NBC salutes Jimmy Fallon’s 10th anniversary as host of The Tonight Show with a two-hour prime-time special. As The Good Doctor nears its emotional series finale, Antonia Thomas returns as Dr. Claire Browne. The WNBA season kicks off with Caitlin Clark’s pro debut with the Indiana Dream. With its team leader “gone dark,” FBI International welcomes Colin Donnell for the season’s final episodes.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Time flies when you’re having fun playing games in late night. The good news is you don’t have to stay up to watch Jimmy Fallon celebrate a decade as host of The Tonight Show, the pioneering late-night comedy-variety-talk show now in its 70th year. Fallon hosts the two-hour prime-time compilation special (starting at 9/8c), stuffed with clips of famous guests cutting up in lip sync battles, playing with classroom instruments, smashing eggs on their head, playing high-energy Charades and Password (which spawned its own NBC series) and all manner of other good-natured nonsense. You might wish some of the clips played out a bit longer, but they’ve got a lot of ground to cover.
The Good Doctor
TV’s most emotional medical drama nears its end with a special return visit by original cast member Antonia Thomas as Dr. Claire Brown, who’s left her practice in Guatemala so her former colleagues can check out the lump in her breast, which doesn’t appear to be all that serious. But we’ve all seen enough hospital shows to expect complications. While the doctors tend to their friend, Shawn (Freddie Highmore) has a meltdown when he realizes Dr. Glassman (Richard Schiff) is treating recovering addict Hannah (Ruby Kelley, Schiff’s real-life daughter) in his home, risking his medical license. If that weren’t enough, Dr. Park (Will Yun Lee) is scrambling to find a perfect setting for a last-minute wedding to Dr. Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann). Do you sense that this series maybe deserved a longer final season?
WNBA Basketball
Following a record-breaking ratings year for NCAA women’s basketball, the WNBA season kicks off with a double-header featuring No. 1 draft pick Caitlin Clark’s debut with the Indiana Fever, taking on the Connecticut Sun (7:30/6:30c). The second game (approximately 10 pm/ET) features consecutive two-time national champs Las Vegas Aces, aiming for a three-peat as they host the Phoenix Mercury. (The games will be simulcast on Disney+, ESPN+ and ESPN Desportes.)
FBI: International
Team leader Scott Forrester has “gone dark”—operational speak to explain Luke Kleintank’s departure from the series after three seasons—so the Fly Team turns to National Security Agency liaison Brian Lange (Chicago Med alum Colin Donnell) for help when a cyber security executive’s murder in Copenhagen leads to a mass data breach. Donnell will also appear in next week’s season finale, along with Teri Polo, whose role for now is under wraps.
INSIDE TUESDAY TV:
The Voice (8/7c, NBC): In the live semifinals, four of the Top Nine are voted through to the Live Finale, with the five remaining singers competing for the fifth slot.
FBI (8/7c, CBS): Jubal (Jeremy Sisto) is drawn into a case where he knows the lead suspect in the murder of a truck driver whose drug cargo is now flooding New York’s streets. Later, on FBI: Most Wanted (10/9c), the Fugitive Task Force chases the killer of a mob-connected police informant.
Doubling Down with the Derricos (8/7c, TLC): Parents of 14, Karen and Deon open a new season of the reality series with preparations for sending their eldest, Darian, to college. House-shopping puts a strain on the marriage, until Karen’s medical emergency reminds them what’s important in keeping the family together.
Vanderpump Rules (8/7c, Bravo): The first episode in a three-part reunion rehashes the split of Tom Sandoval, grilled over his bad media decisions, and Ariana Madix, who’s triumphing on Broadway in Chicago.
Will Trent (8/7c, ABC): GBI agent Will (Ramón Rodríguez) takes a break to explore family history by heading to Puerto Rico with his uncle Antonio (John Ortiz). Upon their return, he plunges into a case involving Antonio’s old friend.
Alert: Missing Persons Unit (9/8c, Fox): May weddings rarely go smoothly on crime procedurals. Which explains why Captain Nikki (Dania Ramirez) and Detective Mike’s (Ryan Broussard) ceremony in the Season 2 finale is put on hold as the unit searches for master hacker Wayne (Alisha-Marie Ahamed) when she goes missing. There’s also the matter of bringing down Inspector Braun (Gil Bellows) for his connection to the car-bomb murders.
Hostage Rescue (9/8c, The CW): Joining Police 24/7 on a true-crime Tuesday lineup, a new docuseries opens with the story of the Samuelson family, whose resourceful mom keeps her family safe from an armed intruder until police already on a manhunt arrive for a tense standoff.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (9/8c, Starz): The prequel to the hit franchise, starring Tom Blyth as an 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, makes its exclusive premium-cable debut, also available for streaming on the Starz app.
Lap of Legends (10/9c, AMC, BBC America, streaming on The Roku Channel): Williams Racing teams with Michelob ULTRA for an innovative stunt in which Formula 1’s Logan Sergeant races against virtual avatars of legends ranging from 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti to 2009’s Jenson Button in a 15-lap contest.
Frontline (10/9c PBS): The documentary series’ latest, “A Dangerous Assignment: Uncovering Corruption in Maduro’s Venezuela,” explores the risks journalists in Venezuela take to report on local corruption. The episode became especially timely last week when the nation’s top prosecutor targeted the main subject, Roberto Deniz, alleging he was being paid to write critically about the regime.
Pillowcase Murders (streaming on Paramount+): A disturbing three-part docuseries follows the murder spree of Bill Chemirmir, who stayed under the radar while targeting elderly women in a Dallas retirement community, smothering them to make their deaths look natural.
The Killing Kind (streaming on Hulu): A six-part British thriller stars Emma Appleton as defense lawyer Ingrid Lewis, whose handsome client John Webster (Colin Morgan) gets a little too close for comfort, causing her to wonder if he’s her stalker or her savior.
