Best-bets for Sept.13: supreme athletes, Supreme Court

1) “Hell’s Kitchen” (Fox) and “American Ninja Warrior” (NBC) finales, 8-10 p.m. Next Monday, the new season officially starts. First, there’s a flurry of finales – these two, plus “Lego Masters” Tuesday and “MasterChef” and “America’s Got Talent” Wednesday. This edition of “Hell’s Kitchen” is confined to young pro chefs, 24 and under; tonight, that’s trimmed to two, who each lead the preparation of a five-course dinner. Also, “Ninja” (shown here in a previous episode) wraps its three-parter, as people face the final obstacle course. Read more…

1) “Hell’s Kitchen” (Fox) and “American Ninja Warrior” (NBC) finales, 8-10 p.m. Next Monday, the new season officially starts. First, there’s a flurry of finales – these two, plus “Lego Masters” Tuesday and “MasterChef” and “America’s Got Talent” Wednesday. This edition of “Hell’s Kitchen” is confined to young pro chefs, 24 and under; tonight, that’s trimmed to two, who each lead the preparation of a five-course dinner. Also, “Ninja” (shown here in a previous episode) wraps its three-parter, as people face the final obstacle course.

2) “American Experience: Sandra Day O’Connor: The First,” 9-11 p.m., PBS. Growing up on a 160,000-acre Arizona ranch, O’Connor savored independence. She drove a truck at 10, entered Stanford at 16, graduated near the top of her law-school class … and couldn’t get a job interview. She rose through Barry Goldwater’s Republicans, got Ronald Reagan’s appointment as the first female Supreme Court justice – and surprised people with her centrist views. Here’s a sharp, balanced portrait.

3) Football, 8:15 p.m. ET, ABC and ESPN. For the “Monday Night Football” season-opener, ABC will piggyback onto ESPN’s game. (That confines “Bachelor in Paradise” and “The Ultimate Surfer” to Tuesday; they’ll remain there next week, when “Dancing With the Stars” arrives.) Tonight’s game has the Baltimore Ravens (11-5 last season) visiting the Las Vegas Raiders (8-8); it will be the second season in the Raiders’ new stadium, but the first with fans there.

4) “Back to Life” season-opener, 10 p.m., Showtime. Last season, Miri (series creator Daisy Haggard) return to her seaside town, after 18 years in prison for murder. She was shunned, mocked, sometimes tolerated; then she learned that the whole thing was the fault of her friend Mandy. It could have been a great finish to a dandy little drama-comedy, but now it’s back. This opener gives Miri two wonderful scenes – early, with her parole officer, and then later with Mandy.

5) More, Showtime. Now that it has “American Rust” on Sundays, Showtime can move some of its original shows to Mondays — “The L Word: Generation Q” at 9 p.m. and “Back to Life” at 10. They’re surrounded by reruns. At 7:55 p.m., the terrific “American Rust” opener has Jeff Daniels as a smalltown police chief; at 10:30, “Work in Progress” has Abby facing the pandemic blahs.

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