Joe Alblas/Copyright 2020All Times Eastern.
Monday, May 25
Grant
History, 9pm
New Miniseries!
To tell general and U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant’s story (airing three consecutive nights starting on Memorial Day), producers drew primarily from his memoirs. Grant’s dramatic sequences run longer than in most docs and feel more real thanks to the intense, cigar-chomping performance of Justin Salinger. Meanwhile, location shoots at actual battlefields — Shiloh, Tenn., for example — and images from the Library of Congress and the National Archives lend authenticity. Historical context comes from interviews with Grant biographer Ron Chernow, retired U.S. Army general David Petraeus and other well-chosen experts.
Memorial Day Marathon
TCM, beginning at 6am
Catch a Classic!
Turner Classic Movies has more notable films on the schedule as its Memorial Day marathon continues, and concludes, on the holiday itself. Today’s titles include Where Eagles Dare (1968), The Great Escape (1963), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Battle of the Bulge (1965), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Coming Home (1978) and more.
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Alsco 300
FS1, 7:30pm Live
The NASCAR Xfinity Series continues its revamped schedule with this 300-mile primetime race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. There will be no fans in attendance, and teams, officials and track personnel will have added safety measures.
I Was Lorena Bobbitt
Lifetime, 8pm
Original Film!
Starring Dani Montalvo and Luke Humphrey as the controversial couple Lorena and John Bobbitt, the film follows Lorena’s account leading up to that fateful day when after years of abuse by her husband, she cut off his penis with a knife in 1993. Lorena also serves as executive producer and onscreen narrator.
The Andy Griffith Show
MeTV, 8pm
It’s time to celebrate “The Bee Team” with a week full of episodes featuring Aunt Bee and other sidekicks. “The Pickle Story” (5/25) always makes the list of favorite Andy Griffith episodes and many people, including Don Knotts, have considered it the best episode of the series. “Aunt Bee’s Medicine Man” (5/26), “A Date for Gomer” (5/27), “Citizen’s Arrest” (5/28) and “The Loaded Goat” (5/29) round out the week.
The Titan Games
NBC, 8pm
Season Premiere!
Host/executive producer Dwayne Johnson’s competition series returns for Season 2. Again, everyday people will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to vie in epic head-to-head challenges designed to test the mind, body and heart. This season, there are doctors, nurses, veterans and teachers set to compete in the Titan arena, where they will have to beat world-class professional athletes including Olympic gold medalists, NFL stars and UFC champions in order to become Titans.
Below Deck Sailing Yacht: “Regatta Go!”
Bravo, 9pm
Season Finale!
An uncomfortable drug search on Parsifal III casts a dark cloud over the final charter and sends the crew into panic mode. The crew scrambles to pull together a sailing regatta, but still wonders if they’ll get a tip. Tensions in the interior department finally boil over, as a heated confrontation erupts. Georgia has feelings she needs to get off her chest, even if it means possibly altering some relationships forever.
Jeffrey Dahmer: Mind of a Monster
Investigation Discovery, 9pm
From the transcripts of audio recordings from the extensive police interviews after serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s arrest, this two-hour special is chillingly narrated by the words of Dahmer himself. His twisted confession reveals new insights into what led the man known as the “Milwaukee Cannibal” to rape, kill and dismember 17 young men between 1978 and 1991.
To Catch a Beautician
VH1, 9pm
New Series!
Singer Tamar Braxton teams up with celebrity hairstylist Johnny Wright (he’s worked with Michelle Obama and Reese Witherspoon) to help customers who left their salons with seriously bad cuts. They confront the butchering stylists, who then sharpen their skills at a boot camp before getting the opportunity to correct the hair don’ts that they created.
The Baker and the Beauty: “Blow Out”
ABC, 10pm
Noa (Nathalie Kelley) is blindsided when an unlikely opponent attempts to take control of her company. Meanwhile, after a series of setbacks, Daniel (Victor Rasuk) is surprised when an old friend comes to his rescue; and Natalie (Belissa Escobedo) continues to defy her parents, enjoying the freedom that comes with her newfound rebellion.
Songland: “Boyz II Men”
NBC, 10pm
Four-time Grammy Award-winning R&B supergroup Boyz II Men comes to Songland to hear unknown songwriters pitch their original material. Three of the most successful and sought-after writer/producers in music, Ryan Tedder, Ester Dean and Shane McAnally, produce the songwriters to creatively adapt their songs to perfectly fit the superstar artists. One song is chosen to be recorded by Boyz II Men and released for a global audience.
Independent Lens: “Eating Up Easter”
PBS, 10pm
See how climate change and a booming tourism trade threaten the fragile economy of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, and meet the local artists, ecologists and developers balancing their strong cultural heritage with modern-day challenges.
Tuesday, May 26
Hannah Gadsby: Douglas
Netflix
Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning comedian Hannah Gadsby debuts her second Netflix comedy special, recorded in Los Angeles and based on her second comedy album, which she named after her eldest dog.
Deadliest Catch: “The Russian Front”
Discovery Channel, 8pm
Desperate to put crab in their tanks, the Bering Sea captains are forced to live dangerously: Jake Anderson and Johnathan Hillstrand try to join forces with rival Keith Colburn; Scott Campbell Jr. risks crossing into Russian waters; and Josh Harris lays it all on the line and trusts his gut.
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series: North Carolina Education Lottery 200
FS1, 8pm Live
The NASCAR Truck Series continues its revamped schedule with this primetime race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. There will be no fans in attendance, and teams, officials and track personnel will have added safety measures.
America’s Got Talent
NBC, 8pm
Season Premiere!
Season 15 of the talent competition series finds Sofia Vergara as a judge alongside returning Heidi Klum, Simon Cowell and Howie Mandel. Terry Crews is back as host. In the season premiere, variety acts of all types and contestants of all ages audition for the chance to win the $1 million prize. The Golden Buzzer is back, giving five lucky acts the chance to go directly to the live shows to compete for America’s vote.
Special Theme: Wonder Women
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
TCM’s monthlong Tuesday celebration of films about notable real-life women concludes tonight with a 24-hour lineup of biopics about musical women and musicals about other famous women. First is Incendiary Blonde (1945), with Betty Hutton as 1920s nightclub star Texas Guinan. Also on the lineup are Lady Sings the Blues (1972), with Oscar nominee Diana Ross as Billie Holiday; Funny Girl (1968), featuring Barbra Streisand’s Oscar-winning performance as Fanny Brice; Doris Day in Calamity Jane (1953); and more.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: “The One Where We’re Trapped on TV”
The CW, 9pm
After Charlie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) does the one thing that goes against her nature when it comes to her sisters, she tries to protect the Legends by scattering them in different television shows. Of course, in true Legends style, some can’t just be blissfully ignorant and happy but figure out a way to end up messing with the system.
Brittany Murphy: An ID Mystery
Investigation Discovery, 9pm
Brittany Murphy was a rising star who had it all: beauty, fame and success — but she also had secrets. When she was found dead in her Los Angeles home at just 32 years old, fans were left in disbelief. In an exclusive final interview, Angelo Bertolotti, Brittany’s father, casts doubt on the conclusion that she died of natural causes and reveals bizarre allegations against other family members. Featured in the special are intimate interviews, in-depth access to forensic details and alternative explanations about Murphy’s death.
World of Dance
NBC, 10pm
Season Premiere!
Dance superstars Jennifer Lopez (who is also an executive producer), Ne-Yo and Derek Hough are back on the judging panel as the dance competition series returns for its fourth season. In round one of the Qualifiers, the competition gets turned on its head as the judges surprise contestants, who must now first perform in a stripped-down warehouse to prove they have what it takes.
If Loving You Is Wrong: “The Great Escape”
OWN, 10pm
Tonight on Tyler Perry’s primetime soap: Eddie Willis’ (Joel Rush) evil ways have left his karmic bank balance at zero, but he still thinks he can come out on top versus his ex Esperanza (Zulay Henao) in their custody battle over tween daughter Mika (Celine Areu).
Wednesday, May 27
Game On!
CBS, 8pm
New Series!
Keegan-Michael Key hosts this competition series that celebrates the entertainment side of sports. NFL star Rob Gronkowski and comedian Bobby Lee’s Team Gronk takes on tennis champ Venus Williams and comedian Ian Karmel’s Team Venus in a variety of outrageous athletic challenges and epic contests. Special guests in the series premiere are comedian Gabriel Iglesias joining Team Gronk and basketball player J.R. Smith on Team Venus.
NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway
FS1, 8pm Live
NASCAR’s season revival continues with a rare Wednesday night 500 km Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, just three days after the Coca-Cola 600 was run at the track. There will be no fans in attendance, and teams, officials and track personnel will have added safety measures. Joey Logano hopes to be back on a roll after winning two early-season Cup Series races.
Beverly Hills Cop
Paramount Network, 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Eddie Murphy was at the height of his ’80s box-office charisma in this exciting and funny 1984 action comedy in which he plays Detroit cop Axel Foley (cue composer Harold Faltermeyer’s iconic instrumental theme song “Axel F”), who finds himself in a very different environment when he goes to Beverly Hills to investigate a friend’s murder. Judge Reinhold and John Ashton costar as the local cops who help Foley in spite of themselves. The box-office smash started a trend of ’80s cop comedies as well as films with Beverly Hills (fill in the blank) in their titles, but none of them — including this movie’s own two sequels — compare to the original.
Ghost Hunters: “Ghost Hunters Return to Waverly Hills”
A&E, 9pm
Season Finale!
Dubbed one of the “most haunted places on earth,” Waverly Hills Sanatorium has long been hailed as a mecca for paranormal investigators from all around the globe. It is also the site of some of the most striking paranormal encounters from the original Ghost Hunters. Now, the new owners have been receiving reports of unsettling new paranormal claims from visitors.
Man Fire Food: “Florida Heat”
Cooking Channel, 9pm
Roger Mooking cruises the Florida coastline for two fiery cookouts that bring the heat. First, he visits the modern Peruvian eatery Llama Restaurant in St. Augustine, Fla., to check out an ancient, Peruvian-style pit roast called pachamanca. Roger then heads to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Georgia Pig BBQ, a legendary old-school, open-pit barbecue restaurant that has been around since 1953.
Ultimate Tag: “Real Men Do Cry”
FOX, 9pm
More Taggers are introduced and six new contestants fight it out in the new episode “Real Men Do Cry.”
Disappeared in the Darkness: An ID Mystery
Investigation Discovery, 9pm
This two-hour special explores the disappearance and probable murder of Heather Elvis, a young woman from Myrtle Beach, S.C., whose case took the national media by storm. After beginning a relationship with an older, married man she met through work, Heather began receiving threatening texts. She eventually ended the affair but disappeared after a mysterious rendezvous. With extensive archive and bombshell testimony from one of the defendants, this program explores the alternative theories behind the question: What happened to Heather?
Married at First Sight: Australia
Lifetime, 9pm
New Series!
Same concept, different continent. Twelve couples, matched by experts, get hitched, go on a honeymoon and start building a life. Ten weeks later, they decide whether to stay together or say g’day.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
ABC, 10pm
Season Premiere!
Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are thrust backward in time and stranded in 1931 New York City. With the all-new Zephyr set to time-jump at any moment, the team must hurry to find out exactly what happened. If they fail, it would mean disaster for the past, present and future of the world.
American Soul
BET, 10pm
Season Premiere!
The scripted series that dramatizes how Don Cornelius (Sinqua Walls) brought the iconic music series Soul Train to television returns for Season 2. Picking up two years later, in 1975, the season finds Cornelius continuing to manage an assortment of spectacular talent coming to his show while also juggling a complicated family life and his failing personal health.
What We Do in the Shadows: “Collaboration”
FX, 10pm
Vampire familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) already has plenty to worry about, like his ungrateful master and the secret that he’s descended from a slayer. Now he has to contend with the arrival of his predecessor (Jack O’Connell).
Expedition With Steve Backshall: “Oman — Desert Fortress”
PBS, 10pm
Visit the remote and impenetrable Dhofar Mountains in Oman, where Steve Backshall hopes to become the first to climb unexplored cliffs. Along the way, he encounters one of the rarest animals on Earth.
