1) “Walking With Dinosaurs,” 8-10 p.m. today, Tuesday and Wednesday, PBS. Fact and fiction blend neatly, in a lush production. We see scientists finding bones … then get stories imagining those creatures. Special-effects and animatronics link with great filming (shown here). Rebooting a 1999 series, this starts with a baby triceratops and a 13-foot-high tyrannosaurus.
2) “Shifting Gears,” 8-10 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. Successful comedies are rare, so let’s savor this one, which reruns its first four episodes. Fairly clever scripts are handled by comedy pros. There’s an auto-shop owner (Tim Allen), widowed and cranky; and his estranged daughter (Kat Dennings). At 8, she arrives with her kids. By 9 p.m., she’s working at the shop.
3) “The Walking Dead: Dead City” season-finale, 9 p.m., Sunday, AMC. There have been lots of talky moments, but now it all boils over. By midway in this hour, we’ve had a huge (and nasty) battle. Then, with some brutal bits, the season heads to its morose ending. Maggie fights Negan who fights Bruegel who frets about New Babylon invaders. It’s messy.
4) Basketball, 8:30 p.m. ET today, ABC, with pre-game at 8. After two games in Indiana, action returns to Oklahoma City for the fifth game of the best-of-seven championship. If needed, there will be games at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and 8 p.m. Sunday. Meanwhile, hockey has (if needed) its sixth and seventh games, at 8 p.m. Tuesday and Friday on TNT.
5) “NCIS: Sydney,” 10 p.m. Tuesday, CBS. The NCIS shows have moved to Tuesdays, which will be their new night this fall. This rerun (a good one) plunges the team into the shaky world of conspiracy theories. That follows “NCIS” (a fun “ladies night” soon turns into work) and “NCIS Origins,” with a mourning Gibbs joining the search for a girl.
6) “The Buccaneers” season-opener, Wednesday, Apple TV+. Visually, this may be the most splendid series ever; the settings and people are gorgeous. And the story? The first season had some soapy excess; the second has even more. Nan married the Duke (a decent chap), to distract people while her sister fled with Guy (Nan’s true love). It gets complicated.
7) “Poker Face,” Thursday, Peacock. Rent-control apartments can spur odd choices, including murder. That sets up an excellent hour (with Awkwafina, Alia Shawkat and David Alan Grier), at a time when streamers load up with summer shows: Wednesday, “We Were Liars” (Amazon); Thursday, “The Waterfront” (Netflix); Friday, Broadway’s “Frozen” (Disney+).
8) “The Great North,” 9-10 p.m. Thursday, Fox. The only Fox cartoon that hasn’t been renewed, this is expected to be canceled soon. First, we can catch two new episodes. Beef (Nick Offerman) must rescue the kids, who went to view the Kissin’ Comets. Also, Honeybee and Wolf renovate the guest cabin; Aunt Dirt goes rogue at the retirement home.
9) “Janis Ian: Breaking Silence,” 9 p.m. Friday, PBS. Ian was 13 when she wrote the passionate “Society’s Child.” It wasn’t autobiographical — nor was the Grammy-winning “At Seventeen,” which she wrote at 24. But both felt personal and intense. This film skillfully blends re-enactments, old film clips and fresh comments by Ian, now 74.
10) ALSO: There’s more: Today, a documentary about Sally Ride (9-11 p.m., National Geographic) …. Wednesday, the return of the comedy “Children Ruin Everything” (9-10 p.m., CW) …. Friday, “Jaws” (8-11 p.m., NBC) and a rerun of a Grammy special about songwriters (9-11 p.m., CBS) …. Sunday, the season-opener of “The Gilded Age” (9 p.m., HBO).