1) Cake” (FXX) or “Tacoma FD” (truTV), both 10 p.m.. Thursday is supposed to be TV’s funniest night, but not this summer. NBC and Fox shelved their Thursday situation comedies; now CBS has cut its Thursday sitcoms in half (from four to two), to make room for “Big Brother.” At 10 p.m., however, there’s quirky fun: “Cake” has short bits, mostly animated and moslty funny. “Tacoma” is a standard sitcom, with occasional laughs. This week is the OK start of a two-parter, as two long-time friends (shown here) have a dispute that peaks at the Fireman’s Ball.
2) “Young Sheldon,” 9 p.m., CBS. Here’s one of the only network sitcoms still around on summer Thursdays. (The other is “The Unicorn,” at 9:30.) In a key move that’s reflected in future episodes, Sheldon fumes after spotting an error in Dr. Sturgis’ paper; Sturgis corrected it, but didn’t credit Sheldon … who calls it plagiarism. Another plotline (Sheldon’s mom wants to find a “girl trophy” for Missy) is fairly lame, but has great scenes with Louie Anderson in the trophy store.
3) Baseball or “Big Brother.” Here are key changes: This week, CBS adds a Thursday “Big Brother.” (Other episodes are Wednesdays and Sundays; all are at 8 p.m.) And last week, Fox added Thursday baseball. Tonight’s game was supposed to be a clever one – the Cardinals and White Sox in a cornfield stadium near the site of the “Field of Dreams” movie. Alas, that was postponed to next year because of COVID; also, the virus has left the Cards’ schedule iffy, so this game has the Cubs and Brewers.
4) “Killer Camp” finale, 8 p.m., CW. Here’s the abrupt end to a reality-show season that’s only five episodes long. The contestants thought they were here for a campground dating show; instead, it’s been a take-off on horror films, with one person “killed” each week. Now the campers guess who among them is “helping the killer”; if they’re right, they’ll win money.
5) “Aquaman” (2018), 9:05 p.m., HBO. Jason Momoa became an action hero in this aquatic adventure. Other mass-appeal films tonight: “The Martian” (2015), at 7 and 10 p.m. on FX, and “Ghostbusters” (1984) and “Ghostbusters II” (1989), at 8 and 10:30 p.m. on AMC.