TV HIGHLIGHTS

CMT Celebrates Our Heroes: An Artists of the Year Special, 8 PM on CMTV and PARMT and TVL; 10 PM on CMTV: Carrie Underwood, Kristen Bell, Tim McGraw, Kelsea Ballerini, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and Miranda Lambert are among the stellar slate of performers lending their talents to this two-hour special honoring heroes in the ongoing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognition for valiant service will be given to unsung heroes in healthcare, education, business, community leadership, infrastructure, first responders and U.S. military, among other categories.

Movie: The Dark Tower, 8 PM on FX: J.J. Abrams and Ron Howard were among the Hollywood moguls who spent years trying to figure out how to bring Stephen King’s epic literary fantasy to the big screen, but it was Danish filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel who finally got it there in 2017, with a cast headed by Idris Elba as Roland Deschain, the gunslinger who enlists the aid of a young boy (newcomer

Tom Taylor) to stop the villainous Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey).

Forged in Fire: Beat the Judges, 9 PM on HIST; 12:03 AM on HIST: This new reality competition flips the script and turns the tables from the familiar “Forged in Fire” format by having three earlier winners try to best one of the experts who previously sat in judgment of their efforts.: Ben Abbott, Dave Baker or J. Neilson. In the series premiere, “Short Sword Damascus,” a trio of champions return to the forge. After preliminary elimination rounds that task them with forging signature blades and a Khanda, one champion survives to enter their toughest challenge yet: competing against a judge.