1) Football. The first round of the pro playoffs concludes with the Texans and Steelers, at 8:15 p.m. ET today on ABC and ESPN. The winner joins seven others — five winners this past weekend, plus the Broncos (shown here) and Seahawks. Details are pending, but there will be two games Saturday and two Sunday; winners collide Jan. 25, for spots in the Super Bowl.
2) “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” debut, Thursday, Paramount +. The first hour stirs a rich blend — fierce passion, space combat, gifted older actors (Holly Hunter, Paul Giamatti) and an impressive crop of newcomers. By the second hour, this is a space-age Hogwarts, with more top pros (Robert Picardo, Gina Yashere), OK stories and dazzling effects
3) “Stumble,” 8:30 p.m. today and Friday, NBC. This cheer-team comedy (uneven, but sometimes quite funny) settles into a two-a-week routine. Today (after a new “St. Denis Medical”) is a rerun of a fairly good episode, set on Media Day. Friday (after a new, sub-par “Happy’s Place”) there are hilarious moments, with a mandatory session on sexual behavior.
4) “Best Medicine,” 8 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. If you missed the opener, catch a re-rerun at 8 p.m. Monday. Then settle in for another quiet delight. After already annoying the townspeople, the new doctor dares to cancel the monthly black-bean supper. Also, he collides with his childhood bully. Like the opener, this mixes comedy, drama and small-town charm.
5) “Doc,” 9 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. This well-crafted show often pulls viewers through some dark stories; now it has three of them, involving siblings. An orphaned teen tries to care for her younger brother … a brother and sister suspect their father is being poisoned … and life is closing in on Hannah, the doctor who linked with her brother in an effort to destroy Amy.
6) “Pole to Pole With Will Smith,” 10 p.m. Tuesday, National Geographic, then on Hulu and Disney+. After doing some previous, brilliantly crafted series for Nat Geo, Smith goes to extremes: In seven weekly episodes, he catches both poles and in-between. In the opener, he skis to the South Pole, climbs an ice cliff and visits a remote research station.
7) “Nature,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, PBS. All of Kenya, we’re told, has fewer than 30 “super-tusker” elephants — giants with 10-foot tusks. This film follows the post-drought lives of three. It’s slow, but has big moments of lust, parenting, friendship and rage. And it prepares us for next week, when both PBS and BBC America will start epic wildlife series.
8) “Going Dutch” season-opener, 9:32 p.m. Thursday, Fox. Col. Quinn schemes to win a war game that he’s not even in. There are funny moments, but they’re scattered amid so-so ones. That’s in a big night for Fox: At 8 p.m., “Hell’s Kitchen” sets up next week’s finale; at 9, a clever “Animal Control” links Frank (Joel McHale) and his nemesis (Ken Jeong).
9) “The Rip,” Friday, Netflix. It’s the eighth major pairing of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon; this time, they’re cops who become distrustful after a pile of cash is found. Netflix also has a three-part Agatha Christie tale, “Seven Dials,” on Thursday. Also streaming: season-openers of “Tell Me Lies” (Tuesday, Hulu) and Idris Elba’s “Hijack” (Wednesday, Apple).
10) MORE: After a three-week break, “Saturday Night Live” (11:29 p.m. Saturday, NBC) is back; Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things”) hosts, with music from A$AP Rocky. And at 10 p.m. Sunday, HBO starts a “Game of Thrones” prequel (“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”) and PBS’ “Bookish” has a solid finish to last week’s way-too-convoluted opener.