1) WNBA all-star game, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC. The top women’s basketball players collide in prime time, with A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart as captains. They were the top vote-getters, with Brittney Griner (shown here) finishing third. It’s the ninth all-star selection for Griner, who is 32 and 6-foot-9. Bouncing back quickly from nine months in Russian prison, she’s been almost matching her 2021 season, when she averaged 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds.
2) “Baking It,” 8 p.m., NBC. For three amiable seasons, Amy Poehler has linked with Nick Offerman to host the amiable “Making it” craft show. Now she’s with Maya Rudolph for this baking show, which debuted on Peacock. In this second-season episode, contestants must re-create an exploded cake.
3) “Dawn,” part 2, 8-10 p.m. Saturday, Lifetime. If you missed last week’s start of this four-part, eight-hour series, catch it at 6 p.m. Or we’ll spoil it now: Dawn (Brec Bessinger, who’s excellent) had loving parents – then learned they’d stolen her as a baby. She was returned to a rich family, run by her cruel grandmother (Donna Mills, mostly inept). Learning a secret, she forced her grandma to send her to a music school. That’s where the second part begins.
4) “Shakespeare & Hathaway,” 7 and 8 p.m. ET, Ovation. One of this show’s prime assets is Patrick McBrtde as the detective office’s lone employee. Since the show is set in Stratford-upon-Avon, it’s logical that the guy is a skilled actor who’s between roles. In tonight’s first hour, he has two undercover assignments, one requiring an impressive performance. That helps make up for a lame sub-plot involving a visiting American.
5) “Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982,” 8 p.m., CW. This revisits the glories of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” “Blade Runner” and more. Or you could simply watch top movies elsewhere. Tom Cruise stars in “A Few Good Men” (1992), at 6 and 9 p.m. on BBC America and in “Mission Imposible” films, at 5 (2015) and 8 p.m. (2018) on FX. Also, “Pulp Fiction” (1994) is at 8 on HBO and “Almost Famous” (2000) is 8 p.m. ET on Turner Classic Movies.
— Mike Hughes, TV America