TV best bets for the week of May 24
Sunday, May 24
“Naked and Afraid XL”
Discovery Channel, 8 p.m.
Season premiere
This new season of the survival competition series kicks off with a two-hour premiere. The challenge is taken to the next level as individuals work to prove their worth to the group or risk being banished. It is a true survival of the fittest as a new crop of survivalists, including some seeking redemption, look to make their mark on this competition, all while battling unbearable heat and a harsh environment.
“National Memorial Day Concert”
PBS, 8 p.m.
Tune in to the 31st annual broadcast of America’s national night of remembrance, honoring the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, their families at home, and all those who gave their lives for our country.
“Run”
HBO, 10:30 p.m.
Season finale
The raunchy comedy from Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who also guest-stars) comes to a close as traveling exes Ruby (Merritt Wever) and Billy (Domhnall Gleeson) contemplate a future together.
Monday, May 25
“The Titan Games”
NBC, 8 p.m.
Season premiere
Host and executive producer Dwayne Johnson’s competition series returns for season two. 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 to become Titans.
“Grant”
History, 9 p.m.
New miniseries
To tell the famed general and president’s story (airing three consecutive nights starting on Memorial Day), producers drew primarily from Ulysses S. Grant’s memoirs. His 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, Tennessee, 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 Gen. David Petraeus and other well-chosen experts.
“To Catch a Beautician”
VH1, 9 p.m.
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.
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.
“America’s Got Talent”
NBC, 8 p.m.
Season premiere
Season 15 of the talent competition series finds Sofia Vergara joining returning judges 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.
“World of Dance”
NBC, 10 p.m.
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.
Wednesday, May 27
“Game On!”
CBS, 8 p.m.
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 contests. Special guests in the series premiere are comedian Gabriel Iglesias, joining Team Gronk, and basketball player J.R. Smith, on Team Venus.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
ABC, 10 p.m.
Season premiere
Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are thrust back 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. Failure would mean disaster for the past, present and future of the world.
“American Soul”
BET, 10 p.m.
Season premiere
The scripted series that dramatizes how Don Cornelius (Sinqua Walls) brought the iconic music series “Soul Train” to television returns. Picking up two years later, in 1975, season two finds Cornelius continuing to manage an assortment of spectacular talent coming to his show while also juggling a complicated family life and his failing health.
Thursday, May 28
“Who Killed the Co-Ed?”
Investigation Discovery, 9 p.m.
Nineteen-year-old University of North Carolina college student Faith Hedgepeth is found brutally murdered in her off-campus apartment after going out with her roommate the previous night. Evidence at the scene leads police to believe she knew her killer. The murderer left behind a cryptic note, the murder weapon and even DNA, but nearly eight years later, the case is still not solved. With groundbreaking new forensic technologies put to the test, investigators and Faith’s family are confident they will finally find out who killed Faith.
“Blindspot”
NBC, 9 p.m.
When an op goes bad, the team must deal with a proverbial monster in the house before it can take them down one by one. Meanwhile, Director Weitz (Aaron Abrams) is forced into a tense game of psychological chess as Madeline Burke (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) attempts to assess his loyalty and root out a potential mole at the FBI.
“Broke”
CBS, 9:30 p.m.
When Jackie’s (Pauley Perrette) ex-husband, Barry (guest star Kyle Bornheimer), unexpectedly shows up, she seizes the opportunity to gain full custody of Sammy (Antonio Corbo) in the new episode “Barry’s Back.”
Friday, May 29
“Space Force”
Netflix
New series
Former “The Office” colleagues Steve Carell and Greg Daniels reteam as co-creators of this workplace comedy that follows President Donald Trump’s announcement of the Space Force military initiative. Carell also stars in the series as celebrated four-star general Mark R. Naird, who has grand dreams of running the Air Force but is thrown for a loop when he suddenly finds himself instead assigned to lead the new sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Forces — Space Force. Lisa Kudrow and John Malkovich co-star.
“Friday Night In With the Morgans”
AMC, 10 p.m.
“The Walking Dead’s” Jeffrey Dean Morgan and wife Hilarie Burton Morgan lead this lively 22-minute video chat show from their Upstate New York farm, with guests who include both friends (actress Sophia Bush stops by this week) and front-line workers. “It was important for us to (feature) not just actors talking to other actors but also the amazing people in our town, from doctors to small-business owners,” Burton Morgan says. The biggest hurdle? Building a home studio. Admits Morgan: “We had to enlist our 10-year-old son, Gus, to set up the lights and cameras.”
“The Graham Norton Show”
BBC America, 11 p.m.
Just two episodes remain in the Irish host’s “From Home” season. Expect candid chats this week with guests Steve Carell, Dakota Johnson, John Legend and pregnant “American Idol” judge Katy Perry.
Saturday, May 30
“Heartland Docs, DVM”
Nat Geo Wild, 8 p.m.
Season premiere
Married Nebraska veterinarians Ben and Erin Schroeder know it can take a village (or, in their case, a town called Hartington) to help pets in need. The docs turn to locals for help tracking down a lost dog’s owner and finding a canine blood donor to save another pup’s life.
“20/20 on ID Investigates: My Father BTK”
Investigation Discovery, 9 p.m.
Kerri Rawson had an idyllic life growing up in Wichita, Kansas, with her father, mother and brother. During her childhood, a serial killer going by the name “BTK” was terrorizing their community. Kerri remembers her father assuring her that the serial killer taunting their hometown would not hurt her. Years later, her father, Dennis Rader, was positively identified as the BTK Killer. This special installment of “20/20” features Kerri as she comes to terms with the horrific truth about her father.
“A Kiss Before Dying”
TCM, 9:15 p.m.
This classic may be one of the rare film noirs of its era to have been shot in color, but that does not diminish its effectiveness. In this adaptation of Ira Levin’s novel, Robert Wagner plays Bud Corliss, a charming man who stops at nothing to get ahead in life — including murdering the woman (Joanne Woodward) who became pregnant with his child and making it seem a suicide. When he later starts dating the woman’s sister (Virginia Leith), she begins to have suspicions about what really happened to her sibling.
