— Still knee-deep in summer, Fox’s fall Thursday night lineup begins to take shape. Sort of. The Jacksonville Jaguars meet the Miami Dolphins in preseason "Thursday Night Football" (8 p.m.).
So, will the rest of "Thursday Night Football" season land up on Fox? Yes and no.
The Sept. 5 regular season opener will be broadcast on NBC. While that’s a Thursday, NBC owns the rights to Sunday Night Football, the NFL’s biggest "show," so that network has the rights to the season’s very first game.
Then the second and third Thursday night games will be broadcast only on the NFL Channel.
But starting in the fourth week, Fox will get to broadcast the rest of the Thursday night season. And so will the NFL Channel. Also beginning week four, Amazon Prime will begin live streaming a number of Thursday night games.
As the broadcaster of the World Series, the rollout of Fox’s fall schedule has long been complicated by baseball broadcasts. But now, Fox’s fall is dedicated to as much sport and spectacle as scripted entertainment.
As detailed above, most Thursday nights belong to football. Friday nights will feature something called "WWE’s Smackdown Live," and Saturday nights will be devoted to college football. And Sunday nights will be impacted by long-running afternoon NFL games, followed by "NFL on Fox" at 7 p.m., if not later.
— Martha’s cast comes off on the series finale of "Baskets" (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA). If this series were any more deadpan, you’d have to check for its pulse. I will miss its strange, sad stories and the all-but-perfect cast, including Martha Kelly, who played Martha as a doormat’s doormat, and of course Louie Anderson, who won an Emmy, and a great deal of affection, for his role as Chip’s mother, Christine.
— TCM’s traditional August "Summer Under the Stars" salutes an often-overlooked actress whose career straddled the silent and early talkie eras. Cast for her beauty in silents, Leila Hyams acted in many cult horror films of the early 1930s, including the scandalously weird 1932 MGM sideshow shocker "Freaks" (8 p.m., TV-PG) and the H.G. Wells adaptation "Island of Lost Souls" (2 a.m., TV-14), also from 1932.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— 2019 Little League World Series action (7:30 p.m., ESPN) live from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of Grit magazine, once known as "America’s Greatest Family Newspaper."
— Golf hijinks unfold on two hours of "Holey Moley" (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG). The second helping (9 p.m.) is the season finale.
— A creep impersonates a physician in the 2019 shocker "Stalked by My Doctor: A Sleepwalker’s Nightmare" (8 p.m., Lifetime Movie Channel, TV-14).
— A judge’s killer may have been someone she sentenced on "FBI" (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— Cat receives a tempting offer on "Reef Break" (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
CULT CHOICE
An angry writer (Jack Nicholson) descends into madness while caretaking a snowbound resort with his wife (Shelley Duvall) and psychic son (Danny Lloyd) in director Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s novel "The Shining" (8 p.m., TMC).
SERIES NOTES
Nobel intentions on "The Big Bang Theory" (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … "The Wall" (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG) … Zed awaits Talon’s return on "The Outpost" (8 p.m., CW, TV-14) … The devil is in the details on "Young Sheldon" (8:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG).
Julie Chen Moonves hosts "Big Brother" (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … Audience participation on "Ellen’s Game of Games" (9 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG) … On two helpings of "Two Sentence Horror Stories" (CW, TV-14): a hospice’s hostile vibes (9 p.m.), a killer targets single moms (9:30 p.m., r).
A woman crashes her therapist’s wedding to accuse him of assault on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Expect Crazy Rich Nation on "The Daily Show With Trevor Noah" (11 p.m., Comedy Central) … Fred Armisen appears on "Conan" (11 p.m., TBS) … Look for Arturo Castro on "Lights Out With David Spade" (11:30 p.m., Comedy Central).
Emma Thompson, Adam Scott and Spiritualized appear on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" (11:35 p.m., CBS, r) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Rachel Brosnahan, Carla Gugino, Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf and Ty Dolla $ign on "The Tonight Show" (11:35 p.m., NBC, r) … Ben Stiller, Robin Thede, Brad Paisley and Max featuring Quinn XCII appear on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (11:35 p.m., ABC, r).
Michael Moore, 2 Chainz and Brian Michael Bendis visit "Late Night With Seth Meyers" (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Michael Sheen, Paul Giamatti and Mumford & Sons appear on "The Late Late Show With James Corden" (12:35 a.m., CBS, r).
