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The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards (8 p.m., MTV, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Paramount, VH1) air once again. Highlights include the presentation of the Video Vanguard Award to international star Shakira, a staple of the VMAs since 2000. Another familiar face being honored, Sean “Diddy” Combs will receive the Global Icon Award. He is also nominated for four other awards this year, including two for Best Collaboration, as well as Best Hip-Hop Video and Best R&B Video.
Diddy joins Blackpink, Doja Cat, Kim Petras, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, Sam Smith, Shakira and SZA among the most nominated contenders. Taylor Swift leads with eight nominations.
The first VMA took place in 1984, a time when MTV was best known for airing music videos (and not series like “Jersey Shore.”) Madonna appeared and performed her 1984 hit “Like a Virgin.”
— An unscripted series that has generated a feel-good vibe on two continents, “Welcome to Wrexham” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA) enters its second season.
For the uninitiated, “Wrexham” follows the exploits of Ryan Reynolds (“Deadpool”) and Rob McElhenney (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) after they buy a cellar-dwelling soccer club in a forgotten Welsh mining town.
Both their investment and the series itself were considerable long shots. There was a chance that the people of Wrexham might have resented Hollywood money and the self-promotion a reality series might entail. But the team, the town and the owners have enjoyed a mutual love affair, as the fortunes of the soccer, or football, squad have improved in a way that could have been scripted by the writers of “Ted Lasso.”
As season two begins, the team awaits a visit from King Charles III, ready to bask in the reflected glow of Wrexham magic.
— Other sports programming includes the documentary “Kelce” (Prime Video), profiling Philadelphia Eagles team captain and All-Pro center Jason Kelce. The team and their captain will return to Prime on Sept. 14 with the Thursday Night Football opening game against the Minnesota Vikings.
— Sports contends with serious business in the Paramount+ documentary “Football Must Go On,” which follows Ukraine soccer club Shakhtar Donetsk through the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League season, which coincided with a Russian invasion and a war for independence.
— Movies often arrive complete with a familiar face and bankable star. It’s a far rarer experience to see a film that turns performers into a reliable box office draw. The 1994 thriller “Speed” (10:05 p.m., USA) accomplished that for Sandra Bullock, and the 1997 drama “Good Will Hunting” (8 p.m., HBO) turned experienced actors (and co-writers) Matt Damon and Ben Affleck into A-list celebrities.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Armed robberies on “FBI” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— A fetching interior designer falls for a rugged pilot who runs a home for rescued dogs in the 2020 romance “Love on Harbor Island” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— Panelists from three generations compete on the season finale of “Beat Shazam” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).
— Blood on the catwalk on “FBI: International” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— A filmmaker who attended the first integrated classes in his rural Mississippi school system returns a generation later to see how his small town has changed or remained the same in the 2023 documentary “The Harvest” on “American Experience” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings).
— It’s down to a computer hacker versus a grocery store clerk on the season finale of “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).
— “The Murder Tapes” (9 p.m., ID, TV-14) recalls a 911 call from a stabbing victim trapped in a burning house.
— “Dark Side of the 2000s” (9 p.m., Vice, TV-14) recalls the tiger attack that ended the act of the fabled Vegas team Siegfried & Roy.
— A prison riot endangers an informant on “FBI: Most Wanted” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
A disabled World War II veteran (Robert Ryan) pursues the fellow POW (Van Heflin) who betrayed him and his colleagues in the 1949 drama “Act of Violence” (10 p.m., TCM, TV-PG).
SERIES NOTES
Eleven enter qualifying rounds and face the judgment of the television audience on “America’s Got Talent” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … “Celebrity Family Feud” (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-14) … “Jeopardy! Masters” (9 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … The future of the time-travel project remains uncertain on “Quantum Leap” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG) … “The Chase” (10 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Due to the Writers Guild strike, all late night shows are reruns.
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Melissa McCarthy, Henry Winkler, Iman Vellani and Marcus King on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Janelle Monae and Paul Dano visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).
