TV Best Bets

Tuesday, Jan. 7: Heavyweights Battle in ‘Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time’

ABC/Eric McCandless

All Times Eastern.

Tuesday, Jan. 7

Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time
ABC, 8pm
New Event Series!
In this primetime event series, the three highest money winners in Jeopardy! history — Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer — will compete to determine the ultimate champion. “Based on their previous performances, these three are already the ‘greatest,’” says host Alex Trebek, “but you can’t help wondering: Who is the best of the best?” The first player to win three games claims the $1 million prize and the title of greatest of all time. The series airs Jan. 7-9, and, if necessary, continues with Game 4 on Jan. 10 and Games 5-7 on Jan. 14-16.

Ellen’s Game of Games
NBC, 8pm
Season Premiere!

Ellen DeGeneres’ game show is back for Season 3, delivering more unpredictable twists, laughs and new, never-before-seen games.

My Big Fat Fabulous Life
TLC, 8pm
Season Premiere!

This season Whitney Thore has made some big changes with a new business and a new life in Charlotte, N.C. But with Whitney’s new opportunities and a new love interest, her friends back in Greensboro feel left behind.

Vanderpump Rules
Bravo, 9pm
Season Premiere!

After the successful debut of Tom Tom with partners Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz last summer, Lisa Vanderpump is busier than ever with her expanding empire. With many of her longtime employees growing up and moving on, Lisa finds herself dealing with a new crop of wild and lovable SURvers — and the romantic dramas and workplace skirmishes that come along with them.

Dave Chappelle: The Mark Twain Prize
PBS, 9pm

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents the 22nd annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to Dave Chappelle.

FBI: Most Wanted
CBS, 10pm
New Series!

Dick Wolf’s latest spinoff features Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck) as the leader of the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force, whose primary role is to pursue individuals on the 10 Most Wanted List. In tonight’s episode, the team is looking for a doctor who’s developed the ability to scam the medical system through peddling prescription drugs via various gangs.

Guardians of the Glades
Discovery Channel, 10pm
Season Premiere!

Snake hunter Dusty Crum and his crew are back and ready to take on some of the biggest, deadliest serpents in the Everglades. Florida’s Burmese python problem is worsening, with the invasive species doubling in size and number. Can Dusty’s team regain control and protect the Glades’ dwindling native animal populations?

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist
NBC, 10pm
Special Preview!

While this charming new series will not begin airing regularly until February, you can watch a special preview of the premiere episode tonight. Jane Levy stars as a computer coder who, following an unusual event, starts to hear the innermost thoughts of the people around her through songs, including her boss (Lauren Graham) and her mom (Mary Steenburgen).

Hot & Heavy
TLC, 10pm
New Series!

This new three-episode docuseries follows three men who love plus-size women and are left to defend their honor and face judgment due to their mixed-weight relationships.

Wednesday, Jan. 8

Chicago Med
NBC, 8pm
New Episodes!

NBC’s Chicago block of hit series is back from its winter hiatus tonight, with Med kicking things off as it continues its fifth season. When the show entered its break, April (Yaya DaCosta) had received unfortunate news that made her question her future with Ethan (Brian Tee), Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt) and Maggie (Marlyne Barrett) saw tough times on the horizon, and Natalie’s (Torrey DeVitto) memory started to return.

Nature: “The Whale Detective”
PBS, 8pm

A filmmaker investigates his traumatic encounter with a 30-ton humpback whale that breached and almost landed on him while he was kayaking. What he discovers raises far bigger questions about humans’ relationship with whales and their future.

Undercover Boss
CBS, 8pm
Season Premiere!

The Emmy-winning reality series that follows high-level executives as they slip anonymously into the rank and file of their own organizations returns for Season 9 tonight.

America’s Top Dog
A&E, 9pm
New Series!

Four police K9 teams — including fan favorites from the hit series Live PD — and one civilian team will face off for the title of “Top Dog” in three rounds of high-velocity, furry competition. The skilled teams will be tested on their speed, agility, scenting ability and teamwork by completing a series of expert tasks on one of the biggest and toughest K9 obstacle courses ever assembled.

Criminal Minds
CBS, 9pm
Season Premiere!

Criminal Minds begins its 15th and final season with a two-hour premiere tonight. Stars Joe Mantegna, Paget Brewster, Matthew Gray Gubler, A.J. Cook and Aisha Tyler all return.

Party of Five
Freeform, 9pm
New Series!

This two-hour series premiere introduces you to the Acosta family, five siblings who must learn to take care of themselves after their parents are deported to Mexico. Oldest brother Emilio (Brandon Larracuente), an aspiring musician and the least responsible sibling, must step up to take care of his brothers and sisters, from teenagers to a baby.

Chicago Fire
NBC, 9pm
New Episodes!

The show that started NBC’s Chicago block of programming continues its eighth season with new episodes starting tonight. When the season left off, an unexpected visit had thrown Casey (Jesse Spencer) for a loop, Severide (Taylor Kinney) set out to exonerate a wrongly convicted arsonist, and Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) paid the price for burning the candle at both ends.

Chicago P.D.
NBC, 10pm
New Episodes!

P.D.’s seventh season picks back up with new episodes beginning tonight. In the fall finale, Halstead’s (Jesse Lee Soffer) secret ongoing relationship with a woman connected to another case had put him in jeopardy.

Toast of London
IFC, 12am (late-night)
Season Premiere!

Season 2 of the acquired British comedy series starring co-creator Matt Berry premieres tonight.

Thursday, Jan. 9

Superstore
NBC, 8pm
New Episodes!

The comedy picks back up with new Season 5 episodes following its winter hiatus.

The Good Place
NBC, 8:30pm
New Episodes!

Season 4 of the acclaimed Ted Danson/Kristen Bell comedy picks back up with a few new episodes heading into its series finale later this month. In the new episode “You’ve Changed, Man,” the group works to negotiate an afterlife plan with Shawn and the judge.

Reclaimed
Discovery Channel, 9pm
New Series!

Airing as part of Discovery’s new “Off the Grid Thursdays” programming block, this series follows longtime friends and business partners Alex Charvat and Kevin Gilman, who have established a niche business they call “the new Gold Rush.” They visit dormant mining claims to assess their current value and then negotiate for a share of the mine’s profit in exchange for improving the property.

Will & Grace
NBC, 9pm
New Episodes!

The rebooted comedy continues its 11th and final season as it returns from winter hiatus starting tonight.

Very Cavallari
E!, 9pm
Season Premiere!

This season features longtime celebrity, businesswoman, wife and mother Kristin Cavallari as
she balances it all with husband Jay Cutler by her side. Jay takes on more duties at home,
supporting Kristin as she opens her second Uncommon James store and launches herself as a
full-blown business mogul, but success in the spotlight comes at a cost for Kristin and those
around her.

Perfect Harmony
NBC, 9:30pm
New Episodes!

The freshman comedy headlined by Bradley Whitford is back to continue its first season following its winter break.

Building Off the Grid
Discovery Channel, 10pm
Season Premiere!

Discovery’s “Off the Grid Thursdays” block continues with a new season of the series that follows families as they battle the elements to construct their dream homes in far-off locales, from Hawaii to Montana, and from forests to beaches.

The Interrogator: “Like Mother, Like Daughter”
Investigation Discovery, 10pm
Season Finale!

Twenty-eight-year-old Jennifer McKinley is strangled to death in her bedroom while her young son sleeps. As Detective Fil Waters digs into the mystery, he soon sees a pattern that isn’t good: The victim’s own mother was murdered 25 years earlier, and that case has never been solved. Could there be a connection between the two homicides, and could McKinley’s son also be in danger?

Law & Order: SVU
NBC, 10pm
New Episodes!

The long-running crime drama returns with new Season 21 episodes.

Friday, Jan. 10

AJ and the Queen
Netflix
New Series!

RuPaul co-created with Michael Patrick King and stars in this comedy series as down-on-her-luck drag queen Ruby Red, who travels across America in an RV with tough-talking 11-year-old stowaway AJ (Izzy G.). As the unlikely pair travel from city to city, Ruby’s message of love and acceptance winds up touching people and changing their lives for the better.

Infinity Train
Cartoon Network, 7:45pm
Season Finale!

The final episode of the acclaimed animated series’ Book 2 airs tonight to cap off a special five-night programming event.

Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector
NBC, 8pm
New Series!

Former NYPD detective and forensic genius Lincoln Rhyme (Russell Hornsby, Grimm) was at the top of his game when a serious accident at the hands of a notorious serial killer forced him out of the field. When the serial killer resurfaces, Rhyme is pulled back into the cat-and-mouse chase as he partners with an intuitive young officer, Amelia Sachs (Arielle Kebbel), who has her own gift for profiling. Inspired by Jeffery Deaver’s bestselling book The Bone Collector.

Kindred Spirits: “Hell House”
Travel Channel, 9pm

The infamous haunted house in Harrisville, R.I., featured in the film The Conjuring has awoken once more. Amy Bruni and Adam Berry step inside this tormented home and seek answers to the unknown by bringing in the family too scared to live there anymore — the Perrons.

Hopelessly in Love: “Faith Evans and Notorious B.I.G.”
Lifetime, 9pm

Tonight’s episode of Lifetime’s documentary film series shares the intense marriage between Faith Evans and the Notorious B.I.G., two of the biggest stars in R&B and hip-hop. This is the story about young love and the pressures and consequences of fame for the couple and the culture at large. Over 20 years after B.I.G.’s murder, Evans is ready to confront her pain and revisit the most intimate moments of their relationship, from their whirlwind engagement, to the East Coast/West Coast rivalry that led to Tupac and B.I.G.’s deaths, and the roles others in the scene may have played in their tumultuous love story.

Saturday, Jan. 11

College Basketball
CBS, ESPN, FOX & FS1, beginning at 12pm Live

Highlights of Saturday’s college basketball action include Ohio State at Indiana (FOX), Alabama at Kentucky (ESPN), Georgetown at Villanova (FS1), Baylor at Kansas (CBS), Louisville at Notre Dame (ESPN) and Creighton at Xavier (FOX).

NFL Football: AFC and NFC Divisional Playoffs
CBS, FOX & NBC, beginning at 4:30pm Live

The road to Super Bowl LIV narrows with this weekend’s Divisional Playoff games, as the winners from the wild-card round hit the road to face the conferences’ top seeds. CBS, FOX and NBC divide up coverage of the four games on Saturday and Sunday.

Psycho Nurse
Lifetime, 8pm
Original Film!

Mira and Todd are struggling to come to terms with their son’s newly diagnosed condition requiring a special diet and physical treatment in order to live. They hire a live-in nurse, Gwen, who plans to become the new mother of the household. When Mira feels constantly fatigued and nauseous, it becomes clear Gwen is an “angel of death” who is intent on turning this family into her forever home. Stars Lyndon Smith, Abbie Cobb and Sean Faris.

Sunday, Jan. 12

College Basketball
CBS & ESPN2, beginning at 12pm Live

A Big Ten matchup with Michigan State at Purdue tips off on CBS, followed by an American Athletic Conference tilt between Memphis and South Florida in Tampa on ESPN2.

25th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
The CW, 7pm Live

Bestowed annually to honor the finest in cinematic and television achievement, the Critics’ Choice Awards are historically the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations. The Irishman leads all film nominations this year with 14, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Robert De Niro. Netflix came out on top with 61 total nominations, followed by HBO with 33.

Howards End
PBS, 8pm
New Series!

Follow two independent and unconventional sisters and the men in their lives as they seek love and meaning while navigating an ever-changing world in this fresh take on E.M. Forster’s masterpiece. As the series begins, a passionate misunderstanding, a surprise visit and a stolen umbrella set into motion a series of events that unexpectedly intertwine the lives of the Schlegels, the Wilcoxes and the Basts.

Air Disasters: “Fatal Friction”
Smithsonian Channel, 8pm

The new episode “Fatal Friction” looks at how pilots’ aggressive or unprofessional behavior can result in deadly accidents.

The Outsider
HBO, 9pm
New Series!

Ben Mendelsohn (also a producer) and Cynthia Erivo headline this 10-episode adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. Mendelsohn plays a police detective investigating a horrific and seemingly unexplainable murder who seeks the help of unorthodox private investigator and King fan-favorite character Holly Gibney (Erivo) to solve the mystery. Jason Bateman also appears in a key role, is an executive producer and directed the first two episodes.

Sanditon
PBS, 9pm
New Series!

Experience Jane Austen’s last work, where entrepreneurs, love interests, legacy hunters, hypochondriacs and medical mountebanks come together at a struggling resort aimed to be the next fashionable playground in early 1800s England. In the first episode, an accident brings Charlotte to Sanditon, where she has an awkward encounter with Sidney.

Disasters at Sea: “Firefight”
Smithsonian Channel, 9pm

In December 2014, the ferry boat Norman Atlantic was transporting more than 400 passengers and over 200 cars and trucks from Greece to Italy when an intense fire quickly engulfed the ship in flames. The new episode “Firefight” reveals how investigators created a timeline of the disaster and discovered the fire was burning out of control less than 15 minutes after the first sighting of smoke.

Collector’s Call
MeTV, 9:30pm
Season Premiere!

In an expanded 26-episode second season, host Lisa Whelchel (The Facts of Life) meets with the biggest collectors of pop culture memorabilia, alongside some famous faces, to give viewers an inside look at fascinating and rarely seen private collections, ranging from the precious to the priceless, some with million-dollar values.

Lost in the Wild: “Secrets to Die For”
Travel Channel, 11pm

Kinga Philipps and J.J. Kelley investigate the disappearances of Tom Young and Keith Reinhard, two men who vanished mere months apart in the same mountains above Silver Plume, Colo. Was it just coincidence? Could they have been victims of a vicious animal attack or a serial killer? Or could they actually have stumbled upon a dark secret important enough to kill for?

Tuesday, Jan. 14

College Basketball
FS1, beginning at 6:30pm Live

Nebraska is at Ohio State and DePaul is at Villanova in FS1’s Tuesday night college hoops doubleheader.

NHL Hockey: Minnesota at Pittsburgh
NBCSN, 7pm Live

The NHL on NBCSN features Zach Parise and the Minnesota Wild in Pittsburgh to skate against Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins.

Finding Your Roots: “This Land Is My Land”
PBS, 8pm

Henry Louis Gates Jr. reveals the unexpected family trees of entertainer Queen Latifah and actor Jeffrey Wright, redefining their sense of the black experience — and challenging preconceptions about America’s past.

Homicide City: Charlotte: “ABCs of Murder”
Investigation Discovery, 9pm

When beloved Charlotte schoolteacher Anthony Davis is discovered murdered in his bed, detectives set off on a search for his killer, following a trail of clues that lead nowhere. What they ultimately discover is the tragic fact that despite Davis’ best efforts to steer his students onto the right path, evil sometimes triumphs over good.

This Is Us
NBC, 9pm
New Episodes!

The acclaimed, award-winning drama is back with new Season 4 episodes.

New Amsterdam
NBC, 10pm
New Episodes!

The drama’s second season picks back up after its winter hiatus. When the series left off, Bloom (Janet Montgomery) was struggling with her recovery, while Reynolds (Jocko Sims) received potentially life-changing news.

Wednesday, Jan. 15

The CW Dog Honors
The CW, 8pm

Commemorating some of the most talented and laudable pups on the planet, this primetime special event hosted by Mario Lopez will feature Hollywood’s dog-loving celebrities along with their four-legged family members. These furry stars will be honored in categories ranging from Best Supporting Actor to a Dog, Celebrity Dog Selfie, Pawpular, Top TV Dog and many more.

Nature: “Hippos: Africa’s River Giants”
PBS, 8pm

Go beneath the surface and meet Africa’s river giants, the hippos. Discover an unexpected side of these aquatic mammals that can’t even swim as they protect their families, face their enemies and suffer in a drought. Narrated by David Attenborough.

Expedition With Steve Backshall
PBS, 10pm
New Series!

Head into the unknown with explorer Steve Backshall as he journeys to the world’s last unexplored places and faces challenges around the globe, encountering extraordinary wildlife and meeting remarkable people along the way. In “Oman — Desert Canyon,” Backshall travels to Oman, where he plans to drop nearly 400 meters into the deepest canyon in southern Arabia. In the scorching desert heat, Steve and his team will explore an area where no human has ever set foot.

Good Trouble
Freeform, 10pm
Midseason Premiere!

After a devastating winter finale, the Coterie residents are dealing with the consequences of their personal and professional decisions and realize that sometimes standing up for what you believe in comes at a price. The season picks up with Callie and Mariana’s relationship on the rocks after Callie has decided to move in with Jamie.

In Pursuit With John Walsh
Investigation Discovery, 10pm
Season Premiere!

After a successful first season helping to bring eight fugitives to justice, victims’ rights advocate John Walsh is back, with his son Callahan, to detail more unsolved violent crime cases that urgently need to be closed.

Listing Impossible
CNBC, 10pm
New Series!

When L.A.’s wealthiest put their multimillion-dollar properties up for sale, they sometimes learn that the house of their dreams isn’t anyone else’s, and the homes can end up sitting on the market for years. In this series, superstar real estate agent Aaron Kirman and his team work to fix up such homes and attract the right buyers.

The Magicians
Syfy, 10pm
Season Premiere!

The fantasy drama series based on Lev Grossman’s bestselling books returns for Season 5. Last season, magic was saved but at a terrible cost, as Quentin (Jason Ralph) died heroically to save his friends, and the world. Julia (Stella Maeve), Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley), Eliot (Hale Appleman), Margo (Summer Bishil) and Penny (Arjun Gupta) must learn to navigate a world without him — a world that now faces a new looming threat.

68 Whiskey
Paramount Network, 10pm
New Series!

In this new show from executive producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, a group of Army medics survive the realities of war with a sense of humor, even as they find themselves in intense situations.