Mike Hughes on TV

1) Country Music Association Awards, 8-11 p.m., ABC. A big night for country women has an opener with Carrie Underwood (the host, shown here), Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire (“guest hosts”), Martina McBride, Jennifer Nettles, Sara Evans, Gretchen Wilson, Tanya Tucker and more. Some will return for solos … and yes, there will also be guys: Blake Shelton sings alone and with Garth Brooks; also, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Chris Stapleton and more, including Brooks and Dunn with the Brothers Osborne. Read more…

1) “The Resident,” 8 p.m., Fox. It’s Nurse Appreciation Day at the hospital, a fact that’s met with skepticism. “If they really appreciated us, they’d get us more nurses, not cookies,” someone says. Chasing profits, the hospital keeps adding procedures without adding staff; it’s a flaw that strikes powerfully tonight. An hour that starts with fun and games (shown here) and starkly. “Resident” still flounders when trying a lighter story; a jockey sub-plot here is a prime example. But when it’s serious – as it often is – it works well. Read more…

1) “Independent Lens,” 10 p.m., PBS (check local listings). Here’s a Veterans Day view of war-zone people; they’re interpreters, risking scorn and death to help American soldiers. Congress has said they should get hurry-up consideration, if they apply to move here. Bureaucracy, however, doesn’t seem to have a hurry-up mode. We meet a likable chap (shown here), a chain-smoker who goes by the name Philip Morris; he had to wait four years. Another man gave up on waiting and decided to flee, with tragic results. Read more…

1) “Back to Life” debut, 10 and 10:30 p.m, Showtime. Returning to the seaside village where she grew up, Miri has her doubts. So does everyone else. Convicted of murder as a teen-ager, she was in prison for 18 years; now even her parents are afraid of her. Daisy Haggard (shown here) created this show, stars in it and is one of the producers. In just six half-hours (on three Sundays), she gives us humor, drama and a big finish. The parents’ sub-plot is lame, but the rest of this is a terrific little gem. Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. For Phoebe Waller-Bridge, this is a can’t miss year. She won three Emmys (for writing, producing and starring in “Fleabag”) and was nominated for a fourth (for producing “Killing Eve”). Then she hosted the season’s second “SNL,” which reruns here; it was a big improvement over the first. The “Mid-Day News” sketch was sharp and another – letters between a war-time soldier and his love, with Mikey Day (shown here) and Waller-Bridge – was wonderfully clever. Read more…