1) Pro football season-opener, 8:20 p.m. ET , NBC. In 1920, the Decatur Staleys were 10-1-2, almost becoming the first champions of what’s now the National Fooball League. They became champs the next year … then changed their name to the Chicago Bears. The ’21 season was also when the Green Bay Packers joined, creating a fierce rivalry. Now the NFL’s 100th season begins with the 199th game between them. The Packers (led by Aaron Rodgers, shown here) lead 97-95-6, but the Bears, who host, are coming off a 12-4 season.
2) “The LEGO Movie” (2014) and “Reef Break,” 8 and 10 p.m., ABC. Here’s a late-summer night of fun TV. First, an animated delight; everything – the script, the songs, the ending – is clever. Then Cat gets involved in a jail-break scheme.
3) “Young Sheldon,” 8 and 8:31 p.m., CBS. The “Big Bang” era on Thursdays is over, alas. That show repeats its wonderful, two-part finale over the next two Mondays. Now “Young Sheldon” — not wonderful, but pleasant – must do it alone. In the first rerun, Sheldon studies his family during Thanksgiving, for a psychology project; in the second, he tries (futilely) to be a kid.
4) “Two Sentence Horror Stories,” 9 and 9:30 p.m., CW. Jaiden Smith – not to be confused with Jaden Smith, the movie star – plays a kid having a battle of wits with his Haitian grandmother. Its a creepy-but-clever story that toys with who the villain is. Then a rerun – a Latina nanny faces an intruder – asks who the REAL villains are.
5) Movies, cable. “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2018), the vibrant and well-crafted tale of Freddie Mercury and Queen, is 8 p.m. on HBO. Or you can catch the start of the James Bond saga on Turner Classic Movies. The smaller – and more intense — “Dr. No” (1962) and “From Russia With Love” (1963) at 8 and 10 p.m. ET, then the flashy “Goldfinger” (1964) and beyond, at 12:15, 2:15 and 4:45 a.m. ET.