1) “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” 8:30 p.m., CBS. This has quickly become one of TV’s best comedies, built around two sorta-opposites. Bob is wealthy and sometimes whimsical; Abishola is neither – she’s a diligent nurse who’s been raising her son ever since her husband returned to their native Nigeria, eight years ago. Now the husband is back; Abishola is still married to him … and is engaged to Bob, who meets him (shown here) today. It’s the first half of a two-week story that offers big laughs and strong emotions.
2) “American Masters,” 9-11 p.m., PBS. Steeply talented and gorgeous, Lena Horne and Abbey Lincoln were perfect for the movies. Hollywood, however, rarely had a place for Blacks; Horne was often confined to simply singing – in a scene that Southern theaters could remove. Still, they were the lucky ones, with the light skin Hollywood preferred. This terrific documentary looks at their lives and at darker-skinned women – Cicely Tyson, Pam Grier, Nina Simone – who eventually broke through.
3) “All American” season-opener, 8 p.m., CW. After a four-month delay, this mini-network finally has most of its fall shows. That started Sunday with an excellent “Batwoman” – which reruns at 9 p.m. today. But “All American,” which is sometimes very good, is only so-so tonight. Spencer is returning to his old neighborhood for his final football season; the new complications seem poorly contrived.
4) Movies, cable. This is Martin Luther King Day, which “Bob” “Masters” and “All American” fit neatly. But there are also plenty of movies that fit, including the epic “Black Panther” (2018), at 8 p.m. today on TBS, and two double-features: FX has “Hidden Figures” (2016) at 7 p.m, and “The Hate U Give” (2018) at 10; BET has “Miss Juneteenth” (2020) at 6 p.m. and “Creed” (2015) at 9. Also, Turner Classic Movies has a marathon and HBO has “The Photograph” (2020) at 10:05 p.m.
5) “9-1-1” and “9-1-1: Lone Star” season-openers, 8 and 9 p.m., Fox. Finally, Fox has what was supposed to be its fall line-up. These are the last two shows to arrive; they make up for their tardiness by offering big-deal crises. In the first hour, the Hollywood reservoir breaks. A cyclist is trapped, an agoraphobic woman must be rescued … and a bus crashes into a building, several stories high. In the second, a military tank rumbles downtown; also there’s a human pile-up at the roller derby.