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Wednesday, July 8: ‘Tough As Nails’ Competition Celebrates Hardworking Americans

Monty Brinton/CBS 2020 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

All Times Eastern.

Wednesday, July 8

Tough as Nails
CBS, 8pm
New Series!

The Amazing Race’s Phil Keoghan hosts this new 10-episode competition series that celebrates everyday Americans who consider the calluses on their hands a badge of honor. Competitors have their strength, endurance, agility and mental toughness tested in challenges that take place in real-world work environments. One by one, they will be eliminated until the Tough as Nails winner is named. But even after they “punch out” of the individual competition, they will have the opportunity to win additional prizes in the team competitions that continue throughout the season.

Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado
Netflix

Award-winning documentary filmmakers Cristina Costantini (Science Fair) and Kareem Tabsch (The Last Resort) direct this film that looks at Walter Mercado. Every day for decades, the iconic, gender-nonconforming astrologer mesmerized 120 million Latino viewers with his extravagance and positivity, until he vanished from the public eye.

Stateless
Netflix
New Series!

Yvonne Strahovski, Jai Courtney, Dominic West and Cate Blanchett are among the cast in this timely series about four strangers whose lives collide at an immigration detention center in the middle of the Australian desert: an airline hostess on the run from a dangerous cult; an Afghan refugee and his family fleeing persecution; a young father escaping a dead-end job; and a bureaucrat running out of time to contain a national scandal.

The 100: “Anaconda”
The CW, 8pm

This episode serves as a backdoor pilot to a new prequel series in the world of The 100.

Major League Soccer: MLS Is Back Tournament
ESPN, beginning at 8pm Live

Major League Soccer returns to action with the MLS Is Back Tournament, a 54-match, World Cup-style competition played July 8-Aug. 11 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., without fans in attendance. ESPN airs a group stage doubleheader tonight with Inter Miami CF vs. Orlando City SC and Chicago Fire FC vs. Nashville SC. Tournament games air on ESPN, ESPN2, FOX and FS1.

TCM Spotlight: Feel-Good Films: “A Good Laugh”
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!

Some of the most iconic comedies of all time are featured in tonight’s Feel-Good Films lineup, beginning with James Stewart and an imaginary rabbit in Harvey (1950). Then, it’s Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, a leopard and a dinosaur skeleton in Bringing Up Baby (1938); the Marx Brothers turning a crowded stateroom into an iconic comedy sequence in A Night at the Opera (1935); Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel in Mel Brooks’ The Producers (1968); Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936); and Greta Garbo in Ninotchka (1939).

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: “Until We Leave Again”
Bravo, 9pm

Denise and Aaron’s hasty departure from Kyle’s barbecue leaves the other ladies confused and unsettled. Kyle helps Kim through a delicate medical procedure, while Lisa and Erika have a distinctively Beverly Hills “procedure” of their own. Garcelle moves into her new house. Aaron awkwardly comes face-to-face with Erika and Teddi at Sutton’s trunk show.

Ultimate Tag: “Higher, Better, Faster, Stronger”
FOX, 9pm

The competition intensifies in the new episode “Higher, Better, Faster, Stronger” as more contestants enter the arena ready to prove their athletic strengths. Two of them walk away with $10,000.

China: Power and Prosperity
PBS, 10pm

Explore the future of China’s relationship with the U.S., which will help determine the new international order, the dominant technology supporting the world’s communications infrastructure and the global economy.

Thursday, July 9

Japan Sinks: 2020
Netflix
New Series!

This anime series is an adaptation of Sakyo Komatsu’s bestselling science-fiction novel. It follows an ordinary family who is put to the test as a series of massive earthquakes throws Japan into total mayhem.

Burden of Truth: “Shelter From the Storm”
The CW, 8pm
Season Finale!

With the trial against ClearDawn labs fast approaching, Joanna (Kristin Kreuk) and Billy (Peter Mooney) are busy preparing their witnesses and finalizing the evidence. With time running out, Joanna works desperately to save Kodie’s (Sera-Lys McArthur) children from a lasting childhood trauma, when the memory of her own trauma leads her to a big breakthrough at trial.

Max von Sydow Memorial Tribute
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!

Swedish actor Max von Sydow is one of the legendary stars we’ve lost in 2020; he passed away March 8 at age 90. He left his mark on both Swedish and American cinema, and tonight’s film tribute to the actor celebrates both, with an understandably heavy focus on the iconic films he made in Sweden with famed director Ingmar Bergman. The lineup begins with Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), followed by Bergman’s The Seventh Seal (1957), Jan Troell’s The Emigrants (1971) and two more von Sydow/Bergman pairings, The Virgin Spring (1960) and Hour of the Wolf (1968).

Cannonball
USA Network, 8pm
New Series!

Hosted by Rocsi Diaz and WWE Superstar Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, this new 10-episode competition series features contestants from all across America facing off in one of the biggest, wettest, slippery-est water sports competition ever created. From sliding off a 100-foot waterslide to rocketing off one of the world’s fastest drop towers, contestants will battle a variety of water obstacles to win a $10,000 cash prize.

The Real Housewives of New York City: “Not Feeling Jovani”
Bravo, 9pm

Dorinda hosts the women at Blue Stone Manor for a relaxing weekend in the Berkshires. Sonja confronts Luann about paying her less than she deserves to perform in her cabaret show, and Dorinda steps in to defend Sonja. Meanwhile, Elyse approaches Ramona about the current state of their friendship.

In the Dark: “My Pride and Joy”
The CW, 9pm
Season Finale!

In the shocking season finale, betrayal runs deep, and the consequences are devastating.

Labor of Love: “There’s Something About Kristy”
FOX, 9pm

In the new episode “There’s Something About Kristy,” Kristy travels to the hometowns of the final three men in order to get a closer look at what her future could be like with each of them. Upon regrouping in Chicago, she must narrow it down to her final two in a heartbreaking elimination.

Flipping Across America
HGTV, 9pm
New Series!

There is a flipping movement happening across the country where skilled craftsmen and designers are trying to improve their cities one house at a time. In each episode, cameras follow two flippers with similar price points and budgets to see which renovation and design choices will garner the biggest profit.

Blindspot: “Brass Tacks”
NBC, 9pm

With the surviving members of the team captured and held in FBI custody, Madeline (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) and Ivy (Julee Cerda) are in the final stages of their plan, but a few unlikely allies come out from the woodwork, trying to stop them before it’s too late.

Chrisley Knows Best
USA Network, 9pm
Season Premiere!

In Season 8, the chaos in the Chrisley family is at an all-time high. When Savannah presses pause on her plans to marry Nic, Todd struggles to let go of his dream wedding. Grayson is almost a teenager and is sick of being treated like a kid. Chloe is also growing up fast and learns the delicate art of manipulating Todd. Todd finds a new emotion this season when Julie’s hunky badminton instructor awakens a jealous streak. While Julie is not in the market for a new man, Nanny Faye is, which leads her to explore the world of senior speed dating.

The Bold Type: “Love”
Freeform, 10pm

In five short love stories, Kat, Jane, Sutton, Jacqueline and Alex confront challenges in their various relationships, bringing newfound understanding of their partners or creating irreparable rifts between them.

World’s Smallest Woman: Meet Jyoti
TLC, 10pm

Jyoti Amge is the smallest woman in the world, standing 24 inches tall and weighing just 12 pounds. Well-known for her role on American Horror Story, Jyoti (along with her family) visits the U.S. from India to explore career opportunities and soak up American culture, from bowling to shopping to pizza. But Jyoti is also hoping to find an American doctor to address a debilitating health issue she has endured for years — two broken legs.

Friday, July 10

The Old Guard
Netflix
Original Film!
Led by a warrior named Andy (Charlize Theron), a covert group of tight-knit mercenaries with a mysterious inability to die have fought to protect the mortal world for centuries. But when the team is recruited to take on an emergency mission and their extraordinary abilities are suddenly exposed, it’s up to Andy and Nile (KiKi Layne), the newest soldier to join their ranks, to help the group eliminate the threat of those who seek to replicate and monetize their power by any means necessary. The film is based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Greg Rucka.

Special Theme: Directed by John Ford
TCM, beginning at 12pm
Catch a Classic!

John Ford’s films from the 1930s are the subject of today’s marathon celebrating the famed director, and the titles in this lineup — ranging from comedies to historical dramas — demonstrate that he was more than just a terrific director of Westerns. Today’s schedule includes Flesh (1932), Judge Priest (1934), Mary of Scotland (1936), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), The Whole Town’s Talking (1935), Arrowsmith (1931) and The Informer (1935), which earned Ford his first Best Director Oscar nomination and win.

Obsession: Stalked by My Lover
Lifetime, 8pm
Original Film!

In Part 1 of the “Obsession” trilogy, when Madison Turner’s roommate situation falls through, she is forced to quickly find a new one. Using a roommate finder app, Madison chooses attractive and charismatic Blake Collins, who offers to pay three months’ rent up front. Madison and Blake hit it off, and their friendship soon turns romantic. What Madison doesn’t know is that Blake is now using Madison and her wealthy sister Evie to pull off the ultimate score that will set him up for life. Stars Celeste Desjardins, Travis Nelson and Kelly Hope Taylor.

American Masters: “Unladylike2020”
PBS, 9pm

Explore the stories of pioneering women in American politics who advocated for suffrage and civil rights over 100 years ago, including the first women in the U.S. Congress and state Senate, and a cofounder of the NAACP.