Sundance, 11:00 a.m. ET
The most-viewed TV miniseries of all time, ABC’s 1977 adaptation of Alex Haley’s Roots, is televised today in its entirety by Sundance. Worth noting – and, in terms of TV history, worth seeing.
Animal Planet, 3:00 p.m. ET
Animal Planet’s annual Puppy Bowl has been going for 16 years now – which means, in terms of television seasons, it’s already outlasted Dallas, Bonanza, and ER. This year, the teams are Ruff vs. Fluff. Ruff choice.
Fox, 6:30 p.m. ET
Watch for President Trump’s Super Bowl interview. Watch for Michael Bloomberg’s Super Bowl ad. Watch for the halftime show, with both Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. And, between all that, watch the game, with the Kansas City Chiefs battling the equally imposing San Francisco 49ers. And it all looks a bit more regal, wrapped up in Roman numerals. Imagine: That famed New York night club might still be thriving, had it been billed in lights as "Studio LIV."
Showtime, 8:00 p.m. ET
This week, Circus correspondents were split between Iowa and the Senate. The behind-the-scene footage and interviews from each ought to be especially enlightening this week, on the week the Senate voted not to hear new witnesses or view new evidence in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.
HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
You may not want to watch this fifth installment of The Outsider instead of the Super Bowl – but you won’t want to miss it, either. So record it, or watch later this week during one of HBO’s many rerun opportunities.
Fox, 10:30 p.m. ET
SERIES RETURN: It’s always a big and revealing choice when the network televising that year’s Super Bowl chooses the show that will follow it. It’s either the premiere of a new series of which the network is especially proud, or expects to do very well (a gamut that ranges from ABC’s The Wonder Years and NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Street to NBC’s The A Team), or an existing show the network wants to reward, and promote, with a special episode. That latter group includes both ABC’s Alias and Fox’s The Masked Singer, which begins a new cycle of competition tonight. This means that, whoever and whatever is competing on tonight’s musical sound-off, The Masked Singer itself already has won, as Fox’s current favorite child.
HBO, 10:30 p.m. ET
Already in this unflaggingly funny Season 10, Larry David has found new things against which to rail, including belated Happy New Year wishes and the appropriateness of restaurant “side sitting” at tables for two. Tonight, based on the show’s title, he takes at least one new pet peeve out for a walk: “Artificial Fruit.” Go, Larry!