1) “The Challenge: USA” opener, 10 p.m., Thursday and 9 p.m. Sunday, CBS. Here’s the final piece in CBS’ August surge. “Big Brother” leads into this show on Thursdays and for three Sundays, and into “Superfan” on Wednesdays; also, “Secret Celebrity Renovations” is 8 p.m. Fridays. “Challenge” (shown here in a previous season) takes 24 reality-show alumni to Croatia. Nine started on “Big Brother” and seven on “Survivor,” including winners Michele Fitzgerald and Chris Underwood.
2) “Superfan” debut, 9 p.m. Wednesday, CBS. And this, alas, is the other new piece of CBS’ plan. It’s one of those relentlessly cheery shows, filled with hype. LL Cool J, we’re told, is “a certified cultural phenomenon who’s beloved by all”; five people vie to be his biggest fan. There’s no play-along fun for viewers; the fans are so quick that they can recognize each song after a note or two. But near the end, Cool J gives a three-and-a-half minute concert.
3) “Billions” season-opener, 8 p.m. Sunday, Showtime. As the final season begins, one thing is clear: The key characters want to see Bobby “Axe” Axelrod again. So do viewers. When Damian Lewis left the show, we were told that Axe had fled overseas to escape prosecution. Now Mike Prince runs his company and plans to run for president. Amid countless schemes and deceptions, people try to get Axe to intervene. Stick with this hour to the final minutes.
4) “The Bachelorette,” 8-10 p.m. today, ABC. Last week, Charity Lawson visited the families of the final four; then she ousted Aaron Bryant. Now she’ll invite the three survivors to separately spend a night with her in the “fantasy suite.” (Spoiler alert: Guys tend to say yes to such invitations.) There’s Joey Graziadel, a tennis pro from Hawaii; Xavier Bonner, a biomedical scientist from Ohio; and Dutan Olubeko, a medical specialist from Fresno.
5) “Only Murders in the Building” season-opener, Tuesday, Hulu. The first two seasons have drawn piles of well-deserved Emmy nominations, including ones for best comedy series and for Steve Martin and Martin Short. They star with Selena Gomez, as podcast buffs who find murders. This victim (Paul Rudd) was a theater star and Oliver (Short) dreams of reviving his own career. There are two episodes this week, with Meryl Streep in support.
6) “MasterChef,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, Fox. It’s the 250th episode, so the show needs a cake — one from each contestant. This season (the 13th) has been a mismatched battle between regions: The Northeast has lost three of its five people, the Midwest and West one apiece … and the South still has all five. That’s on a week that has the semi-finals for Fox’s other food shows – “Crime Scene Kitchen” (9 p.m. today) and “Food Stars” (9:02 p.m. Wednesday).
7) “Human Footprint” finale, 9 p.m. Wednesday, PBS. Nature and humanity intersect in odd ways, we’re told. Geological factors made the South perfect for cotton; at one point, it provided half of all U.S. exports. Then the boll weevil destroyed much of the crop. That first part led to a surge of slavery; the second was a factor as six million people moved North and the civil-rights movement grew. This disjointed but intriguing series ends on a high note.
8) “Outlander” mid-season finale; “Men in Kilts” season-opener, 8 and 9:35 p.m. Friday, Starz. Sam Heughen leaps between war and fun. As Jamie in “Outlander,” he’s in the second Battle of Saratoga, a crucial one in 1777; also, his daughter and son-in-law search for their son. As himself, Heughan joins co-star Graham McTavish in a travel series. This year, they’re in New Zealand, where McTavish played Dwalin in the Hobbit films.
9) “Ms. Marvel” conclusion, 8-11 p.m. Saturday, ABC. Like many teens, Kamala Khan drifted toward fantasy. She played videogames and wrote fan fiction, especially about Captain Marvel. Then she received a bangle from her grandmother and found her own superpowers. This six-part series debuted last year on Disney+, with the first half reaching ABC last Saturday. Here’s the conclusion, setting up a movie (“The Marvels”), tentatively set for Nov. 10.
10) “1883” finale, 8 p.m. Sunday, Paramount Network, rerunning at 9:30 and 11. You can see the full series (a “Yellowstone” prequel, originally on Paramount+), starting at 9 a.m. Or simply catch this finale: A wagon train finally gets James and Margaret Dutton (Tim McGraw and Faith Hill) to Montana. But there are serious costs – an arrow wound to their daughter, a snake bist to a friend, etc. Waves of tragedy point toward future triumph.