1) Emmy night. After the drab Golden Globes, we’ll see if there can be fun at award time. The E channel starts its preview at 5 p.m. ET and goes to the red carpet with Laverne Cox at 6; Fox has the awards at 8, with Anthony Anderson hosting. One quirk: This is for an eligibility period that ended seven months ago. “The Bear” (shown here) had two seasons of Globe wins, before now getting its first Emmy night.
2) Emmy telecast, 8-11 p.m. ET,. Fox. Now for the awards. Dramas include the final seasons of “Succession,” “The Crown” and “Better Call Saul,” plus “Andor,” “White Lotus,” “The Last of Us” and “House of the Dragon.” Comedies include the first “Bear” and “Wednesday” seasons, the last of “Ted Lasso” “Barry” and “Mrs. Maisel.” plus “Jury Duty,” Abbott Elementary” and “Only Murders in the Building.”
3) “I Am MLK Jr.” (2018), 8-10 p.m., CW. Here is a vivid reminder of why this is a holiday. Its 22 interviews and eight gospel numbers were filmed in churches where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke. We hear from those who were with him (“I thought I was going to die,” John Lewis says of the Selma march) and younger people (Van Jones especially) who talk passionately of his impact.
4) Football, 4:30 p.m. ET, CBS; 8:15 p.m., ABC and ESPN. Here are the final game in the first round of the play-offs. First, the Bills host the Steelers, in a game that was delayed a day because of Buffalo’s weather. Then opposite teams collide. This season, the Eagles have scored (and allowed) more than 25 points a game; now they visit the Bucs, who won their regular-season finale (against the Panthers) 9-0.
5) “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. This network has been the quickest to bounce back from the strikes. Yes, it does rerun “The Irrational” at 10 p.m., with Alec helping an ex-colleague who’s now a Las Vegas gambler. But that’s NBC’s only rerun this week, through Friday.