1) “Orphan Black: Echoes” season-finale, 10:07 p.m., AMC and BBC America. A once-promising season spirals into despair. Yes, the slow, pensive style has drawn great performances from Keeley Hawes, Krysten Ritter (shown here) and Amanda Fix. Now, however, that approach creates trouble; people sputter and stall, as disaster nears. Read more…
1) Football, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC. Most years, the season starts with a focus on HBCU (historically Black college and university) teams. This time, Florida A&M (shown here) — last year’s HBCU champion with a 12-1 record — faces Norfolk State, which was 3-8 last year. Read more…
1) “Great Performances,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. Amid the beauty of an Austrian palace (shown here), Here’s a high-octane concert by the Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor Andris Nelsons opens with Wagner, closes with waltzes and has propulsive numbers in between, led by “Sabre Dance.” Lise Davidsen, who often sings of death and despair, gets a burst of Verdi joy. Read more…
1) Baseball, 7:15 p.m. ET, Fox. While other networks cover the Democratic convention, Fox will go with (varying by region) Braves-Phillies or Astros-Orioles. And at 7 and 9:30 p.m., TruTV has “Field of Dreams” (shown here, 1989), the beautifully written gem that has Kevin Costner build a baseball diamond in his corn field. Read more…
1) “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” 8 p.m., ABC. Last week, Ike Barinholtz established himself as an overall champion. Already the “Celebrity Jeopardy” winner, he linked with his dad (shown here) to win a million dollars for charity on this show. Today’s guests include Jeff Ross and host Jimmy Kimmel’s cousin Sal. Read more…
1) “The Conners,” 8-10 p.m., CW. As the Democratic convention continues, CW – no news division, no responsibilities – offers an alternative, with “Conners” reruns today and Thursday. Together, they provide the final six episodes of 2020: Harris struggles, Darlene changes jobs, Dan and Louise (shown here) get closer. Read more…
1) Convention (shown here in a previous year), 8 p.m. ET, PBS and news networks; 10, ABC, CBS and NBC. Democrats plan to pack presidents into the final (10 p.m.) hour. It will be Biden today; Obama, Tuesday; Clinton, Wednesday. Candidates will be Wednesday (Walz) and Thursday (Harris). Read more…
1) “OceanXplorers” debut, 9 p.m., National Geographic. James Cameron takes a big-budget, big-ambition approach to deep-sea exploration. Cameron – the director of “Titanic,” “Terminator” and “Avatar” – has a high-tech ship (shown here), two mini-subs and a helicopter. Over six Sundays, it follows whales, sharks and more Read more…
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, Read more…
1) “Let’s Make a Deal Primetime” opener, 8 p.m., CBS. For the final month of summer, CBS nudges closer to having all-new Fridays. “Deal” (shown here), originally planned for Wednesdays, nudges “Lingo” to 9 p.m. The lone rerun is “Blue Bloods” at 10: Frank frets when the daughter of his best friend is jailed. Read more…
