Weekly Previews

1) “Monarch,” about 8 p.m. ET Sunday (after football), Fox. Eight days before the season officially starts, here’s the first arrival, Planned for last spring, then delayed, it links music and soap-style drama, just as “Empire” did … but with country music. Trace Adkins and Susan Sarandon play the leaders of a Nashville dynasty (shown here). They have one daughter who looks like a star (Anna Friel) and one who sings like one (Beth Ditto), plus a business-like son. Read more…

1) “America’s National Parks,” 8 and 9 p.m. today through Thursday, then 9 p.m. Friday, National Georaphic. This starts today with opposite worlds — the Everglades and the 277-mile-long Grand Canyon. It ends Friday with the fury and beauty of trhe Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (shown here), where one volcano erupted for 35 years, burying a road under 100 feet of lava,. It’s beautifully filmed, with Garth Brooks as narrator.

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1) MTV Video Music Awards, 8-10:30 p.m. Sunday, MTV (where it reruns at 10:30 p.m. and 1 a.m.), plus several other cable channels and CW; MTV also has a preview at 6:30. Jack Harlow – who ties Kendrick Lamar for the lead with seven nominations, will perform. So will Nicki Minaj (shown here), who gets the Video Vanguard award. Also performing: Lizzo, Kane Brown, Maneskin, J Balvin, Anitta, Panic at the Disco, the K-pop group Blackpink and more. Read more…

1) “House of the Dragon” debut, 9 p.m. Sunday, HBO, rerunning at 10:10. Towering over everything else is this “Game of Thrones” prequel (shown here). HBO spent a reported $200 million on the 10-episode season, which started filming 16 months ago. Set 200 years before “Thrones,” the show has newcomer Emma D’Arcy as the princess and dragonrider. Sci-fi fans will spot Matt Smith of ”Doctor Who” and Olivia Cooke of “Ready Player One.” Read more…

1) “So You Think You Can Dance” finale, 9 p.m. Wednesday, Fox. Only two dancers remain, bringing opposite styles. Keaton Kermode, 20, is husky by dance standards; growing up in an Indiana town of 542, he was a 190-pound running back and safety in football. Alexis Warr, 21, trained at the same Utah dance studio as Derek Hough, then backed him on tour. Keaton is mainly a contemporary dancer; Warr wants to be the show’s first ballroom champ. They’re shown here, dancing together. Read more…

1) “CMA Fest,” 8-11 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. For four June days, country fans had this Nashville fest, the first in three years; now we see highlights. One host (Dierks Bentley) performs with Billy Ray Cyrus; they’re shown here. The other (Elle King) with Ashley McBryde. Other links: Wynonna Judd and Carly Pearce, Lady A and Breland, Zac Brown Band and Darius Rucker. Also performing: Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown, more. Read more…

1) “Secret Celebrity Renovation” season-opener, 8 p.m. Friday, CBS. This was set for last week; CBS promoted it heavily … then scrambled its schedule twice after deciding to cover a congressional hearing. Now the opener is finally here: Billy Gardell, director James Burrows wrote recently, is “one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.” He gets to do a sweet thing here (shown here), helping a friend’s mother. Rob Mariano, of “Survivor” fame, is the project contractor. Read more…

1) Sharks convergence, National Geographic and Discovery. “Shark Fest” continues on National Geographic, then pauses at 6 p.m. Sunday for a “Wicked Tuna” surge. That fits Discovery’s “Shark Week” (shown here), which starts Sunday and has new hours at 7 and 8 p.m. (great whites), 9 (a “Jackass” shark special) and 10. The week is hosted by Duane “The Rock” Johnson, who grew up in Hawaii, with a fondness for sharks via his mother’s Polynesian culture. Read more…

1) “The Bachelorette” opener, 8-10 p.m. today, ABC. These two might seem like opposites: Rachel Recchia, 26, is 5-foot-2; Gabby Windey, 31, is 5-9. Rechia is a flight instructor, working on being a pilot; Windey is a nurse who won an award for her pandemic care. But both (shown here) are ex-cheerleaders and both were “Bachelor” runners-up; now can each can choose a guy. They meet 32 tonight, including a banker, a broker, a bartender and a “meatball enthusiast.” Read more…

1) “A Capitol Fourth,” 8 p.m. today, PBS, repeating at 9:30. Even during the pandemic, this delivered rousing music, followed by big-deal fireworks (shown here). Now it’s back to live performances (with a limited crowd), with top voices. Gospel great Yolanda Adams, will be there; so will Gloria Gaynor, whose 1978 “I Will Survive” fits the Covid era. Others include Darren Criss, Andy Grammer, Emily Bear and Loren Allred, whose soaring, off-camera voice propelled “Never Enough” in “The Greatest Showman.” Also, there’s a 65th-anniversary “West Side Story” medley. Read more…