1) “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 80th Anniversary,” 9 p.m., PBS. Here’s a splendid blend – Broadway’s greatest songs, sung by amazing talents. Several of the stars are better known in London (where this was filmed), including a powerful Michael Ball (shown here) and a vibrant Marisha Wallace. But there are also Broadway stats, including Patrick Wilson, Aaron Tveit and the superb Audra McDonald.
2) “SWAT” and “Blue Bloods,” 9 and 10 p.m., CBS. The first rerun sees a Chilean arms dealer kidnap a woman and her daughter. The second finds Frank (Tom Selleck) grief-stricken over a friend’s death and trying to help the friend’s daughter, who’s in jail. Also, Frank’s son and grandson try to rush a trafficking victim back to her family.
3) “Night Court,” 8 and 8:30 p.m., NBC. In a summer overrun with games and reality, this is a welcome detour – Friday reruns of this broad (and fairly funny) comedy. In tonight’s first one; someone has hacked the court’s computer system; the new clerk (played by the superfluously named Nyambi Nyambi) is a suspect. In the second, Abby is somber after hearing her ex-boyfriend has a new love.
4) Sports. TNT has the hockey playoffs, with Edmonton and Dallas at 8 p.m. ET. And basketball? If a sixth game in the best-of-seven Celtic-Pacer serie s is needed, it’s at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN; meanwhile, Ion has a WNBA doubleheader: At 7:30 p.m. are three games, varying by region; at 9:30, it’s Phoenix and Minnesota.
5) ALSO: “The Social Network” – Aaron Sorkin’s brilliant (but a bit fictionalized) account of Facebook – is 6 p.m. on HBO, leading into the season-finale of “We’re Here,” at 8. At 10 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies has “Brian’s Song” (1971), with two skilled young actors — Billy Dee Williams and James Caan — in the moving story of football’s Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo.
— Mike Hughes, TV America