Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Tuesday, November 10. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Hunting Hitler (History, 10 p.m.): Look, we hope we speak for everyone when we say we miss the halycon days when the old History Channel was our nation’s longform ode to all things World War II, before the network rebranded itself around endless drivel about ancient alien bullshit—you know, like the plot of Prometheus, only somehow dumber—and reality shows whose core appeal was the fact that “pawn” happens to sound a lot like “porn.” Well, we’ve got about one part good news and ten parts bad news, as History is getting back in the World War II game, only in the most reality show-friendly, pseudohistorical way possible: By sending a bunch of bros to Argentina to find out whether Adolf Hitler faked his death and fled there after the war. (Spoiler alert: No, of course he didn’t. Ask literally any historian, though be warned they might punch you in the face for asking.) Sigh—this is all going to end with them pawning Hitler’s crystal skull, isn’t it? Ah well, at least all this History Channel talk has put us in mind of our favorite late-period, wonderfully esoteric Simpsons joke.
Also noted
30 For 30 (ESPN, 8 p.m.): It’s not often that Mike Tyson biting off a man’s ear is the kind of thing that classes up a night of television, but, well, here we are. Admittedly, the documentary lens of 30 For 30 should lend one of the all-time insane moments in boxing’s generally insane history some much-needed scholarly distance, as this 90-minute special looks at both of the bizarre bouts betweens Tyson and Evander Holyfield. Noel Murray will be round later with his thoughts.
The Grinder (Fox, 8:30 p.m.): Tonight’s episode finds Fred Savage’s Stewart asking his dad why he gave his two sons such different advice on how to live their lives, which is surely a question that can be answered by taking a good, long look at Rob Lowe. Seriously, who’s going to give that flawless demigod the same life advice as one of us disgusting mortals? Molly Eichel heard this talk of demigods and would like to make it clear she is prepared to sacrifice a bull if it will please Rob Lowe. (It probably won’t please Rob Lowe. But maybe!)
Drunk History (Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m.): Upon further review, this is by far the most reputable history-related show airing tonight. Come learn about Alexander Graham Bell grabbing the telephone patent, Thomas Edison setting up a turn-of-the-century moviemaking monopoly, and other non-Hitler-related things that actually, you know, happened. Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya thanks you.
Regular coverage
The Mindy Project (Hulu)
Grandfathered (Fox, 8 p.m.)
The Flash (The CW, 8 p.m.)
The Muppets (ABC, 8 p.m.)
Fresh Off The Boat (ABC, 8:30 p.m.)
Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC, 9 p.m.)
Scream Queens (Fox, 9 p.m.)
iZombie (The CW, 9 p.m.)
Manhattan (WGN, 9 p.m.)
Hey, how long is The Bastard Executioner overrunning this week?
The Bastard Executioner (FX, 10 p.m.): Tonight’s episode is running until 11:17, so it’s overrunning a delightfully random 17 minutes. But hey, “Wilkin gains new insight into his holy destiny,” so maybe that extra quarter hour and change is taking a leaf out of the Age Of Ultron playbook and just having our friendly neighborhood bastard executioner splash around in a mystical pool for 17 minutes. Let’s not pretend that’s completely impossible!
Elsewhere in TV Club
Noel Murray’s latest A Very Special Episode looks at the first Ellen episode to depict the main character having sex after coming out. And just because Murray’s features aren’t already ridiculously awesome enough, this one features interviews with episode writer Jane Espenson and showrunner Tim Doyle.
What else is on?
Iwo Jima: From Combat To Comrades (PBS, 8 p.m.): As is pretty much always the case these days, PBS is there to pick up other networks’ slack with a World War II documentary that’s actually about, you know, World War II. Since this is airing in time for Veterans Day, the focus is on four soldiers—three American Marines and a Japanese soldier—who fought at Iwo Jima and later spent the post-war years building friendships between the former warring armies.
Debt Of Honor: Disabled Veterans In American History (PBS, 9 p.m.): This special, on the other hand, explores more than two centuries’ worth of how the United States has treated its disabled veterans, including politicians Tammy Duckworth and Max Cleland and actor J.R. Martinez.
Yukon Men (Discovery, 9 p.m.): “A staple food source is banned by the government in the Season 3 premiere.” Damn you, Justin Trudeau! You’ve not been prime minister a week and already you’re coming for the Yukon Men’s hardtack!
Secret Space Escapes (Science, 10 p.m.): Astronauts share their real stories of near disasters in orbit, with the first episode featuring multiple mishaps on the old Mir space station, including a fire and an out-of-control cargo ship. We’re not totally sure how these are “secret” as opposed to just “poorly publicized,” but what the hey, as long as none of the astronauts recount the time they had to escape Space Hitler, we’re fine with this.
Jackie Brown/Out Of Sight (MovieMax, 6:20 p.m./Showtime 2, 10 p.m.): Hey, it’s the Agent Ray Nicollette Chronicles! That’s right, tonight offers a rare chance (unless you own both DVDs, we guess) to see these two equally stylish—albeit in very different ways, as you’d expect from movies by Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh, respectively—late 90s Elmore Leonard adaptations almost back to back, with Michael Keaton costarring in Jackie Brown and cameoing in Out Of Sight. Also, this can never be said enough: Robert Forster is just ridiculously, ridiculously good in Jackie Brown.
Schindler’s List (TMC, 7 p.m.): Yeah, just in case you needed a more specific reminder why making a show about the Hitler survival conspiracy theories is not cool.
NHL Hockey: Sabres at Lightning (NBC Sports, 7:30 p.m.): If you like hockey at all, you should make time to watch this game, because rookie Buffalo center Jack Eichel has all the makings of being the truth, with some very nice goals and plenty of promising moments in the early days of his career. And, with Edmonton Oilers super rookie Connor McDavid out for the foreseeable future with injury, Eichel is the de facto face of the NHL’s latest youth movement.
In case you missed it AKA let’s all remember the greatest wrestling match in history
WWE Monday Night Raw: Seth Rollins’ injury has legitimately scrambled the WWE’s plans, making tonight’s Raw actually pretty damn important, even if there’s no worse way to have gotten there than with some pretty nasty injuries to the company’s best in-ring talent. So let’s keep things nice and simple this week and turn our attention to a little bit of in-ring wizardry from the great Triple H and the greatest of them all, Shawn Michaels. And what could be greater than these two titans going at it for the glory that is the European title? As always, it’s the post-match promos that really tie it all together, along with Michaels’ parting message to Sergeant Slaughter.
Also, can we agree the D-Generation X crotch chop is the greatest symbol of defiance in human history? Triple H had an all-time great one at the 2008 Royal Rumble.
We’d like to think this is how Davy Crockett met his end when staring down Santa Anna at the Alamo. (We’re idiots.)