1) “Patience,” 8 p.m., PBS. Autistic actors have key roles here. That includes the superb Ella Maisy Purvis as Patience Evans; Connor Curren (shown here) as Billy, the leader of her autism support group; and everyone in the group. Now the focus moves to Billy, when his brother is reported as dead. It’s a thick, clever hour, with great work from Curren, Purvis and others.
2) “Nautilus,” 9 p.m., AMC, rerunning at 10:09. In one busy hour, we get a miracle escape, a bountiful island, two English leaders (one violent, one deranged) and, of course, a mega-monster. It’s fun, yet overwrought.
3) Animation. Fox started the summer by moving its cartoons to Thursdays, giving Sunday to sports. That Thursday line-up continues, but now “The Simpsons” (a cold-case crime and Grandpa’s old love life) and “Krapopolis” (Shlub needs medical help) are at 8 and 8:30 p.m. today. There’s more on CW (“Despicable Me” at 8), Freeform, FXX and Cartoon.
4) Animal Control,” 9 p.m., Fox. With clever dialog, great sight gags and Joel McHale, this show really deserves more attention. Now here’s a rerun of the season-opener, including funny (albeit brief) scenes rounding up animals after a “zoo break.” It’s followed by the so-so opener of “Going Dutch,: which gets better.
5) ALSO: “Big Brother” is 90 minutes tonight, but shrinks to an hour next Sunday. It’s at 8 p.m. on CBS, leading into a 9:30 “Ghosts” rerun, with the return of the angry Puritan ghost. At 9, there’s “The Institute” (an eight-part Stephen King tale) on MGM+ and “Grantchester” (with a great scene for two of its supporting players) on PBS.