PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
Liberty Island, home ground for the Statue of Liberty, was swamped by Hurricane Sandy last November, and though Lady Liberty stood firm, the facility’s docks and infrastructure took a beating (see photo). The tourist attraction has been closed for repairs ever since, but is scheduled to reopen July 4, making this an ideal time for PBS to repeat Ken Burns’ 1985 history of the iconic landmark, made five years before his Civil War masterpiece. But even here, the "Ken Burns effect" was very effective. Check local listings.
ESPN, 8:00 p.m. ET
Yesterday, in the latest upset from this year’s early rounds of tennis at Wimbledon, Serena Williams – seeded No. 1 and heavily favored to win the tournament – was beaten in three wildly momentum-changing sets by Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, a No. 23 seed. But you can still watch a Williams sister fight valiantly on TV tonight: ESPN presents a new documentary about big sister Venus Williams, whose toughest tennis battle of 2005 may have taken place off the court. That’s when she began lobbying British politicians, newspapers and other European opinion makers to persuade Wimbledon to provide to its women’s tennis competitors the same amount as their male counterparts.
Sundance, 8:00 p.m. ET
Like Downton Abbey? Of course you do. And that’s why you’ll also like this 2001 movie by Robert Altman, which, long before so many people went venturing down the Abbey road, Altman presented this sprawling, wickedly entertaining story about the guests and servants at a country house in England between the wars. Sound familiar? Well, the similarities are anything but coincidental. Altman’s co-author for this screenplay was Julian Fellowes, who would go on, before the decade was out, to create Downton Abbey. And who are the stars of Gosford Park, this big-screen Downton prototype? Oh, just Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Charles Dance and Ryan Phillippe, that’s all.
BET, 10:30 p.m. ET
This new telemovie stars Gabrielle Union, co-star of NBC’s Life and one of the few black actresses to penetrate the Friends universe, as a TV news anchor on and off the job. It’s the telemovie pilot for a new BET series that already has been ordered, and Union says she’s excited by both its message and its often intimate, sometimes unflattering content.
Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m. ET
SEASON FINALE: Among the sketches in tonight’s season finale is one in which Amy agrees to a three-way, with her boyfriend and… their local pharmacist. And afterward, she’s not happy with her percentage of the proceedings.