your BEST BETS to watch
5 p.m. on (18) 2022 Winter Olympics.
Tonight in Beijing, women’s figure skating gets underway with the short program, in which Russian teens Kamila Valiyeva and Alexandra Trusova are favored to dominate the podium. Team USA’s best hopes lie with 16-year-old Alysa Liu, the twotime U.S. national champion and an upand-coming star. Also here are the third and final runs of the two-man bobsled, the men’s slalom in alpine skiing and the men’s team pursuit in speed skating.
6 p.m. on (87) (19) American Experience.
The new episode “The American Diplomat” chronicles the lives and legacies of three African-American ambassadors — Edward R. Dudley, Terence Todman and Carl Rowan — who rose above historical and institutional racial barriers to earn high-ranking appointments in the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy presidential administrations. At the height of the U.S. civil rights movement, all three of these men were asked to personify the best in American ideals abroad even as they were confronted by discrimination back home, where the U.S. State Department was “pale, male and Yale.”
7 p.m. on (87) (19) Frontline.
Civil rights scholars are very familiar with the sad fates of Emmett Till, James Chaney, Medgar Evers and four little girls in Birmingham, Ala., all of whom were slain in acts of racially motivated violence. The new episode “American Reckoning” takes an engrossing look at the U.S. civil rights era using rare archival footage and the story of a local NAACP leader’s murder in Natchez, Miss.
8 p.m. on (9) (15) The Resident.
During a gender reveal party, a tragic accident puts Jessica’s (Jessica Miesel) brother-in-law in critical condition in the new episode “Viral.” Meanwhile, Conrad, Irving and Trevor (Matt Czuchry, guest stars Tasso Feldman and Miles Fowler) work to help a social media influencer whose life is endangered following a risky cosmetic surgery. Elsewhere, Bell (Bruce Greenwood) is cleared to perform his first surgery since his return, and Billie (Jessica Lucas) must confront her past head-on.
9:30 p.m. on (13) (16) black-ish.
Dre (Anthony Anderson) is sent spinning into a gloom spiral after he finds out that a white co-worker (guest star Reid Scott) has a more formidable sneaker collection than he does in the new episode “Sneakers by the Dozen.” Meanwhile, against the advice of Pops (Laurence Fishburne), Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross) lets Diane (Marsai Martin) skip school for the day. Marcus Scribner and Miles Brown also star.
10 p.m. on (9) (16) Queens.
In the Season 1 finale, “2022,” the Queens are painfully aware of the void left by the absent Brianna (Eve) as they get ready for their induction into the Hip Hop Hall of Fame. Elsewhere, Naomi (Brandy) is waylaid by an old boyfriend who asks some pointed questions about JoJo’s paternity, and Valeria (Nadine Velazquez) wrestles with self-doubt as she prepares to embark on her solo tour. Naturi Naughton also stars.