Mike Hughes on TV

1) “The Americas: A Wild 250th,” 9 p.m., NBC. Lately, NBC has been rerunning the gorgeous “Americas” documentary series here. But now it pauses for a new hour: Two days before the 250th birthday, it focuses on creatures — bald eagles (the scene shown here is not from the film), bison, sea lions, etc. — that may symbolize the U.S. That follows a new “Surviving Earth” at 8. Read more…

1) “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022), 8-11 p.m., CBS. As July 4 nears, networks give us big-budget crowd-pleasers that put Americans in fighter planes. On Thursday, ABC has “Independence Day,” which has lots of flaws and little to do with the holiday. But today, CBS gives us Tom Cruise (shown here) in a film that’s solidly written, slickly made and kind of exciting. Read more…

1) “R.J. Decker,” 8 p.m., ABC. If you haven’t seen this show (which has been renewed), here’s a chance to catch it from the start. Fresh from prison, a former photographer (Scott Speedman, shown here) becomes a private detective in Florida. That’s followed by the season’s first two episodes of “Will Trent.” Read more…

1) “Disney Celebrates America,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. This starts a six-day project that culminates in a 4th-of-July party, Saturday in Nashville. Today’s special (repeating Friday) views “The Pursuit of Happiness.” It ranges from the Disney parks to Jon Batiste (shown here at a previous event) in New Orleans and historical glimpses of baseball, Marilyn Monroe and the moon landing. Read more…

1) “BET Awards,” 8 p.m., BET, MTV, TV Land, Nickelodeon and more; repeats at 11:04 on BET. There are lots of music awards (plus a few for acting, sports and fashion) and lots of performances. That includes Cardi B (shown here), Queen Latifah, Common, MC Lyte, Jill Scott, Doechi and The War and Treaty. Druski, a mono-named comedian, hosts. Read more…

1) “I Am Patrick Swayze” (2019), 8-10 p.m., CW. Growing up in Houston, Swayze (shown here) jumped from football to theater to his mom’s dance studio. All served him well, in a strong movie career. Here’s a profile of Swayze, who died of cancer at 57, in 2009. Also, IFC is showing two of his films — “Red Dawn” (1984) ar4:40 p.m. and “Point Break” (1991) at 7:30. Read more…

1) “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness” debut, 9 p.m., HBO; also 9:34 and 11:08. There are a lot of serious celebrations of the country’s 250th birthday, but here’s a chance for fun. Sub-titled “An Almost History of America,” it’s a six-week sketch-comedy series produced by Barack Obama, who was president, and Larry David (shown here with the Wright Brothers, sort of), who wasn’t. Read more…