TV TOP PICKS
6 p.m. on FOX
The Masked Singer and Alter Ego Sneak Peek
This half-hour preview special includes an exclusive look behind the scenes of Fox’s blockbuster game show The Masked Singer, in which celebrity panelists try to guess the identity of performers in elaborate costumes and masks. Some of the final costumes for all-new Season 6 characters are also revealed. Then, host Nick Lachey takes viewers on a backstage tour of his new high-tech series Alter Ego, in which singers from all walks of life perform in the computer-generated form of a favorite avatar.
6 p.m. on MTV
2021 MTV Video Music Awards This annual celebration of excellence in the music video medium returns as an in-person celebration from the Barclays Center in New York. Carried live in most U.S. markets, the special honors the victims of the 9/11 terror attack, airing the day after the 20th anniversary of that tragedy. Justin Bieber leads the field of nominees with seven nods. These 40th anniversary ceremonies include a redesigned “Moon Person” statuette for the winners. Also, Foo Fighters will receive the first U.S. Global Icon Award.
7 p.m. on HBO
Scenes From a Marriage
Oscar Isaac (pictured) (Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker) and Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) star in this new character-driven five-part limited series, a modern adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s classic Swedish drama series. Chastain stars as Mira, an ambitious tech executive feeling unfulfilled by her marriage to Jonathan (Isaac), a cerebral philosophy professor desperate to save their marriage. In the premiere, “Innocence and Panic,” an already tense day takes on additional urgency because of an unexpected event.
8 p.m. on SHOW
American Rust
Emmy winner Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom) stars in this new series adaptation of an acclaimed novel by Philipp Meyer, which is set in the forlorn Rust Belt town of Buell, Pa., just outside Pittsburgh. Iraq War veteran Del Harris (Daniels) tries to keep order in his community as the chief of police, relying on a cocktail of opioids to keep his own post-traumatic stress disorder in check. The story opens with Del investigating a dead body found in an abandoned steel mill. Maura Tierney and Bill Camp also star.