1) “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes,” 8 p.m., HBO. Taylor (shown here) had a life that was epic in every way – tabloid (widowed once, divorced seven times) … charitable (an early backer of AIDS causes … professional. She won two Oscars and did potent movies adapted from Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams (twice) and Edward Albee. This documentary uses 40 hours of audio tapes.
2) John Wayne day, Turner Classic Movies. Wayne lacked Taylor’s range (or tabloid appeal), but was a supersized movie star. With two exceptions, this sticks to his westerns, including the classics “Stagecoach” (1939) at noon ET and “Red River” (1948) at 10:15 p.m.. McLintock (1963), at 5:45, is a rowdy artifact of the days before Hollywood found female equality.
3) Olympics. It’s a busy track-and-field day, with events at 5 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET on NBC and 1:10 p.m. on USA. NBC also has individual gymnastics at 10:20 a.m. (women) and 4:30 p.m. (men). It has the U.S. men’s basketball team at 11:15 a.m. and a recap of everything from 8-11 p.m.
4) “Mammals,” 8-9:23 p.m., BBC America. At the coldest edges of the Earth, we see a beautiful and brutal world. It’s not for vegetarians (or for vegetation), so animals are forever on the attack or defense. Wrapped in two layers of fur and lots of body fat, a polar bear still manages to goes on high-speed chases.
5) ALSO: At 8 p.m., CBS’ has a “SWAT” rerun (a mom and daughter are kidnapped) and ABC has three hours of “Will Trent” reruns. Movies include Mr. Manhattan” (a new, faith-based film with Carlos and Alexa PenaVega) at 8 p.m. ET on Great American Family; and the 2018 “Simone Biles Story,” at 8 and midnight on Lifetime Movie Networ