Come on down! Tonight’s episode of “Let’s Make a Deal Primetime” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) celebrates the 60th anniversary of the iconic game show. That’s a diamond jubilee for those keeping score. Host Wayne Brady will croon a special song for the occasion that offers a grand prize of a vintage Aston Martin sports car worth upward of $300,000.
Special tributes recall Monty Hall, the irrepressible Winnipeg-born broadcasting personality who put his stamp on the show starting in 1963. Brady has been associated with the show since 2009.
Speaking of games, Monty Hall’s name has been appropriated by experts in probability and game theory. The “Monty Hall Problem” is loosely based on the show’s format of choosing a door that may or may not hide a prize and the mathematical probability involving one’s guess, or more to the point, second guess. Monty Hall is also a performance space in Jersey City, New Jersey, associated with the freeform radio station and pop culture gem, WFMU.
— Awkwafina narrates the natural history series “A Real Bug’s Life,” streaming on Disney+.
Celebrating remarkable advances in telescopic lenses and film technology, as well as the 25th anniversary of the animated Pixar film “A Bug’s Life,” this delightful series follows tiny insect characters as they make their way through a day on the streets of New York City, the jungles of Costa Rica, a Texas backyard and an African savannah.
In the best Disney tradition, “Life” invests each creature with a distinctive personality and accompanies adventures, from the mundane to the life-threatening, with distinct musical evocations.
Awkwafina’s narration is both informative and whimsical and occasionally studded with references to pop culture and other films.
Also in the Disney tradition, “Life” blends terror and comedy. The story of a jumping spider in Manhattan is nothing short of a tale of paradise lost and regained as he is evicted from a rooftop potted plant by a bigger, meaner spider and has to leap to safety to the mean streets below. We also follow the predatory mantis, bug-eating swallows, common house flies and industrious ants who make the most of a discarded hotdog.
Clearly aimed at young viewers, “Life” deals in the scatological in a subtle manner, but still manages to show how a fancy lady’s dogs might leave excrement on the street that makes its way to her hamburger lunch by way of buzzing flies.
The narrative strength of “Bug’s Life” requires simplification and sanitization. In following a bug as an individual on its own hero’s journey, it can’t show just how crowded the streets and fields and jungles can be, teeming with buzzing competitors for food and attention.
— On a similar theme, “Nature” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) embarks on its “Big Little Journeys” miniseries. While not as tiny as spiders, its stars face similar perils. Two matchstick-sized chameleons engage in a battle for the rights to mate with a nearby female. A tiny Scottish water vole embarks on an epic quest, swimming a lake, climbing up a waterfall and a mountain to find a male partner and raise her pups.
— Bold-faced names Chrissy Teigen and David Chang try their hands at recreating award-winning pizza on the new reality series “Chrissy & Dave Dine Out” (10 p.m., Freeform, TV-14). “Dine” streams on Hulu starting tomorrow.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A face from Archer’s past on “Chicago Med” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— The Dallas Mavericks host the Phoenix Suns in NBA action (8:30 p.m., ABC).
— “FBI True” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14) recalls a major art heist.
CULT CHOICE
An answering service operator (Judy Holliday) becomes involved in her clients’ lives in the 1960 musical comedy “Bells Are Ringing” (5:45 p.m., TCM, TV-G), directed by Vincente Minnelli and co-starring Dean Martin. Look for Jean Stapleton, Frank Gorshin, Hal Linden and saxophonist Gerry Mulligan as well.
SERIES NOTES
“The Price Is Right at Night” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “I Can See Your Voice” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Precinct house politics on “Chicago Fire” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14) … “We Are Family” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Old cases on “Chicago P.D.” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Austin Butler and Kingsley Ben-Adir are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Naomi Watts, Michelle Yeoh and Dustin Ybarra on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … J. Smith-Cameron visits “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
