For a night, the Sunday night television lineup might be even more potent than the Denver Bronco's offense. Before that night and after, it'll still offer some of the most thrilling and highest quality programs, and force traditional viewers into some tough choices.

The high end madness culminates on Jan. 19. Beginning at 9:00 HBO's new show "True Detective" airs its second episode at the same time as CBS's hit show "The Good Wife" (named one of AFI's top ten TV shows of 2013). Also at 9:00 is the premier of "The Following," part one of a two part series that carries into Monday night, the show's regular time slot. At 10:00, CBS's "The Mentalist" runs against relatively little competition; even so, it's regained the trust of fans after the conclusion of the Red John case, which man fans criticized for being strung out and a tease. Of course, all that late night action occurs after two of the most highly anticipated conference championship games in recent memory, Patriots vs. Broncos at 3:00 pm EST and 49ers vs. Seahawks at 6:30. Make sure to get your errands done early that day.

Taping a few programs for that one magical night might not be much of a chore; likewise, when "The Following" moves back to Monday, taping either "True Detective" or "The Good Wife" (or even "Revenge," if that's your style) won't be a great hassle. Yet, even if most HBO viewers don't always switch over to network television (and vice versa) the hype surrounding "True Detective" and its two stars, Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, might be too much to ignore for all audiences -- and thus could affect ratings. Perhaps Thursday night might have been a better slot, with the biggest competition at 9:00 the results half of American Idol and at 10:00, CBS's "Elementary."

Still, HBO shows are probably more concerned with managing their own shows and likely don't pay much attention to channels 2-7, except for extraordinary cases like "The Following." Good thing Fox kept that show on Monday.

Catch "True Detective" tonight at 9:00 on HBO.