1) “Secret Celebrity Renovation” season-opener, 8 p.m. Friday, CBS. This was set for last week; CBS promoted it heavily … then scrambled its schedule twice after deciding to cover a congressional hearing. Now the opener is finally here: Billy Gardell, director James Burrows wrote recently, is “one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.” He gets to do a sweet thing here (shown here), helping a friend’s mother. Rob Mariano, of “Survivor” fame, is the project contractor.
2) “Jaws” (1975) and more, 8 p.m. Friday, AMC. TV’s annual shark frenzy peaks. Discovery launched its annual “Shark Week” on Sunday and National Geographic is in the third week of its “Shark Fest.” Into these shark-filled waters, AMC now adds the Steven Spielberg classic that started it all; its sequels are at at 11 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. As for “Shark Week,” new episodes (until midnight) start at 7 p.m. Monday, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 8 p.m. other days.
3) “The Great Giveback,” 9 p.m. today, HGTV. Jenna Perusich grew up in Chicago, a cop’s daughter who became an actress. Last year, she linked with her cousin Melissa McCarthy on “Celebrity IOU,” fixing up her parents’ home; now they have their own show. (Tonight, they create a special room for a kindly pianist.) That puts Melissa on the same night as her old “Mike & Molly” mate, Gardell. His “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” is 8:30 p.m. on CBS.
4) “Snake in the Grass” debut, 10 p.m Tuesday, NBC. Before starting its run on the USA Network, this gets a helpful nudge from a corporate partner – an opening after “America’s Got Talent,” the summer ratings champ. Each week, four people – some from “Survivor,” “Big Brother” and “Naked and Afraid” – are dumped in the wild for 36 hours. They face challenges while pondering which person is secretly working against them. Bobby Bones hosts.
5) “Abbott Elementary,” 9 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. Last week, this drew a batch of Emmy nominations, including best comedy. Curious viewers, however, couldn’t get a sample; it was bumped by the Espy awards. Now “Abbott” is back; Janine convinces Ava to start a gifted program, then has trouble. Janine is played by Quinta Brunson, nominated for best actress and for her pilot script. Janelle James, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Tyler James Williams are nominated in support.
6) “So You Think You Can Dance,” 9 p.m., Fox. No one was eliminated last week, so there are still six talented young dancers to choose from. Two (Alexis Warr and Carter Williams) are from Utah (a hot spot for young performers) and specialize in Latin ballroom. Two (Ralyn Johnson of Louisiana and Keaton Kermode of Indiana) prefer contemporary. The others are Essence Wilmingon (hip hop, Iowa) and Beau Harmon (musical theater, Georgia).
7) “Top Gear,” 10 p.m., Thursday, BBC America. Like Americans, the English have a truck-driver shortages. So the hosts, usually zooming in sports cars, drive behemoths. Paddy McGuinness, a truck-driver’s son, gets a 770- horsepower Scania, filled with high-tech details. He’s expecting to visit greasy-spoon diners; instead, the truck-stop has sofas and a smiling barista. Despite trouble with accents and phrases, Americans will find this sort of fun.
8) “Furious 7” (2015), 8-11 p.m. Saturday, NBC. It’s a high-octane stretch – big trucks on Thursday … a big shark on Friday and then lots of fast cars. NBC has NASCAR at 12:30 p.m. PT (the Pennzoil 150 in Indianapolis), then more screeching tires in this movie: The former rogues have been pardoned and can settle down – until a vengeful assassin (Jason Statham) looms. With big stars – Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker – this was a billion-dollar-plus hit.
8) “Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Ghost Island” opener, 7-9 p.m., Saturday, Nickelodeon. For seven years and 91 episodes, this series was popular in its native Canada and on Nickelodeon. Many of its young stars – Elisha Cuthbert, JoAnna Garcia, Rachel Blanchard, Vanessa Lengries – moved on to bigger thing. Now it’s back as occasional mini-series. This one (continuing for two more Saturdays) has four teens at a resort, finding horror and a mystery.
10) “City on a Hill” season-opener, 10 p.m. Sunday, Showtime. One of TV’s great characters if back. Jackie Rohr was an FBI agent, unrelenting, unfiltered and unendingly corrupt. As last season ended 14 months go, he turned in his badge. Now he’s near-bottom, to the delight of an honest prosecutor. Perfectly played by Kevin Bacon and Aldis Hodge, they provide great opposites. The potent opener adds key guest roles for Corben Bernsen and Ernie Hudson.
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