1) “Eden: Untamed Planet” debut, 8-9:30 p.m., BBC America. There are still Eden-like places, where nature thrives. This series will visit one a week, starting with Borneo (shown here)… which is merely a semi-Eden; agriculture has left orangutans short of land and potential mates. Still, there are amazing creatures here, from 30-foot pythons to hawks that snag up to 10 bats in a night. And this may be your only chance to hear Helena Bonham-Carter say “the excrement falls like rain” … which the footage amply illustrates.
2) Olympics coverage. On the first full day of competition, NBC has several things span afternoon (2:45 to 6 p.m. ET) and evening (8-11:30 p.m.) coverage. That includes swimming, beach volleyball (men in the afternoon, women at night) and the team portion of men’s gymnastics. There’s much more, on NBC, cable and the Peacock streaming service.
3) “Magnum P.I.,” 8 p.m., CBS. A rich man hires Magnum and Higgins to find his wife; they’re jolted when that leads to a tragedy. Also in this rerun, Kumu’s effort to rebuild a relationship with her daughter is damaged when she starts to distrust the daughter’s boyfriend.
4) “The Good Doctor,” 10 p.m., ABC. Real-life news events – from COVID to protests – clearly impacted this show’s season. In this rerun, protesters are met with violence; now the team rushes to save two young gunshot victims.
5) Family films, cable. You can spend a chunk of the day with animated “Shrek” films, on Comedy Central; the first two (2002, 2004) are at 4 and 6 p.m., with the fourth (2010) at 8. And at 8, p.m. ET Turner Classic Movies has Dick Van Dyke doing Sherman Brothers songs in Ian Fleming’s family fantasy, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (1968). It’s OK, but the world is more likely to remember Fleming’s James Bond tales and the Van Dyke/Shermans combination for “Mary Poppins.”