ALSO SEE: Complete 2023 NFL TV Schedule
All Times Eastern. PBS programming varies regionally.
Tuesday, Sept. 19
Becoming Frida Kahlo
PBS, 9pm
New Series!
This three-part series strips away the myths to reveal the real Frida Kahlo — a passionate and brilliant artist who lived through extraordinary times. The series explores the major events of her life, both personal and political, from her lifelong health problems to her complicated relationship with artist Diego Rivera, and more.
The Saint of Second Chances
Netflix
This full-of-heart documentary tells a wildly unexpected real-life story of family redemption. Narrated by Jeff Daniels, it chronicles how Mike Veeck, son of legendary Major League Baseball owner Bill Veeck, blew up his father’s career with the infamous Disco Demolition Night event at the Comiskey Park home of the Chicago White Sox in the late ’70s. Mike is kicked out of the game he loves and spends the next few decades clawing his way back from rock bottom, determined to redeem himself and carry on the family legacy.
Name That Tune
FOX, 8pm
Season Premiere!
Host Jane Krakowski and bandleader Randy Jackson are back for an all-celebrity edition with games that test the musical knowledge of athletes, musicians, actors, TV personalities, comedians and Olympians who are playing for their favorite charities.
America’s Got Talent: “Qualifiers 5”
NBC, 8pm Live
More performers take the stage live from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium as judging is turned over to the American audience to vote for their favorite performer to move to the final round.
The Swarm: “Episode 2”
The CW, 9pm
Whales are attacking tourists in Canada and lobsters are suddenly deadly in France. The Swedish scientist Dr. Johanson (Alexander Karim) discovers aggressive ice worms on the seabed that are multiplying at breakneck speed.
Independent Lens: “Sansón and Me”
PBS, 10pm
When authorities deny filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes’ request to document a young, incarcerated immigrant named Sansón, his story is shared through dramatic reenactments.
The Night of the Hunter
TCM, 10pm
Catch a Classic!
Robert Mitchum is absolutely chilling as tattoo-knuckled, corrupt religious fanatic/serial killer Harry Powell, one of the screen’s most unforgettable villains, in Charles Laughton’s superb 1955 thriller, the only film Laughton, most remembered as an actor, directed. In the movie, Powell marries a fragile widow (Shelley Winters) to try to learn where her late husband hid a large sum of cash from a robbery. When his plans are uncovered by her terrified young children (Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce), it begins a pursuit that becomes a mesmerizing allegory for the battle between good and evil. Lillian Gish costars in a terrific performance. The Night of the Hunter is one of those classics that was not recognized as such during the time of its release, flopping with critics and audiences. Over the decades, its reputation has grown, and it is now considered one of the greatest films ever made; it was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 1992.
Wednesday, Sept. 20
MasterChef: United Tastes of America
FOX, 8pm
Season Finale!
Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sánchez and Joe Bastianich decide which home cook will win it all and take home the cash prize of $250,000 and the title of America’s MasterChef in the two-hour season finale.
America’s Got Talent: “Qualifiers 5 Results”
NBC, 8pm Live
See what acts from last night’s show move on to the final round of competition.
America Outdoors With Baratunde Thurston: “New Mexico: Timeless”
PBS, 8pm
New Mexico was first inhabited by Ancient Puebloans millennia ago, and some of the most stunning ruins on the continent can be found here. From turkey hunting to river rafting on the Rio Grande and ancient pueblos built in alignment with the stars, Baratunde explores how the area’s deep history still shapes its outdoor culture, even as people there are reimagining their outdoor lives.
Star of the Month: Dirk Bogarde: “All Things Arthouse”
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Four of the films that famed actor Dirk Bogarde appeared in as he made the move from matinee idol to an impactful figure in arthouse cinema air this evening as Turner Classic Movies continues its monthlong Wednesday night Bogarde celebration. Up first, the actor gives a BAFTA-nominated performance in the 1971 historical drama Death in Venice, followed by a BAFTA Award-winning performance in the 1965 romantic drama Darling. Then, late night into tomorrow morning, the lineup features The Night Porter (1974), an erotic psychological war drama costarring Charlotte Rampling, and the TCM premiere of The Damned (1969), a historical drama set during the early days of Nazi Germany.
Superfan
CBS, 9pm
Season Finale!
Five of Kelsea Ballerini’s most devoted supporters battle it out to be crowned her biggest fan in the Season 1 finale of the reality competition series.
American Horror Story: Delicate
FX, 10pm
Season Premiere!
Season 12 of Ryan Murphy’s horror anthology will be split into two parts, with Part 1 arriving in September and the other half yet to receive a debut date. Kim Kardashian, Emma Roberts and Cara Delevingne, among others, star.
Evolution Earth: “Heat”
PBS, 10pm
Travel to the hottest and driest extremes to see animals go to extraordinary lengths to survive. From the Sahara Desert to Australia, animals provide new clues about our changing planet and what it will mean for the future of our ever-warmer world.
Thursday, Sept. 21
Sex Education
Netflix
Season Premiere!
In the fourth and final season of the popular British dramedy about students and their parents dealing with sex and intimacy, there are big changes. Stuffy Moordale Secondary closes, and teen amateur sex therapist Otis (Asa Butterfield) and his classmates move to more progressive Cavendish. Otis’ sex therapist mother, Jean (Gillian Anderson), isn’t coping well with being a single mom again, while Otis and Maeve (Emma Mackey) try a long-distance relationship as she lives her dream in the United States, studying with a cult author (Season 4 guest star Dan Levy).
MLB Baseball
FOX, 7pm
FOX’s Thursday night MLB regional telecast has either the Baltimore Orioles at the Cleveland Guardians or the N.Y. Mets at the Philadelphia Phillies.
NFL Football: N.Y. Giants at San Francisco
Prime Video, 8:15pm Live
Daniel Jones leads the N.Y. Giants into Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, to take on Deebo Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers in this Week 3 Thursday Night Football matchup.
No Demo Reno: “Porcelain Punch Up”
HGTV, 9pm
With their kids off to school, a couple finally has the time to renovate their house. Jenn Todryk is ready to lean into their casual and traditional style, but there’s trouble in “no demo city” as Jenn and her contractor Victor clash over some porcelain countertops.
High Sierra
MOVIES!, 10pm
Catch a Classic!
In this 1941 adventure drama based on the novel by W.R. Burnett, Humphrey Bogart stars as Roy Earle, a notorious thief just out of prison, who is hired by his old boss to help some inexperienced criminals carry out a robbery. When the robbery goes sideways, Earle is forced to go on the run.
Friday, Sept. 22
The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
ALLBK & Shudder
Feature Film Exclusive!
Vicaria (Layla DeLeon Hayes) is a brilliant teenager who believes death is a disease that can be cured. After the brutal and sudden murder of her brother, she embarks on a dangerous journey to bring him back to life. Inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this dramatic thriller thematically challenges ideas of life and death following a family that, despite the terrors of systemic pressure, will survive and be reborn together again.
Love Is Blind
Netflix
Season Premiere!
The dating reality series is back for Season 5. The first four episodes drop today, with Episodes 5-7 available Sept. 29, Episodes 8-9 available Oct. 6 and the season finale available Oct. 13.
Spy Kids: Armageddon
Netflix
Original Film!
Robert Rodriguez’s family-friendly spy comedy franchise returns with this reboot cowritten (with his son Racer) and directed by Rodriguez. The new Spy Kids, Tony and Patty, are played by newcomers Connor Esterson and Everly Carganilla, with Zachary Levi and Gina Rodriguez as their parents, Terrence and Nora. Billy Magnussen is introduced as the diabolical new villain Rey “The King” Kingston, who unleashes a computer virus that gives him control of all technology with the unwitting help of the Spy Kids, who must then spring into action to save the world.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick
Peacock
New Series!
This three-part event series set within the universe of the popular John Wick feature films led by Keanu Reeves (who does not appear here in any way, at least from what we know at this point) takes place in 1970s New York and serves as a prequel for the blockbuster franchise, exploring the origins of The Continental — the hotel for assassins that is a centerpiece for much of the action in John Wick. “The four Wick films take place over a three-month span,” explains executive producer Basil Iwanyk, who has coproduced all the movies. “John is either chasing or being chased. There has been no time to take a breath, to allow the audience to dig deeper into the world and its denizens. In The Continental, we finally have space to explore these characters, how they became who they are and how The Continental became the epicenter of this world.” A focus of the series is Colin Woodell as a young Winston Scott (played by Ian McShane in the films), who charts a deadly course through the hotel’s mysterious underworld in a harrowing attempt to seize the place where he will eventually take his throne. Ayomide Adegun costars as a young Charon (Lance Reddick’s film character). Iwanyk also says there will be new characters introduced, including one named Cormac, played by Mel Gibson, as well as Easter eggs that “will excite hardcore Wick fans.” Co-executive producer Albert Hughes, who also directed the first and third installments, adds that this series will “dig deeper into the rules and mythology [of the Wick world] while expanding the physical scope of The Continental, showing fans areas of the iconic hotel they’ve never seen before.” After today’s episode, the next two installments drop Sept. 29 and Oct. 6.
Cassandro
Prime Video
Feature Film Exclusive!
Based on a true story, this biopic follows Saúl Armendáriz (Gael García Bernal), a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso who rises to international stardom after he creates the character Cassandro, the “Liberace of Lucha Libre.” In the process, he upends not just the macho wrestling world, but also his own life.
Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court
Showtime, 8pm
New Series!
This four-part documentary series traces the modern history of the Supreme Court and examines the people, decisions and confirmation battles that have shaped the Court into what it is today.
Haunted Harmony Mysteries: Murder in G Major
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, 9pm
Original Film!
Former orchestra conductor Gethsemane Brown (Tamera Mowry-Housley) has moved to the Irish countryside to teach music at St. Brendan’s boarding school. After deciphering a cryptic musical message, she meets renowned composer Eamon McCarthy (Risteárd Cooper), who is rumored to be behind the death of his longtime love. He also turns out to be a ghost. Eamon enlists Gethsemane’s help to find the person responsible for his partner’s death so that he can finally move on and reunite with her in the afterlife, but the search for the real killer might mean putting Gethsemane in real danger.
Fathom
MOVIES!, 11:40pm
Catch a Classic!
Raquel Welch plays the title role — Fathom Harvill, a skydiver turned secret agent — in this cult-classic 1967 British spy comedy that cashed in on a newly popular film genre ushered in by the James Bond movies of the era. Lorenzo Semple Jr., who wrote for the Batman TV show in the ’60s, brings similar camp to these proceedings. The film looks gorgeous, colorfully shot by acclaimed cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, although, if we’re being fair, Welch would look fantastic even if she were shot by a high school AV student using an old Betamax camera.
Saturday, Sept. 23
Adam Sandler Weekend
TBS, beginning at 10am
Hollywood funnyman Adam Sandler certainly has proved his acting chops, pivoting into some more serious dramas recently. Today, however, it’s all laughs, starting with 1995’s Billy Madison, where Sandler plays a man-child, and continuing with Happy Gilmore, Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2. The following day are two of our favorites, costarring Drew Barrymore — The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates.
Giant
TCM, 2pm
Catch a Classic!
Best Director Oscar winner George Stevens helmed this sweeping, Best Picture Oscar-nominated 1956 saga of family conflict and social consciousness adapted from Edna Ferber’s bestseller. Simultaneously grand and epic (with a runtime of about three hours and 15 minutes) while also feeling intimate, this tale of fame and materialism among three generations of Texans is based around the discovery of oil at Spindletop and the establishment of the King Ranch of South Texas. It is led by Rock Hudson as rancher Bick Benedict, Elizabeth Taylor as his wife, Leslie, and James Dean, in his final film role, as nouveau oil baron Jett Rink. Isolating his star cast in the wilds of West Texas, Stevens brought together a volatile mix of egos, insecurities and talent. Yet the director coaxed performances out of them that made cinematic history and earned Hudson and Dean Best Actor Oscar nominations. Dean’s nomination marked the actor’s second consecutive posthumous Best Actor nod following his 1955 death at age 24 in a car accident. Dean died while Giant was late into production, so actor Nick Adams was called upon to overdub some of his lines. The film’s sizable cast also includes Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Mercedes McCambridge, Jane Withers, Robert Nichols, Chill Wills, Carroll Baker, Earl Holliman, Rod Taylor, Sal Mineo and Dennis Hopper, making his third feature film appearance.
College Football
CBS & NBC, 7:30pm Live
Primetime college football features two huge matchups with Iowa at Penn State in a Big Ten clash on CBS and a meeting of legendary football programs with Ohio State at Notre Dame on NBC.
Retreat to You
Hallmark Channel, 8pm
Original Film!
Abby (Emilie Ullerup) and Sean (Peter Mooney) were best friends in high school until they had a falling out at their graduation party. Years later, when Abby’s friend Rachel (Meghan Heffern) brings her to a wilderness retreat, she is surprised to run into Sean. When the two get separated from the rest of the group on a hiking trip, they must work together to find their way back to the campsite and face the reality of why their friendship fell apart.
Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard
Lifetime, 8pm
Original Film!
Pretending to be pregnant at the same time as her best friend Heidi (Anna Hopkins), Magen (Emily Osment) makes the journey from Houston to Austin to be by Heidi’s side. When Heidi goes missing with her newborn daughter just a few weeks after giving birth, Magen’s loyalty and her true intentions are questioned. Based on a true story.
The Incredible Dr. Pol
Nat Geo Wild, 9pm
Season Finale!
In the Season 23 finale, between treating a hoarse horse and a cockatiel with a crooked beak, the clinic comes together for a sneaky surprise for Diane.