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Wednesday, Sept. 17
NOVA: Human
PBS, 9pm
New Series!
This five-part coproduction between the BBC Studios Science Unit and NOVA documents the complex story of humanity, beginning 300,000 years ago when Homo sapiens emerged in Africa as one of at least seven human species alive at the time. It shows how closely related we are to other, now-vanished ancestors like Neanderthals, using cutting-edge science to reveal just how “human” they were, and how we outlasted them, even though, as series host Ella Al-Shamahi, a paleoanthropologist, says, we may have been “arguably the underdog of the group.”
Family Law
The CW, 8pm
Season Finale!
Two back-to-back new episodes close out the season. First, in “Take My Advice,” a few cases with unexpected turns are followed by a shocking demand. Then, in “Second Chances,” a bombshell drops regarding the merger.
MasterChef: Dynamic Duos
FOX, 8pm
Season Finale!
Find out which pair of chefs claim victory and the title of MasterChef in the two-hour season finale.
Big Cats 24/7: “A Pride Divided”
PBS, 8pm
Under attack from a growing number of intruder male lions, the lionesses with young cubs must find the rest of the pride; leopard mom Lediba risks it all for a meal; and the cheetah cubs face danger during a vital lesson in survival.
TCM Spotlight: Edith Head
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Turner Classic Movies’ monthlong Wednesday night spotlight on legendary costume designer Edith Head continues with another lineup of titles representing just some of her domination in both Oscar nominations and wins following the creation of the Best Costume Design category in 1948. Up first is A Place in the Sun (1951; Best Costume Design winner), the first of three films for which Head designed Elizabeth Taylor’s outfits. That is followed by the TCM premiere of an episode from the early television magazine show Mary McAdoo at Home (1953). It’s unclear what this entails, but perhaps Head was a guest on the installment. More of Head’s Oscar-recognized film work can then be seen in Roman Holiday (1953; winner), the first of four classics for which Head designed wardrobes for Audrey Hepburn; the Bob Hope/Lucille Ball-led romantic comedy The Facts of Life (1960; winner, shared with Edward Stevenson); and the Sean Connery/Michael Caine-led adventure film The Man Who Would Be King (1975), on which Head received her second-to-last Oscar nomination. — Jeff Pfeiffer
E60: “The Many Lives of Lane Kiffin”
ESPN, 7pm
From infamous firings to social media trolling, Lane Kiffin is one of the most polarizing and fascinating figures in sports. In a new episode, ESPN E60 explores Kiffin’s life and career as the Ole Miss head football coach grapples with his legacy and reflects on the coach, father and person he wants to be. Kiffin is now in his sixth season at Ole Miss, the longest he has been a head coach anywhere in his nearly 30-year career. With much of Kiffin’s life in the public eye, he’s most known for abrupt exits from jobs and social media antics. Now, at 50, Kiffin is reexamining his journey. In candid conversations with E60, he discusses his path to sobriety, his commitment to self-improvement through practices like hot yoga, and his renewed focus on family.
Sin City Rehab
HGTV, 9pm
New Series!
Popular Chicago designer Alison Victoria will take on the bright lights and high stakes of the Las Vegas real estate scene in this new eight-episode series that documents Alison, best known for her popular Windy City Rehab, taking the biggest gamble of her career as she expands her successful design business out West. Alison will bet on herself for lofty rewards, diving headfirst into multimillion-dollar client projects and risky flips all while building a team and reputation from the ground up in a flashy new market.
Sacred Planet With Gulnaz Khan: “Stopping the Desert”
PBS, 10pm
Environmental journalist Gulnaz Khan travels across Africa’s Sahel, where desertification threatens entire communities. Muslims and Christians join forces with scientists, refining traditional practices that promise to hold back the Sahara and its shifting sands.
Thursday, Sept. 18
Sounds of Summer (Sommartider)
Viaplay
This film is the high-energy, music-filled and “almost true” story of Swedish pop sensation Gyllene Tider, one of the country’s most successful bands ever. Fronted by Per Gessle, who would later become the cofounder of Roxette, the band lit up the charts with infectious pop-rock anthems in the early 1980s. It begins with Gessle’s (Valdemar Wahlbeck) all-consuming love for music, and his bond with fellow teenage musicians who begin jamming together in their small town of Halmstad, sparking big dreams of pop stardom. Even with a sickly father dismissing Gessle’s ambitions and constant jibes about his singing or lack of a “real job,” Per becomes even more determined to prove them wrong. Sounds of Summer captures the band’s highs and lows on the road to chart-topping fame — sweaty rehearsals, intimate local gigs and recording sessions that would yield Swedish pop classics. We see their clashes with skeptical record executives in Stockholm, their early tours around Sweden, and their growing bond as friends and musicians. Their perseverance culminates in the runaway success of “Sommartider” in 1982, cementing their place in Sweden’s pop culture history. Although they officially disbanded in 1985, Gyllene Tider has reunited several times since. With heart, humor, and plenty of toe-tapping music, Sounds of Summer is a love letter to the power of friendship, determination, and chasing dreams.
Black Rabbit
Netflix
New Series!
Set against the backdrop of New York City’s high-pressure nightlife scene, this dramatic thriller centers around two brothers who learn just how far family, and the pursuit of success, can push them to the edge. Jake Friedkin (Jude Law) is the charismatic owner of Black Rabbit, a restaurant and VIP lounge that is poised to become New York’s hottest spot. But when his brother, Vince (Jason Bateman), returns to the business unexpectedly, trouble soon follows.
MLB Baseball
FOX, 7pm Live
Viewers will see either the N.Y. Yankees at the Baltimore Orioles or the Chicago Cubs at the Cincinnati Reds on FOX’s Thursday night MLB regional broadcast.
NFL Football: Miami at Buffalo
Prime Video, 8:15pm Live
AFC East foes clash at Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium as the Miami Dolphins take on Josh Allen and the Bills on Thursday Night Football.
Dolphins Up Close With Bertie Gregory
Nat Geo, 9pm
Famed wildlife cinematographer Bertie Gregory is in the Azores, a marine sanctuary and vital pit stop for migrating ocean predators off the coast of Portugal. It’s feeding season, and thousands of normally elusive predators, including dolphins, join forces to hunt and feed on super-shoals of fish known as “bait balls.” Gregory and his team are challenged by the vast ocean and storms as they attempt to film this spectacular feeding frenzy.
The Best Years of Our Lives
TCM, 9pm
Catch a Classic!
This powerful drama about World War II veterans readjusting to life back home earned William Wyler a Best Director Oscar along with wins for Best Picture, Best Actor (Fredric March) and Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell, an actual war veteran who had lost both hands during his service). The film is part of an evening devoted to Wyler and classics that he directed; it is preceded by a 2025 documentary called 40 Takes Willy, and it is followed by the films Friendly Persuasion (1956) and Ben-Hur (1959).
Friday, Sept. 19
Dreamscape
MOVIES!, 10:35pm
Catch a Classic!
About three months before the original A Nightmare on Elm Street was released in November 1984, this other terrific and more underrated film about bad dreams came out and is worth a look or re-look. It stars Dennis Quaid as a young man with psychic abilities who is recruited into a university’s sleep-research program — whose leaders are played by Max von Sydow and Kate Capshaw — that has come up with a way for certain people to mentally enter the dreams of others and help them overcome fears or other psychological issues. Unfortunately, a shadowy government operative (Christopher Plummer) takes over the project with a more sinister use in mind — he wants to be able to assassinate people by killing them in their nightmares, and one of his planned targets is the president of the United States (Eddie Albert). Like Elm Street, Dreamscape has some creatively imagined nightmare sequences, and is also accompanied by a cool, synth-based musical score (by Maurice Jarre). It isn’t as violent as Wes Craven’s slasher film, but it does have its intense moments (Dreamscape was the second film to be released with the new PG-13 rating in the summer of ’84), especially within the president’s bad dreams about a nuclear holocaust, and in a troubled boy’s recurring nightmares about being pursued by a horrifying snake-man. — Jeff Pfeiffer
Billionaires’ Bunker
Netflix
New Series!
Described as “an excessive and surprising emotional X-ray of billionaires living in a ‘golden hole,’” this Spanish thriller is about a group of ultra-rich people who are forced to coexist in a luxury bunker designed to withstand any imaginable catastrophe after accidentally locking themselves in due to the threat of an unprecedented global conflict. Isolated underground and with no possibility of escape, they reveal their personalities and uncover their most unconfessable secrets. But the most unexpected alliances also emerge.
Haunted Hotel
Netflix
New Series!
Matt Roller (Krapopolis, Rick and Morty) created this adult animated comedy about a single mother of two (voice of Eliza Coupe) who struggles to run the Undervale, a hotel that happens to be haunted. Luckily, she has some help from her estranged brother (Will Forte) … who is now one of the ghosts and thinks that his fellow phantoms have some pretty good ideas.
She Said Maybe
Netflix
Original Film!
In this German romantic comedy/drama, Mavi, a German-raised woman, learns of her Turkish noble heritage and enters a world of luxury, which challenges her relationship as she navigates her newfound identity.
College Football
ESPN & FOX, beginning at 7pm Live
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane visit Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater for a Friday night tussle with the Oklahoma State Cowboys on ESPN. On FOX, the Iowa Hawkeyes are at the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a Big Ten matchup.
CBS Fall First Look
CBS, 8pm
Get a star-studded preview of the new shows and returning favorites coming to CBS this fall TV season.
Scariest House in America
HGTV, 9pm
Season Premiere!
Season 2 of this fun series finds Retta touring three scary homes in the Eerie East, each vying for the chance at a $150,000 makeover by designer Alison Victoria. It’s between a haunted mansion with a scary urban legend, an old jail still haunted by former inmates and a horrifying historical home with a frightening surprise in the attic.
Saturday, Sept. 20
College Football
CBS & NBC, beginning at 3:30pm Live
Highlights of Saturday’s college football action include Michigan at Nebraska (CBS), Purdue at Notre Dame (NBC) and Washington at Washington State (CBS).
The Groomsmen: Last Dance
Hallmark Channel, 8pm
Network Premiere!
Jackson (Tyler Hynes) moves to Italy to be near his daughter, but a chance meeting with a café owner and some meddling friends may lead to a second chance at love.
The Girl Who Survived: The Alina Thompson Story
Lifetime, 8pm
Original Film!
Based on the true story of Alina Thompson, this 1980s-set thriller follows an aspiring teenage model (Brielle Robillard) in Los Angeles who gets caught in a dangerous web of obsession when she sneaks off to attend an amateur casting call and meets up-and-coming photographer — and serial killer — William Bradford (Steve Byers).
Lucy & Desi
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, of course, most famously costarred in the classic TV sitcom I Love Lucy, but they also appeared together on the big screen, including in the films that make up tonight’s double feature: the musical comedy Too Many Girls (1940) and the comedy The Long, Long Trailer (1953, made during the height of their TV show’s popularity), in which they play newlyweds who buy a trailer home and take it on the road for their honeymoon, only to run into various misadventures.
Trafficked With Mariana Van Zeller
Nat Geo, 9pm
Season Finale!
Season 5 concludes with “Shark Hunters,” in which host Mariana Van Zeller investigates the underground market for shark fins.