TV HIGHLIGHTS

NOVA, 9 PM on Ch. 16 and Ch. 48; 1 AM on Ch. 16 and Ch. 48:

A new fivepart, four-week docuseries called “The Planets” launches tonight with “Inner Worlds,” an episode that uses footage and data collected from space missions, plus computer-generated sequences, to explore the four planets closest to our sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. All four of these rocky planets were born around the same time, from the same material, yet only one today thrives with life. The second episode, “Mars,” follows immediately and examines the fascinating “red planet.”

The Strongest Man in History, 10:03 PM on HIST; 1:04 AM on HIST:

The new episode “Strongmen Go West” finds Brian Shaw, Eddie Hall, Robert Oberst and Nick Best interrupting their around-the-world survey of fabled titans of strength with a stop in Cody, Wyo., home of Buffalo Bill’s Rough Riders as well as William Bankier, a strongman who often performed with them. Things take an unexpectedly serious turn, however, when a race that involves lifting and carrying pianos goes wrong, putting Nick’s life on the line.

South Side, 10:30 PM on COM; 11 PM on BET; 11:36 PM on COM:

Set in and around Englewood, a working class neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, this new scripted comedy stars series creators and executive producers Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle as a pair of best friends who just graduated from community college, so now they’re ready to take over the world. Until they pull that off, however, the guys are stuck in their dead-end jobs repossessing furniture for Rent-T-Own. Chandra Russell co-stars; Season 1 guest stars include Lil Rel Howery, LisaRaye McCoy and Jeff Tweedy.