Six months of strikes by actors and writers have inspired some creative recycling. Just days after ABC broadcast the first season episodes of Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building,” NBC airs the first episodes of “Dr. Death” (8 p.m., TV-MA), now streaming on Peacock.
For some time now, networks have become creatively ossified, airing old, franchised chestnuts between musical contests, reality series, game shows and cooking programs. For most of this century, NBC’s basic cable “farm team” — the USA network, churned out more original fare, broadcasting “Monk,” “Psych,” “Suits” and other series that would have worked as well, if not better, on network television. The enduring popularity of “Suits” was proved last year, when the old series became a “new” hit for Netflix and ranked among the most-watched streaming series.
In many ways, NBC’s farm team has moved to Peacock. 2023 saw the emergence of “Poker Face,” a comfortable and whimsical procedural, starring Natasha Lyonne channeling “Columbo” and “The Fugitive” in a popular crime-solving road trip.
Now in its second season and based on a podcast, “Dr. Death” stars Mandy Moore as Benita Alexander, an intrepid journalist writing a profile of dashing throat doctor Paolo Macchiarini (Edgar Ramirez), whose mastery of high-tech gadgets promises miracle cures.
He’s as cool as ice while implanting a new 3D-printed trachea inside a patient who has run out of options. It all seems too good to be true. And on a show named “Dr. Death,” would you expect anything else?
The first season, streaming on Peacock, stars Joshua Jackson (“Dawson’s Creek”) as a rogue neurosurgeon who comes under scrutiny. Jackson was busy last year, having also appeared in the Paramount+ miniseries adaptation of “Fatal Attraction” opposite Lizzy Caplan. It was canceled after one season.
— Diane Sawyer and Rachel Scott host “On the Brink” (8 p.m., ABC), a special report on health emergencies occurring in states that have radically restricted abortion access. Over the course of “Brink,” the correspondents meet with 18 women from 10 states who have sought to terminate their pregnancies after realizing that the fetus they were carrying was no longer viable. In addition to the emotional toll of their ordeals, many of these women faced life-threatening health emergencies.
Sawyer and Scott also met with more than 100 doctors who described the confusing maze of rules that have emerged since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
— Fred MacMurray, fondly remembered for “My Three Sons” and Disney comedies like “Flubber,” starred as a heavy in two films directed by Billy Wilder: “Double Indemnity” and “The Apartment” (10 p.m., TCM, TV-PG). In the latter, he plays a business executive who browbeats his subordinate (Jack Lemmon) into giving him the keys to his place for his secret assignations. Wilder said he got the idea for the movie from watching the 1945 doomed romance “Brief Encounter,” directed by David Lean.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Cedric the Entertainer chooses his favorites on “The Greatest @Home Videos” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) with help from his “Neighborhood” co-star Max Greenfield.
— A real estate agent’s casual suggestion that a family sell their parents’ home is met with emotional backlash in the 2014 romance “Flipping for Christmas” (8 p.m., Hallmark).
— A second chance allows a convict to rise from the ashes on “Fire Country” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— Family dinners loom large on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
Released years before 9/11 and the vaguely defined war on terror, the 1997 sci-fi fantasy “Starship Troopers” (6 p.m., BBC America, TV-14), directed by Paul Verhoeven, created a prescient if campy vision of an authoritarian society, where a hyper-militarism dominates all aspects of a deeply paranoid society. Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer and Denise Richards star as members of an elite squad battling a race of intergalactic insects. Neil Patrick Harris phones in a glib, ironic performance that pretty much defined his later career.
SERIES NOTES
“WWE Friday Night SmackDown” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Dateline” (9 p.m., NBC, r) … “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC).
LATE NIGHT
Adam Kinzinger and Willie Nelson appear on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS, r) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Keith Richards, 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC, r) … Ray Romano, Sebastian Maniscalco and Paul Russell appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (11:35 p.m., ABC).
Tracee Ellis Ross, Mike Birbiglia and Marcus Gilmore visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Adam Carolla, Dat Phan, Jen Kober and Ruperto Vanderpool appear on “Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
