TV highlights
SUNDAY 7 p.m. on WPXI The Wall
Host Chris Hardwick returns for season three of this feel-good game show, this time with a new twist that makes it possible for players to win even more money. It’s called the Superdrop, with all seven balls raining down in a waterfall drop that takes the total potential prize each night to $13 million. Sound too good to be true? Well, yeah, because with this possibility of greater reward comes increased risk — including the possibility that a player could lose everything.
MONDAY 9 p.m. on HBO The Plot Against America
David Simon (“The Wire”) is cocreator and executive producer of this new six-part limited-series adaptation of Philip Roth’s acclaimed novel, set in a fictional alternate America where aviator-hero and xenophobic populist Charles Lindbergh (Ben Cole, “Happy!”) rises to the American presidency and sets the United States on a path to fascism. These events are viewed primarily through the concerned eyes of a working-class Jewish family in New Jersey.
TUESDAY 8 p.m. on WQED Niall Ferguson’s Networld
In this new three-part series inspired by his book “The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, From the Freemasons to Facebook,” historian and author Niall Ferguson explores the century-old phenomenon of social networking, explaining how understanding the past can enhance insight into current and future events. The opening hour, “Disruption,” focuses on a major network revolution that occurred 500 years ago: the Protestant Reformation. Topics include why social media networks are polarizing and why some ideas go viral.
WEDNESDAY 9:31 p.m. on WTAE American Housewife
Over husband Greg’s (Diedrich Bader) strenuous objections, Katie (Katy Mixon) decides to play matchmaker for his half brother, aka “British Greg” (guest star Ed Weeks), as this hit sitcom returns from hiatus on a new night with “A Very English Scandal.” Meanwhile, Oliver (Daniel DiMaggio) declines to discourage a school rumor about his sexual orientation, hoping to help a closeted gay classmate feel better about himself.
THURSDAY 8:30 p.m. on WPGH Outmatched
The kids’ safe place is put in jeopardy when the basement seriously needs to be repaired and renovated, so they hatch a scheme to persuade Mike and Kay (Jason Biggs, Maggie Lawson) to depart for a night in the new episode “Black Mold.” That leaves Nicole and Brian (Ashley Boettcher, Connor Kalopsis) entrusted with babysitting the younger kids, a responsibility they quickly learn is not nearly as easy as their parents make it look.
FRIDAY 8 p.m. on WPXI The Blacklist
The hit drama returns from hiatus with a midseason premiere consisting of two new back-toback episodes. First, in “Victoria Feinberg,” the Task Force helps Red (James Spader) track a gifted art forger who has complicated Red’s scheme to sell some stolen art pieces. Elsewhere, Liz and Ressler (Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff) share confidences, while Aram’s (Amir Arison) love life becomes increasingly complicated.
SATURDAY 8 p.m. on HBO Movie: X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Ultimately something of a box-office disappointment, this 2019 superhero film — which concluded 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men” movie series — still earned generally warm reviews for its large ensemble cast, much of which returned to familiar characters. The story follows the team of mutants as they struggle to deal with the Phoenix, a dark entity that is unleashed after Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) is struck by a massive blast of energy during a space rescue mission.