1) “Nova: Mammal Origins,” 9 p.m., PBS. In our minds, we’re descended from the boldest beasts, which ruled the planet. Science, alas, finds that mammals probably evolved from critters (depicted here) who burrowed and hid, while the big guys were vanquished. That’s illustrated here, with terrific special effects.
2) “Nature,” 8 p.m., PBS. While ABC and CBS retreat to reruns during the Olympics, PBS has some of its best shows. Here is the second of five hours on animal parenting. Beautifully filmed, it ranges from tiny frogs emerging en masse to a mother elephant, guiding her baby through crises.
3) Winter Olympics. Here are the figure skating finals for ice dance, with the U.S.’ Madison Chock and Evan Bates fresh from big scores in the team portion. It’s at 1:30 p.m. ET on the USA Network, moving to NBC at 2:15. Other events — strong on ski, luge and snowboard — are all day on USA and noon to 2:15 on NBC, which repackages the day from 8-11 p.m.
4) “The Masked Singer,” 8 p.m., Fox. Three days before Valentine’s Day, this opens with Christina Perri singing her love theme from the “Twilight Saga” finale. The sets and dancers for her number and others are spectacular. Also,
Kylie Cantrell — the one singer revealed to viewers — continues to confound the panel … including Rita Ora, who once played her mother.
5) MORE: “Cross” starts its second season on Amazon Prime, with Aldis Hodge as master detective Alex Cross. That’s on the same day that the firt Cross movie — Morgan Freeman in “Kiss the Girls” (1997) — is 8 p.m. on Showtime. Also: ET”Shifting Gears” reruns, 8-10 p.m., ABC; “The Beauty” continues, 9 p.m. , FX and Hulu.
— Mike Hughes, TV America