1) “American Music Awards, 8-10 p.m. ET today, CBS. Jennifer Lopez hosts a night with music by Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and more. There are songs by young stars — Benson Boone, Renee Rapp, Lainey Wilson — plus memories, via Gloria Estefan and career awards for Janet Jackson (shown here) with her first TV performance in seven years, and Rod Stewart.
2) “Kiss Me, Kate,” 9 p.m. Friday, PBS. This is stuffed with great Cole Porter songs– some barely attached to the story. (The second act starts with a long — and wildly unrelated — “Too Darn Hot.”) Adrian Dunbar and Stephanie J. Block are strong leads; the songs — “So In Love,” “Always True to You,” “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” etc. — are random, but delightful.
3) “America’s Got Talent” season-opener, 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. Yes, this first full week of the summer season has lots of music. This show also has dancers, acrobats, magicians and more. Mel B, of Spice Girls fame, is a judge for the first time in seven years, replacing Heidi Klum. Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara return.
4) “Destination X” debut, 10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (the fearsome Negan in “Walking Dead” shows) hosts a series in which people guess where in Europe they are. The dozen contestants include three from previous shows — JaNa Craig (“Love Island”), Josh Martinez (“Big Brother”) and Peter Weber, from the 2020 “The Bachelor.”
5) “The West,” 9-11 p.m. today, History; then 8 p.m. Tuesday. Here’s the start of a six-week, eight-hour documentary, produced by Kevin Costner (who hosts) and Doris Kearns Goodwin. It tells the story of the relentless push west, and of the warrior leaders who resisted. One of them is featured in “Sitting Bull,” 9-11:05 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday,
6) “Luther,” 7:40 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, BBC America. Here are six episodes of the compelling series, with Idris Elba as a troubled cop. This starts with him facing an intense genius (Ruth Wilson). Also today, AXS has a concert marathon: country from 8 a.m. ET (Trisha Yearwood) to 3:30 p.m. (Willie Nelson); rock from 5:30 (Kid Rock) to 12:15 a.m. (AC/DC).
7) “Alert: Missing Persons Unit” finale, 9 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. This show hasn’t been renewed (or officially canceled), but it keeps getting better. That’s especially true of this finale, which includes a prom, politics and a multiple-kidnapping. It stretches credibility at times, but has great human moments. That follows “The Cleaning Lady,” which ends a week later.
8) “Raid the Cage” season-opener, 9 p.m. Wednesday, CBS. It’s the second season for this show, hosted by Damon Wayans Jr. Contestants answer trivia questions to get extra time; then they try to grab prizes before a gate closes. That’s surrounded by reruns of “Hollywood Squares” at 8 p.m. and “The Equalizer” (a professor, searching for gold, ia killed) at 10.
9) Animation, 8-10 p.m. Thursday, Fox. With sports gobbling up Sundays this summer, Fox has moved its cartoons to Thursdays. That starts this week, with good news: All still have some new episodes (between three and six), before needing to use reruns. It’s “Bob’s Burgers” at 8 p.m.; “Grimsburg” at 8:30, “Family Guy” at 9; and “The Great North” at 9:30.
10) “The Better Sister,” Thursday, Amazon Prime. Thursday is a great night for summertime drama. There’s “Poker Face” on Peacock,” “Duster” on Max and “Transplant” — a strong episode, now that Bash and Mags are competing for the same job — at 8 p.m. on NBC. And now there’s this eight-parter, with Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks in a murder mystery.