1) “9/11 United We Stand: 25 Years Later,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. Two former New York sports stars, Derek Jeter and Michael Strahan, produced this view of sports and entertainment after the Sept. 11 attacks (shown here). It includes Pete Davidson (whose dad, a firefighter, died that day), Jon Bon Jovi, Jon Stewart, Matthew Broderick, Robin Roberts, Jimmy Fallon and more. Read more…
1) “Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro” finale, 8 p.m., ABC. Three people remain in the running to become one of the pro dancers on “Stars.” There are two Los Angeles women — Selena Hamilton (shown here), 21, and Adele Zaikman, 24 — and a London guy, AJ Pritchard, 31. They dance tonight with Adam Rippon, Nev Schulman and Charli D’Amelio. Read more…
1) “The Walking Dead: Dead City,” 9 p.m., AMC, rerunning at 10:11. Here’s a remarkable detour, beautifully written and played. It imagines what might happen if Maggie (shown here) and Negen had met in a no-zombie world. She’s a cool-headed farmer, visiting her sister in the city; he’s calm and thoughtful … with rage still at the core. The result is compelling. Read more…
1) College football. For most schools, the season is still a week away. A few start early, however, including two neutral-site games. At noon ET, ESPN has North Carolina and Texas Christian in Ireland. And at 7:30 p.m., ABC has the annual opener for historically Black schools; this time, it’s Howard (shown here last season) and Alabama A&M, in Atlanta. Read more…
1) Vienna Philharmonic, 9 p.m., PBS. Each year, PBS has a lush, end-of-summer concert (shown here), amid palace gardens. This time, Lorenzo Viotti, 36, a second-generation, Swiss conductor has a busy program, from a cavalry overture to encores with a high-octane Brazilian piece and a Strauss waltz. Also, baritone-bass Bryn Terfel ranges from Tevye to Satan. Read more…
1) “Adults” season-openers, 9 and 9:34 p.m., FX and FXX. Five friends (shown here) share a house in Queens; in their mid-20s, they face the looming possibility of grown-up lives and jobs. That’s been done before (from “Real World” to “Friends”), but never with such exuberant twists. Some people will find it too gen-Z or too R-rated; others will find it hilarious. Read more…
1) “Freddie Mercury — The Final Act,” 8-10 p.m., CW. For the second straight year, CW announced it was airing the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants, then bailed out. This time, the reversal was just six days before the teen pageant. Now that reverts to the internet (8 p.m. today, apparently charging about $35); CW reruns a film that focuses on Mercury (shown here) — his death and the massive the memorial concert. Read more…
1) “American Masters,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. In her childhood, Mary Oliver (shown here in her early years) found despair at home and joy in nature. She became a poet at 15, worked on Edna St. Vincent Milay’s papers at 17, then became a Pulitzer Prize-winner and the best-selling American poet. This fascinating profile is filled with admirers, from Stephen Colbert to John Waters Read more…
1) “American Ninja Warrior,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. The summertime reality shows are starting to wrap up now. For “Ninja” (shown here in a previous episode), this is the last of three semi-final rounds, with side-by-side races; next week, the survivors go for $250,000. Read more…
1) “The Walking Dead: Dead City,” 9 p.m., AMC. In this post-apocalyptic world, zombies are a mere inconvenience; other problems loom. Last week ended with an earthquake taking away much of the food supply; this one ends with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, shown here) launching a fresh and intensely personal crisis. It’s well-made, but messy. Read more…
