After presenting biographies of Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso and Aretha Franklin, the National Geographic series “Genius” (9 p.m. ABC, National Geographic, TV-14) presents “MLK/X,” a joint biography of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
Timed to air during Black History Month, the eight-part biography aims to humanize both figures, recalling anecdotes from their youth and their marriages, departing from the kinds of plaster-saint hagiographies associated with both martyred civil rights leaders.
King (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is first seen as a young man growing up uneasily in the shadow of his father, a renowned minister. Malcolm X’s (Aaron Pierre) background is perhaps better known and has been detailed in the best-selling “Autobiography of Malcolm X,” read by generations of readers.
After an early career in Boston’s underworld, Malcolm embraced Islam while behind bars. He’s seen here in the first episode leading a prison debate team against Ivy League competition, honing his oratorical skills in a stirring denunciation of the death penalty. While Malcolm X has been dead for nearly 60 years, his argument against the inherent injustices of capital punishment continues to resonate, particularly in light of the barbaric nitrogen gas “science experiment” conducted in Alabama just last week.
ABC follows up its broadcast of “Genius” with “Soul of a Nation Presents: X/onerated — The Murder of Malcolm X and 55 Years to Justice” (10:10 p.m.), a look at new evidence in the 1965 murder that cleared the name of Muhammad Abdul Aziz, a man who was wrongfully convicted of Malcolm X’s assassination.
— Peacock streams the three-part documentary profile “Kings From Queens: The Run DMC Story.” It recalls how three young men from Hollis, Queens — Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell — became the unlikely ambassadors of rap/hip-hop to a much wider audience.
While there were certainly earlier pioneers of the music, it’s no exaggeration to suggest that Run DMC’s fame represented the tipping point at which hip hop supplanted guitar-based rock as the preferred music of a younger generation. Their 1986 video collaboration with Aerosmith didn’t just help them cross over to a wider (and whiter) audience, it pretty much announced that Aerosmith’s genre had been eclipsed.
Part of Run DMC’s appeal was that they became stars without ever embracing the trappings of celebrity. Rather, they never stopped presenting themselves as guys from Queens. In a way, they followed in the unlikely footsteps of other Queens-based musical acts, including the Ramones and the Shangri-Las, whose lead singer, Mary Weiss, died on Jan. 19.
Look for interviews with surviving members Simmons and McDaniels, who discuss, among other things, their reactions to the 2002 murder of Jam Master Jay.
— Paramount+ imports the 10-episode South Korean thriller series “A Bloody Lucky Day.” Oh Taek (Lee Sung-min) is an optimistic cab driver whose fortunes change radically when a young man Geum Hyeok-soo (Yoo Yeon-seok) hails his cab and offers a lucrative fare to deliver him to a distant port. Conversation soon reveals that his passenger is a serial killer.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A strangulation case points to an experienced killer on “Law & Order” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— “Farmer Wants a Wife” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) enters its second season of Carhartts and flowers. Country singer Jennifer Nettles is your host.
CULT CHOICE
After more than half a century, director Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi masterpiece “2001” (9 p.m., TCM, TV-PG) remains so iconic that its opening scenes inspired a cheeky homage in the 2023 “Barbie” movie.
SERIES NOTES
Georgie’s spa weekend on “Young Sheldon” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … Auditions continue on “Next Level Chef” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … The season finale of “Press Your Luck” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Alberta’s murder becomes entertaining on “Ghosts” (8:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG).
On two helpings of “So Help Me Todd” (CBS, r, TV-14): Chuck needs a good lawyer (9 p.m.); Margaret’s sick day (10 p.m.) … Victim support on “Law & Order: SVU” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14) … Stabler returns to “Law & Order: Organized Crime” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
John Cena and Kwame Alexander are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Sam Rockwell and Jack Whitehall on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Benson Boone appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (11:35 p.m., ABC).
Larry David and Colleen Clark visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts Thomas Lennon on “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
