1) “Billions” season-opener, 8 p.m., Showtime. When Damian Lewis (shown here) left, “Billions” scrambled for an entire season. His character — Bobby “Axe” Axelrod – had fled overseas to escape prosecution. Mike Prince – just as ruthless, but way less charming – took over. Now Prince plans to run for president and others are desperate to get Axe back; so are we. Stick with this hour, through some strong dialog and then a big finish.
2) “1883” finale, 8 p.m., Paramount Network, rerunning at 9:30 and 11. This “Yellowstone” prequel originally ran on Paramount+. You can catch all 10 episodes today on cable, starting at 9 a.m., or simply catch this finale: A wagon train finally gets James and Margaret Dutton (Tim McGraw and Faith Hill) to Montana, but at serious costs – an arrow wound to their daughter, a snake bite to a friend, etc. Waves of tragedy point toward future triumph.
3) “Dark Winds,” 9 p.m., AMC. The second episode ended ominously: The killer, disguised as a doctor, entered the hospital where Chee (a detective and ex-deputy) was recovering. Coming now is fierce action and then quieter moments in distant parts of the Navajo Nation. Meanwhile, Joe’s deputy finds new evidence … and his wife, a nurse, steers women to home births. Like many natives, she was involuntarily sterilized at a hospital.
4) Paul Newman marathon, Turner Classic Movies. Yes, Newman was a movie, skilled at action, comedy and romance. But often, he mastered world-class drama. Here he is in Tennessee Williams stories – “Sweet Bird of Youth” (1962) at 8:30 a.m. ET, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958) at 10:15 p.m. There’s a lot more strong drama in-between, including “Cool Hand Luke” (1967) and “The Long Hot Summer” (1958), at 5:30 and 8 p.m. ET.
5) “The Challenge: USA,” 9 p.m., CBS. For three weeks, this will air on Sundays, in addition to the Wednesday hour. In both cases, it follows “Big Brother” – which tonight goes against a new “Celebrity Family Feud,” at 8 p.m. on ABC. Tonight’s first “feud” has the families of Pete Holmes and Jared Padelacki; the second has the “real housewives” of Atlanta and Orange County.