Best-bets for July 31: “Big Brother” moves, Olympians soar

1) Olympics. There are medals today in swimming (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC) and individual gymnastics. Team events for the U.S. include women’s beach volleyball, 9 a.m., NBC; and men’s basketball (shown here in the opening win over Serbia), 1 p.m., USA. Also, triathlon on NBC; archery, women’s BMX, more on USA. Then it’s all repackaged, from 8-11 p.m. on NBC. Read more…

1) Olympics. There are medals today in swimming (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC) and individual gymnastics. Team events for the U.S. include women’s beach volleyball, 9 a.m., NBC; and men’s basketball (shown here in the opening win over Serbia), 1 p.m., USA. Also, triathlon on NBC; archery, women’s BMX, more on USA. Then it’s all repackaged, from 8-11 p.m. on NBC.

2) “Big Brother,” 8 p.m., CBS. This completes a quick shift, moving “Big Brother” to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. (It remains at 9 on Sundays.) At 9 p.m. today, “The Real CSI Miami” views the murder of Jill Halliburton Su, an heiress and a generous patron.

3) “Sullivan’s Crossing” and “Wild Cards” 8 and 9 p.m., CW. Amid a sea of non-fiction, CW reruns two above-average Canadian shows . On “Crossing,” Maggie has retreated to her dad’s lakeside camp; now her boyfriend visits. On “Wild Cards,” Max and Ellis go undercover as a bickering couple.

4) “Sea Change”,” 10 p.m., PBS. We meet, among others, men who have each worked the Gulf of Maine for 40 years. One, on a research ship, studies cod; the other, on his 57th birthday, has an exhausting dive to haul in 700 scallops. Also, acclaimed photographer Brian Skerry finds “a Garden of Eden” of starfish and more.

5) “The Manchurian Candidate” (1962), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. There was a 2004 remake, but this black-and-white gem is worth seeing. Director John Frankenheimer gave an other-worldly feel to a story in which we struggle to determine what’s real. It’s well-played by Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra and (really) an evil Angela Lansbury.
— Mike Hughes, TV America

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