Alexi Lubomirski/Kensington PalaceALSO SEE: NFL Preseason 2018 TV Schedule
All Times Eastern.
Wednesday, Aug. 22
The Story of the Royals
ABC, 9pm
This two-night, four-hour television event documents the fascinating lives of the British royal family, exploring pivotal moments in the crown’s history and asking the simple question, “How exactly did we get here?” This series brings together an impressive collection of friends, former staff members and royal experts to illustrate the evolution of the Windsors as well as examine the American obsession behind all things royal. Part 2 airs tomorrow night.
Everything you ever wanted to know about The Story of the Royals – starts Wednesday, August 22 on ABC. https://t.co/exyjeIO6Zx
— ABC (@ABCNetwork) August 13, 2018
X-Men: Days of Future Past
FX, 8pm
This 2014 entry in the X-Men franchise finds the X-Men regrouping and Logan (Hugh Jackman) going back in time to 1973 to convince his future friends of the devastation that Sentinels will bring.
Kung Fu Panda 3
FXX, 8pm
Po and the Furious Five are back in this 2016 animated adventure. As Po (voice of Jack Black) meets his biological father, Li (voice of Bryan Cranston), the evil villain Kai (voice of J.K. Simmons) is capturing the power of all of the kung fu masters. Can Po train a ragtag group of pandas to defeat the powerful Kai?
World of Dance: “The Cut 1”
NBC, 9pm
The acts face the deepest and most intense cut of the season with judges Jennifer Lopez, Derek Hough, Ne-Yo and host/mentor Jenna Dewan. The judges will score each act’s performance based on their artistry, precision and athleticism. Only the top three highest-scoring acts from each division will move on to the Divisional Final.
Alcatraz: The Greatest Escapes
REELZ Channel, 9pm
Over its existence, there were 13 documented escape attempts from the infamous Alcatraz prison, but the obstacles were massive and many. In this two-hour documentary special, the shocking true stories of what prisoners called “Hellcatraz” come to life through new evidence, never-before-seen archival footage, and interviews with guards and inmates. At the heart of the program is the story of bank robber and kidnapper Frank Morris, who in 1962 led a team of three prisoners in the most brilliant breakout of all — Alcatraz’s great escape.
Suits: “Cats, Ballet, Harvey Specter”
USA Network, 9pm
Harvey (Gabriel Macht) and Louis (Rick Hoffman) assess their relationship, while Donna (Sarah Rafferty) doubts Samantha’s (Katherine Heigl) motives for helping her.
Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party
VH1, 9pm
Come for the inappropriate song, stay for the pasta. On back-to-back episodes of the anything-goes talk show, Snoop Dogg and guest Craig Robinson sing “Take Your Panties Off.” Then Wendi McLendon-Covey teams with the rapper to make his fettuccine “al-fray-doh-ggy style.”
Mr. Mercedes
Audience Network, 10pm
Season Premiere!
The stellar adaptation of Stephen King’s crime-novel trilogy shifts into Season 2 by jumping over the middle title, Finders Keepers, into the supernatural-infused third installment, End of Watch. As mass killer Brady Hartsfield (Harry Treadaway) escalates his reign of terror, fans might want to buckle up.
Queen Sugar
OWN, 10pm
Season Finale!
The big day has arrived for the Bordelons’ Aunt Violet (Tina Lifford) and Hollywood (Omar J. Dorsey), but first a prison protest will trigger a revelation from teen Micah (Nicholas L. Ashe).
The Sinner: “Part IV”
USA Network, 10pm
Ambrose (Bill Pullman) returns to Mosswood to confront Vera (Carrie Coon) about the commune’s work.
Thursday, Aug. 23
Rob Riggle’s Ski Master Academy
Sony Crackle
New Series!
Actor/comedian Rob Riggle plays a heightened version of himself — a legendary water skier best known for his epic ski master movies — who has invested all of his money and reputation into a water ski academy. Rob, his legendary stuntman commandant Dirk Hamsteak (Billy Merritt), and their staff and cadets (including Britt Baron, Eliza Coupe, Dave “Gruber” Allen, Alison Rich, Carl Tart, Samm Levine and Rizwan Manji) defend the academy against criticism, floundering finances, strange disappearances and death.
The First 48: “Stolen Innocence”/ “Deadly Secrets & True Lies”
A&E, 8pm
In the first of back-to-back episodes, a young mother and her friend are murdered in front of her children, and Tulsa detectives hope a suspicious vehicle will lead them to the killer. Then in the second episode, Minneapolis detectives need a man who witnessed a double murder to come clean, and in Tulsa, a young woman is found dead in a dumpster after she discovers the fate of her fiancé.
The Gong Show
ABC, 8pm
Season Finale!
Celebrity judges Ken Jeong, Chelsea Peretti and Adam Devine weigh in on a wind-blown opera singer, a twisty contortionist with a sweet tooth, a knife-juggling unicyclist and hoverboard-riding musicians.
NFL Preseason: Philadelphia at Cleveland
FOX, 8pm Live
Week 3 of the NFL preseason opens with the Super Bowl LII champion Philadelphia Eagles at the Cleveland Browns, who finished the 2017 regular season with an 0-16 record (but were 4-0 in the preseason).
Sausage Party
FX, 8pm
Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig and Jonah Hill lead an ensemble voice cast in this raunchy 2016 animated comedy about what happens when food discovers its fate outside the comfort of the supermarket.
“The Simpsons” Marathon
FXX, beginning at 8pm
Tonight’s marathon of The Simpsons on FXX features episodes tackling moral and social issues. The intellectual elites take over Springfield in “They Saved Lisa’s Brain,” Springfield faces a border security crisis in “Coming to Homerica,” and dogs demand equal rights in “Dogtown.”
Quiet Heroes
Logo, 8pm
This documentary, directed and produced by Jenny Mackenzie, Jared Ruga and Amanda Stoddard, was a favorite at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It is the story of Salt Lake City’s Dr. Kristen Ries. In the area’s socially conservative religious monoculture complicated by the AIDS crisis, patients in the entire state and intermountain region relied on her. The film chronicles Ries’ fight against stigma, shame and ignorance to save a maligned population everyone else seemed willing to just let die.
Trial & Error: Lady, Killer
NBC, 9pm
Season Finale!
Season 2 of the comedic whodunit series comes to a close tonight.
Queen of the South: “La Muerte”
USA Network, 9pm
Returning to Bolivia, Teresa (Alice Braga) risks her life to prove her loyalty to El Santo (Steven Bauer).
“Alone” Season 5 Reunion Special
History, 10pm
The participants of the survival competition series’ fifth season return to discuss the trials and tribulations of enduring the brutal subzero temperatures, deadly predators and punishing isolation they faced in Northern Mongolia.
Shooter: “Orientation Day”
USA Network, 10pm
Bob Lee (Ryan Phillippe) and Isaac (Omar Epps) ambush the Atlas training facility. Nadine (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and Harris (Jesse Bradford) scheme their way into a face-to-face with a critical player in Atlas’ plot to retain power. Julie’s (Shantel VanSanten) paranoia grows.
Friday, Aug. 24
Ghoul
Netflix
New Series!
From Blumhouse, the production company behind creepy feature-film hits like Paranormal Activity and Get Out, this chilling three-episode series is about a prisoner who arrives at a remote military interrogation center only to turn the tables on his questioners, exposing their most shameful secrets. Ghoul is Netflix’s first Indian original horror series and features elements based on Arabic folklore.
The Innocents
Netflix
New Series!
When teenagers Harry (Percelle Ascott) and June (Sorcha Groundsell) run away from their repressive families to be together, they are derailed by an extraordinary discovery — June’s ability to shape-shift. As the star-crossed lovers struggle to control this strange new power, a mysterious professor (Guy Pearce) reveals that June is not alone; there are more shifters out there like her, and he promises to cure June and reunite her with the mother who deserted her.
NFL Preseason: Detroit at Tampa Bay
CBS, 8pm Live
The Detroit Lions head to Raymond James Stadium in Florida for a Week 3 preseason matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Treasure Quest: Snake Island
Discovery Channel, 9pm
Season Premiere!
In the two centuries since it was hidden by the Jesuits, the Sacambaya treasure has left all who’ve chased it either broke or dead. Now, led by the sole survivor of the last failed attempt and armed with an 18th-century manuscript and the most cutting-edge 21st-century heavy equipment and technology, a new team of adventurers is setting out to recover the $2 billion haul from an uncharted Bolivian mountain range in the former territory of the ancient Incas.
The Contender
EPIX, 9pm
Season Premiere!
Mark Burnett’s early 2000s boxing competition series gets up off the canvas for a revival with 12 brand-new episodes. Hosted by undefeated boxing champ Andre “Son of God” Ward, the series will follow 16 fighters as they push their limits in grueling elimination-style fights. They will be overseen by legendary boxing coach Freddie Roach and renowned Philadelphia trainer Naazim Richardson, and ultimately, one fighter will be declared the show’s new 160-pound middleweight champion and take home a six-figure purse.
Wynonna Earp: “If We Make It Through December”
Syfy, 9pm
It’s the holiday season in Purgatory, and Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) teams up with a new ally to search for a missing kid on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) learns more about her father.
Crazy Cakes
Cooking Channel, 10pm
New Series!
Really, the only way to kick off this extreme baking showcase is with cakes designed to look like the Hollywood skyline, a glow-in-the-dark jellyfish and an authentic piñata.
Killjoys: “Baby, Face Killer”
Syfy, 10pm
Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen) trains Jaq (Aaron Ashmore) to fight an unstoppable enemy as Pree (Thom Allison) and Fancy (Sean Baek) look for the missing Gared (Gavin Fox).
Kevin Hart Presents: The Next Level
Comedy Central, 11pm
This showcase for rising standups hands Jeff Horste the mic tonight. One nugget from the Detroit comic: “You can learn a lot just from talking to people older than you. I had a conversation with this old guy one time and he was telling me, ‘When I was your age, we were so poor, we had to put water in our cereal.’ That’s disgusting, gramps. Fun fact about cereal: You can have it plain. Just eat it dry. What’s wrong with you? I don’t know if you’re poor. I do know you made poor decisions.”
SafeWord
MTV, 11pm
Season Premiere!
The outrageous series, hosted and executive produced by Terrence J, returns for its second season. In each episode, a pair of close celebrity friends act as “captains” of teams of comedians that compete head-to-head in games and challenges that push them out of their comfort zone. At the end of every episode, the losing captain must answer three unfiltered questions while hooked up to a lie detector. In the first episode, Michael B. Jordan faces off against Steelo Brim, with special guests Tiffany Haddish and Issa Rae.
Saturday, Aug. 25
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Johnsonville 180
NBCSN, 3pm Live
Top NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers Elliott Sadler, Cole Custer, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell compete on the 4-mile, 14-turn Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Major League Baseball
FS1, beginning at 4pm Live
A quartet of NL East teams are in action for today’s MLB doubleheader on FS1 with the Washington Nationals at the N.Y. Mets and the Atlanta Braves at the Miami Marlins.
College Football: North Carolina A&T vs. Jacksonville State
ESPN, 7pm Live
The defending HBCU national champion North Carolina A&T Aggies and the four-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Jacksonville State Gamecocks square off in the 2018 Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff tonight at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.
NFL Preseason: New Orleans at L.A. Chargers
CBS, 8pm Live
CBS airs this Week 3 preseason game between the New Orleans Saints and the L.A. Chargers at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.
Verizon IndyCar Series: Bommarito Automotive Group 500
NBCSN, 8:30pm Live
Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis is the site of the Verizon IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500, featuring top drivers Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Planet Earth: Mission Galapagos
BBC America, 9pm
New Miniseries!
This three-part series from the BBC makes its U.S. debut tonight on BBC America. Mission Galapagos follows an expedition to the archipelago off the coast of Ecuador that was made famous by the work of Charles Darwin. Biologist Liz Bonnin joins the crew of research vessel Alucia to study one of the world’s most fascinating environments and learn how it can be protected.
Season for Love
Hallmark Channel, 9pm
Original Film!
Autumn Reeser stars as a talented chef who, when she returns to her Texas hometown, winds up entering the town’s famous BBQ cookoff. She gets more than she bargained for when the surprise judge turns out to be her high school love (Marc Blucas).
