1) “Alien: Earth,” 8 p.m., FX, rerunning at 9:17, 10:34, 11:52. Awesome visually and intense emotionally, this ratchets up the impact. The minds of dying kids were inserted into synthetic bodies; now one synth tries to save her brother, in a crashed ship with creatures. Adult synths loom, for bad (shown here) or good, plus a young genius obsessed with discovery. Read more…
1) “Lego Masters Jr.” debut, 8 p.m., Fox. Kids finally get to play with the toys. After five seasons with grown-ups, there’s a new age group (9-14) and host (Kelly Osbourne, right). For this four-week tournament, each kid duo gets a sorta-celebrity. The talent is huge; so is the hype. After a 10-minute intro, we see likable kids do great work. Read more…
1) “Nautilus” (shown here) season-finale, 9 p.m., AMC, rerunning at 11:07. Two large — and very different — episodes are back-to-back. First, Nemo and friends finally find the treasure land … and big trouble. Then, surprisingly, we get a corporate battle. Both hours strain credibility (especially the second). Still, this tends to be an oddly entertaining romp. Read more…
1) “Match Game,” 8-11 p.m., ABC. This show (shown here), hosted by Martin Short, is getting a big push. It has only had four hours (9 p.m. Wednesdays), but now three of them rerun here. Caroline Rhea and Constance Zimmer repeat as panelists at 8 and 10 p.m.; Triumph the Comedy Insult Dog is at 9. Read more…
1) “The Rainmaker” debut, 10 p.m., USA Network. Adapting a 1995 John Grisham novel, this keeps only the basic notion — a young law-school grad (shown here) scrambles for work — and the names. It adds two upscale people — his girlfriend and a nemesis (John Slattery) — plus new cases and twists that are sort of fun and involving and Grisham-y. Read more…
1) “Revival” season-finale, 10 p.m., Syfy. At first, “Revival” was kind of fun — or as fun as something can be when the former dead are revived in small-town Wisconsin. Soon, alas, it turned grim and murky. Em (the sheriff’s daughter and deputy’s sister) was killed, revived and is about to be killed anew. There’s a nasty preacher (shown here), some jolts and one final twist. Read more…
1) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” 9 p.m., FX and FXX, repeating at 9:34 and 10:08 on FXX. With Frank (right) on “The Golden Bachelor,” the others (shown here in a previous episode) fret about his coming-home episode. They even rehearse for test audiences. The story has some hilarious moments, sags, then has a great closing twist. Read more…
1) “Alien: Earth” debut, 8 p.m , FX. A big monsters-and-machines tale links neatly with a deeply personal story. In one, a ship with captured creatures has crashed on Earth. In the other, a dying tween girl’s mind and memories are injected into a synthetic body (shown here). In this two-episode debut, she and other synths try to rescue the brother of her human self. Read more…
1) “Match Game,” 10 p.m., ABC. The network is heavily pushing this reboot, hosted by Martin Short (shown here in a previous episode). Tonight’s episode debuted Wednesday and will have a third run at 9 p.m. Saturday. Ego Nwodim of “Saturday Night Live,” is a panelist, along with Andrea Martin, Thomas Lennon, Pete Holmes, Jackie Tohn and Triumph the Insult Comedy Dog. Read more…
1) U.S. Gymnastics Championships, 7-9 p.m., NBC. It’s time for the women (shown here) to have their finals. The men were relegated to Friday on CNBC. Read more…
