1) “Austin City Limits Celebrates 50 Years,” 9-11 p.m., PBS. Willie Nelson did the first show on Oct. 17, 1974, then returned (at 91) 50 years later. We get clips of both, plus new music, ranging from country (Chris Stapleton) to bluegrass (Billy Strings), blues (Gary Clark Jr., shown here in a previous concert, with a rousing finale) and more, including Rufus Wainwright’s soaring “Hallelujah.”
2) “Fire Country,” 9 p.m., CBS. Here’s a sampling of the people in “Sheriff Country,” which will be on CBS this fall. Morena Baccarin – who has co-starred in “Firefly,” “V,” “Gotham” and “Homeland” – will star as the local sheriff. Tonight, she and Bode probe the attempted murder of her estranged father, a marijuana dealer.
3) “NCIS: Sydney” and “SWAT,” 8 and 10 p.m., CBS. After a two-week basketball break, CBS’ Friday line-up is back. At 8 p.m., a singer in the Navy choir has died and obsessive fans are suspected. At 10, two college football stars have been abducted and tortured.
4) “Air” (2023), 8 p.m., AMC. A decade after his Oscar-winning “Argo,” Ben Affleck directed another popular, real-life story. He co-stars as the Nike chief; Matt Damon stars as a guy determined to sign Michael Jordan, fresh from college, to a shoe deal. Produced for Amazon Prime, it showed in theaters first, getting a Golden Globe nomination for best comedy.
5) Basketball. The women’s college tourney has its final four, one day in front of the men. Today’s games are at about 7 and 9:30 p.m. ET; the winners collide for the championship, at 3 p.m. Sunday on ABC and ESPN. Also today: United Football League (Birmingham at Michigan), at 8 ET on Fox.
— Mike Hughes, TV America