1) ESPY awards, 8-11 p.m., ABC. It’s time to honor the best in sports. For top male athlete, baseball’s Aaron Judge faces football’s Patrick Mahomes, basketball’s Nikola Jokic and soccer’s Lionel Messi. For women, skiier Mikaela Shiffrin (shown here) has her third nomination, facing A’ja Wilson (basketball), Sophia Smith (soccer) and Iga Swiatek (tennis). There’s much more … but, reportedly, no host or script, due to the writers’ strike.
2) “MasterChef,” 8 p.m, Fox. Tthe first “mystery boxes” arrives. Usually, they bring an odd bunch of ingredients for the chefs to work with; this time, they only have apples – lots of them. Told to turn them into fine-dining, contestants have triumphs and a few failures. It’s a fairly interesting hour, followed by “Food Stars” (9:02 p.m.), giving contestants three hours to craft and produce a recipe on TikTok.
3) “Human Footprint,” 9 p.m., PBS. Man has become a skilled predator, we’re told here – sometimes too good. Duck hunters showed restraint; whale hunters didn’t. Now the duck population is thriving, but whales almost disappeared. Shane Campbell-Staton ranges from chatting with a deer hunter (who uses bow-and-arrow, to even the odds) to the Smithsonian’s collection of epic-sized whale bones.
4) “LA Fire & Rescue” and “Chicago Fire,” 8 and 9 p.m., NBC. First, the documentary includes a look at an Air Operations unit. In the sprawling terrain of Los Angeles County, the helicopters are key for rescues, ambulances and brush-fire suppression. Then we’re in the fictional world of “Chicago Fire”: in a rerun, the firefighters are caught in the middle of a gang war.
5) “Mayans M.C.,” 10 p.m., FX. A 12-season epic – seven years of “Sons of Anarchy,” five of “Mayans” – ends next week. Amid a biker war he ignited, EZ finds his world crumbling. Last week, enemies destroyed his drug-production set-up; now they target the home of his father, brother and nephew. In the midst of the large-scale ferocity, there’s also a quietly powerful, two-person scene that will be important to fans of both series.