COVID has returned many to their backyard gardens, and even the country life. Even famous people. The notion of celebrities working the fields was the subject of the 1942 hit “Farming” for Danny Kaye, filled with bawdy puns and innuendos about folks from George Raft to Mae West rolling in the hay.
Actor Jim Belushi shows off his green thumb in the new reality series “Growing Belushi” (10 p.m., Discovery, TV-14). The star of “According to Jim” has embarked on the career of raising legal cannabis in Southern Oregon. Since 2015, he has expanded from a minimal (and entirely legal) crop to more than 93 acres.
Belushi is more than a cannabis farmer; he has become a strong advocate of the herb’s healing powers. He saw his older brother John Belushi die from an overdose of strong narcotics and has come to believe in the health benefits of legal marijuana. He’ll be joined on the farm by Belushi relatives as well as John’s old sidekick Dan Aykroyd, who will join with Jim in “Blues Brothers” performances.
— TCM spends 24 hours celebrating the movies of Dolores del Rio, a Mexican-American actress who made movies on both sides of the Rio Grande during a career that spanned the silent era to the late 1970s. Often cast as an exotic beauty, she played a Polynesian woman scheduled to be sacrificed to a volcano in the 1932 King Vidor thriller “Bird of Paradise” (9:45 p.m., TV). And you wonder where they got the idea for the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan curiosity “Joe vs. the Volcano”? Del Rio worked with John Ford in the 1947 political drama “The Fugitive” (4 p.m., TV-PG) and Busby Berkeley in “I Live for Love” (10 a.m., TV-G) from 1935. She appeared in the Elvis Presley musical Western “Flaming Star,” not included in this schedule.
A Hollywood star, she made many films in Mexico in the 1940s and 1950, embracing both cultures. That stands in contrast to the trajectory of actress Rita Hayworth. Born Rita Cansino to a Spanish father and trained in Spanish dancing, Hayworth’s early career flourished in Tijuana, and she was later cast in “In Caliente” (11:30 p.m., TV-G) with Del Rio. Columbia Studios moguls thought her name would limit her to “exotic” roles, so she became Rita Hayworth; her natural red hair became blond and her hairline was subject to electrolysis to make her seem more “American.”
It’s illuminating to consider how long such questions of assimilation and “American” images have been discussed. Born in 1904, Del Rio died in 1983, five years after appearing in the Mexican-American production of “The Children of Sanchez.” Hayworth suffered from Alzheimer’s and died at 68 in 1987. For what it’s worth, both actresses were romantically linked to director Orson Welles.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Five acts move to the semifinals on “America’s Got Talent” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
— The Democratic Convention continues (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings, 10 p.m., CBS, NBC, ABC), and in continuing coverage from CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. Tonight’s notable speakers include Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris.
— Studio participation on “Ellen’s Game of Games” (9 p.m., r, NBC, TV-PG).
— Gym class may be impossible, but there’s always time for the new series “Dodgeball Thunderdome” (9 p.m., Discovery, TV-PG).
CULT CHOICE
A therapist (Richard Gere) treats three patients convinced they are the living Jesus in the 2017 drama “Three Christs” (8 p.m., Sho2), adapted from Milton Rokeach’s nonfiction book “The Three Christs of Ypsilanti.”
SERIES NOTES
Julie Chen Moonves hosts “Big Brother” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “MasterChef” (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14) plugs NASCAR … An ugly truth about family time on “United We Fall” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … A new enemy emerges on “The 100” (8 p.m., CW, TV-14) … Beverly’s counter culture on “The Goldbergs” (8:30 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG).
“Tough as Nails” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Harris loses her job on “The Conners” (9 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … I dismembered Momma on “Coroner” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) … Vacation worries on “American Housewife” (9:30 p.m., ABC, r, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
“The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” (11 p.m., Comedy Central) approaches the conventions at a distance … Chris Redd is booked on “Conan” (11 p.m., TBS, r) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Tyler Perry, Maisie Williams and Trevor Daniel on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Sandra Oh, Gayle King and Thomas Land visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).
