ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET
The three Jeopardy! champions who have won the most prize money in the history of this long-running quiz show are Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer. Last week, they began competing against one another in doubleheader prime-time Jeopardy! mega-contests. Cumulative points from each night of double-decker games results in a winner for that evening – and the first player to claim three wins gets the all-time crown. Last week, three nights of contests were televised, with Jennings winning two and Holzhauer one. The suspense could end tonight with another Jennings victory, or get more intense if Holzhauer wins his second evening and ties with Jennings – or get even more interesting, and competitive, if Rutter notches his first win. Whatever the scenario, this is a lot of fun to watch.
CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET
Tonight’s live event on CNN is the seventh Democratic debate presenting hopeful contenders for that party’s nomination for presidential candidate – and because of the Democratic National Committee’s evolving and increasingly disqualifying rules, the field of debaters has narrowed significantly. The first debate, split into two equal presentations, made room for 20 contenders. And now, on stage, there are six. Tom Steyer’s millions of dollars in TV ads in Iowa have won him a qualifying spot and podium, thanks to his sudden surge in state polls there. He joins Iowa front-runners Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren, as well as persistent contenders Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. Others wait in the wings, or have recently dropped out – but on stage, tonight, the topics should be lively. And that counts whether the topics are major (Senate impeachment trial rules, Russian interference in the coming election, justification for recent actions against Iran) or minor (the recent reported dispute between Warren and Sanders).
Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET
The weekend’s divisional playoffs went pretty much as expected: the higher-ranked teams, given an extra week of rest and to plan, conquered the previous week’s wild-card winners rather easily. The Vikings, after beating the Saints in their wild card match, lost Saturday to the 49ers. The Texans, after beating the Bills, lost Sunday to the Chiefs. And the Seahawks, after beating the Eagles, lost Sunday to the Packers. Two of the three victories were decisive, with only the Seahawks-Packers game competitive to the end. But then there was Saturday’s game featuring the Tennessee Titans, who came off a thrilling wild-card victory against the Patriots to notch another odds-defying win, beating the top-ranked Ravens 28-12. Today’s recap show covers those four games in depth – and has its share of in-house Titans true believers. Titans QB Ryan Tannehill used to be a Miami Dolphin. Hope he's having fun...