1) “CSI: Vegas,” 10 p.m. Wednesday, CBS. This “CSI” reboot has been tackling an enigma: Someone framed former lab tech Hodges; that could invalidate thousands of convictions. Now Grissom and Sidle have a suspect, in an intriguing story that will reach a turning point next week. This episode also offers a quicker and flashier case: All of the people on a flight have been brutally killed … yet someone managed to escape with a fortune. Folsom (Matt Laurea, shown here with Mandeep Dhillon) solves it, and even has a few warm moments.
2) “Yellowstone” season-opener, 8-10 p.m. Sunday, Paramount Network, repeating at 10 p.m. and midnight. For three summers, this show got strong ratings against weak competition. Now it steps into TV’s toughest night and busiest month, in mid-crisis. First are reruns of the second-season finale (9 a.m.) and the entire third season (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.). That ends in a fierce attack that critically wounds John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and two of his offspring, Kayce and Beth. Now the attack continues.
3) “9-1-1” and “The Big Leap,” 8 and 9 p.m. today, Fox. If the World Series goes a full seven games (concluding Tuesday and Wednesday), this will be unique – the one night, in a 12-day stretch, that Fox doesn’t fill with sports. First, the 9-1-1 team gets trapped inside a deadly prison riot. Then “Leap” switches mostly to broad comedy: Gabby seeks revenge, just as the choreographer drifts into a hallucinogenic world. There are some funny moments, then some arbitrary shifts near the end.
4) “American Veteran,” 9 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. After last week’s gentle opener, this four-week series leaps into military missions. One man describes the “surreal” feeling of taking a cheery Braniff plane to Vietnam; another describes Iraq, where “it just smelled like burning.” There’s tragedy and more. “We cried, we laughed, we killed, we did everything together,” a Vietnam vet says. Other strong PBS films are at 10 p.m. Wednesday (Stonehenge) and 9 p.m. Friday (an historic oratorio in New York City).
5) “Stargirl” season-finale, 8 p.m. Tuesday, CW. All season, this above-average teen drama has faced Eclipso, a centuries-old force of corruption and vengeance. Now he’s finishing his master plan; Stargirl and her dad (played by the excellent Luke Wilson) gather her young colleagues for a confontation. That’s at a changeover time for CW: At 9 p.m., “Supergirl” braces to stop Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer). A week later, “Supergirl” has its two-hour series finale, making room for “The Flash” and “Riverdale.”
6) “Queens,” 10 p.m. Tuesday, ABC. The first two episodes brought instant extremes: A four-woman rap group re-united after 20 years, soared … then crashed in its first concert. Now it must repair the damage or quit again. This hour has several scenes that are brilliantly done, yet wildly unbelievable – a rap battle (involving real-life music stars Eve and Brandy), a parent-teacher conference, a conservatory audition. Beautifully directed by Shiri Appleby, it’s excessive at times … then ends with a major jolt.
7) Music movies, Thursday, FX. Here’s the full range: A traditional, stop-and-sing musical …. then a whimsical tale about music … and then a true story about a star. “The Greatest Showman” (2017, 6 p.m.) fails as a biography of P.T. Barnum, but has Hugh Jackman and great, Broadway-style tunes. “Yesterday” (2019, 8) is a delight, set in a world where people suddenly forgot the Beatles. “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2018, 10:30) is the story of Freddie Mercury, fueled by his powerhouse Queen anthems.
8) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m. Saturday, NBC. Kieran Culkin made his “SNL” debut back in 1991. He was 9 and cast as Froggy in a sketch; his brother Macaulay, 11, was host. Now, 30 years later, he’s back – this time hosting, with Ed Sheeran as music guest. In the interim, he remodeled his career. Once merely the brother of the “Home Alone” kid, he did indie films, getting awards for “Igby Goes Down” (2002). As the troubled Roman in “Succession,” he’s drawn praise and an Emmy nomination.
9) “Call the Midwife” and “Grantchester,” 8 and 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS. It was in 1967 that England voted to de-criminalize homosexuality (effective in ‘68) and abortion. Now both shows look at the agony before the changes: In “Midwife” (set in ‘66), a patient’s botched self-abortion causes Trixie to speak out; in “Grantchester” (‘50s), the curate is already in prison. Both have other stories – OK ones on “Midwife,” potent ones on “Grantchester,” where a cop bears emotional scars from World War II.
10) “Dexter: New Blood” debut, 9 p.m. Sunday, Showtime. In its eight-year run, “Dexter” drew four best-drama Emmy nominations, plus five best-actor ones for Michael C. Hall, as a police technician who methodically murdered bad guys. Now here’s the solid start of a 10-parter: For a decade, Dexter has been hiding in upstate New York. In public, he’s popular and cheerful; in private, he argues with images of his late sister. He meets someone from his past and worries that his old ways may return.