Mike Hughes on TV

1) “Monarch,” about 8 p.m. ET (after football), Fox. Eight days before the new season starts, here’s the first arrival. It links good music (often soft and subtle) and bad soap opera (sometimes loud and blunt). Trace Adkins (shown here) and Susan Sarandon play the leaders of a Nashville dynasty. They have one daughter who looks like a star (Anna Friel) and one who sings like one (Beth Ditto), plus a business-like son. Then a big event changes everything. Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Simu Liu, one of the newest members of the superhero universe, hosts this rerun, with Saweetie as music guest. Liu was born in China, but spent much of his childhood in Canada, where he did a TV comedy, “Kim’s Convenience.” But his fame came with the action film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (shown here); the character is expected to return in a sequel and in an “Avengers” movie. Read more…

1) Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. Even in wartime, Ukrainians find room for music. Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson leads a group that incliudes refugees plus Ukrainians who perform in their own country or abroad. The concert has Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony, the Seventh Symphony of Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov and a Chopin concerto with Ukrainian piano virtuoso Anna Fedorova (shown here). Read more…

1) Football, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC. The colleges had their week in the spotlight, but now the pros take over. The season opens with the Los Angeles Rams (shown here) at home – the same spot where they won last year’s Super Bowl. The Rams (12-5 in the regular season) host the Buffalo Bills (11-6). The pre-game show starts at 7 p.m. ET, sometimes cutting to J Balvin’s nearby concert. Read more…