson plays former Senator Ruth Martin, now Attorney General.

Dateline (10 p.m., NBC) - Keith Morrison reports on abuse allegations at the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School in Cedar County, Missouri. Boyd and Stephanie Householder had promoted their school as a place for students to follow a strict regimen of chores, school work and Bible study. But when Boyd was accused of abusing his students, his daughter Amanda had to decide whose side she’s on. For the first time on network television, Amanda and former students speak out about what happened at the school. The Boyds have not been criminally charged and deny all allegations. Dateline’s report also includes a look at religious school regulations across the country.

Some programming descriptions are provided by networks.