TV’s bottomless appetite for true crime series is about to get some Southern cooking. “ATL Homicide” (10 p.m., TV One) offers hourlong looks at real murder cases from the Georgia capital.
Like most of these affairs, it combines acting and re-enacting. Every episode is introduced by retired Atlanta detectives David Quinn and Vince Velazquez, who recall cases from their decades solving murders, jailing the guilty, exonerating the falsely accused and bringing some sense of justice and finality to the families of the victims.
If murder is the most popular subject of cable TV docuseries, money must be a close second. The new series “Deadly Rich” (10 p.m., CNBC) offers both.
Produced by the team behind CNBC’s “American Greed,” the 10-episode “Deadly” shows that wealth provides little protection from homicidal passion. Folks living in baronial estates are just as likely to be murdered by their scorned spouses as the guy in the trailer park.
“Deadly” begins with the murder of Ben Novack Jr., heir to Miami’s Fontainebleau Hotel. Who would have suspected that his stripper wife might have had motivations other than love for marrying into the wealthy family? As in many cases of this sort, Novack’s demise coincided with the release of many dark personal secrets. Other “Deadly” stories will include the tale of the imposter who claimed to be “Clark Rockefeller.”
— The notions of wealth explored in “Deadly Rich” have nothing on the vast fortunes of the oil-producing Gulf States. The “POV” documentary “The Workers Cup” (10 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) looks at efforts to build stadiums and facilities for the 2022 World Cup by following the many migrant workers from Africa and Asia brought to Qatar to do manual labor in gruesome desert heat. Some of the migrants have organized their own football (soccer) teams, vying for the “Workers Cup” as they toil on the future home of the World Cup.
— Combining baking and engineering, creativity and a certain fanboy obsessiveness, “Ridiculous Cakes” (10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., Food, TV-G) showcases cakes baked into pinball machines that actually work, a “Superman”-themed confection and a 4-foot-tall dessert commissioned to honor the 30th anniversary of Discovery’s “Shark Week.”
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Minneapolis hosts the action on “American Ninja Warrior” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
— A scramble to make the top 20 on “So You Think You Can Dance” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).
— Bahamas-bound on “The Bachelorette” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— Grace is encouraged to perjure herself on “Salvation” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— A full moon makes for a busy night on “9-1-1” (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14).
— Faced with new insights, Plum tries to find her footing on “Dietland” (9 p.m., AMC, TV-14).
— The season finale of “People Magazine Investigates: Cults” (9 p.m., ID, TV-14) looks into the Nuwaubian Nation of Moors and its leader, Dwight York.
— Holmes hires an old nemesis to protect his father on “Elementary” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
— Ten men seek favor in the eyes of a woman with an impressive resume on “The Proposal” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— “Unapologetic With Aisha Tyler” (10 p.m., AMC, TV-14) recaps and analyzes “Dietland.”
CULT CHOICE
A killer (Robert Mitchum) poses as a preacher to hunt down the family of a condemned man and find his hidden money in the atmospheric 1955 drama “The Night of the Hunter” (10 p.m., TCM), co-starring Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish. Featuring a screenplay by James Agee, “Night” was the only film directed by actor Charles Laughton. Dismissed as “weird” when it was released, it is now considered an essential cinema classic.
SERIES NOTES
A new landlord is all-business on “Mom” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … Illusionists audition on “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG) … Adam’s kids bring extra guests to the office on “Man With a Plan” (8:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
On two helpings of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” (CW, TV-14), Jonathan Mangum (9 p.m.) Ross Mathews (9:30 p.m., r) … “Dateline” (10 p.m., NBC).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Michael Strahan and Dave Matthews Band on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC, r) … Chris Hayes, Lil Rel Howery, Jennie Vee and Joe Russo visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r).
(Kevin McDonough can be reached at [email protected].)