1) “Mammals,” 8-9:20 p.m., BBC America. With one exception (a making-of episode next week), this concludes a beautifully crafted series. In forests, we see chimps (shown here) molding tools … Siberian squirrels gliding in the sky … and the first film of a bobcat catching a salmon. There are lions, tigers and 10 million bats,
2) “Tempted by Love,” 8 p.m. and midnight, Lifetime. Terry McMillan is key tonight. She produced this film, which is alongside two films (both starring Angela Bassett) based on her novels: The gorgeous “Waiting to Exhale” is at 5:30 and “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” (like “Tempted,” an age-gap romance) is at 10.
3) “Homeless to Harvard” (2003)), 8-10 p.m., Lifetime Movie Network. In real life, Liz Murray was working at 9 and homeless at 15, at times sleeping in stairwells or subways. Still, she was valedictorian, won a scholarship and graduated from Harvard. This moving film drew Emmy nominations for best TV movie and for star Thora Birch.
4) More movies. “Descendants: The Rise of Red”(2024), a musical that starts well and ends adequately, is 8 p.m. on the Disney Channel. The original “Mean Girls” (2004) is 8 and 10 on E. And HBO has “Mad Max” films – “Fury Road” (2015) at 5:55 p.m., “Furiosa” (2024) at 8.
5) After being bumped by the Olympics for three weeks, “Saturday Night Live” is back, at 11:29 p.m. on NBC. Other reruns include “Equalizer,” 8 p.m., CBS; and “Will Trent,” 8-11 p.m., ABC.
— Mike Hughes, TV America