Science Channel, 7:00 p.m. ET
For those who missed this wholly entertaining travel series the first time around, here’s a great opportunity to correct that oversight. Karl Pilkington, one of Ricky Gervais’ sometimes unwilling co-conspirators, is sent across the globe – sometimes to do and see what he wants, other times to have places and activities foist upon him. You won’t see many travel series where the host, for the most part, would rather not travel, but that’s the secret ingredient that makes An Idiot Abroad so much fun. That, and Pilkington’s unique perspective on things, which makes for one of the most honest international travel guides since Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Greta Garbo is an undiluted movie star in this 1936 melodrama, playing a Parisian courtesan who is torn between two very different men – and beset with an increasingly serious illness. Robert Taylor and Lionel Barrymore co-star.
PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET
Bonnie Raitt, performing songs from her first album in seven years, visits Austin City Limits to strut her stuff, strum her guitar, and demonstrate, once again, that she somehow keeps getting better as she gets older. I’ll have what she’s having. Check local listings.
HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
There’s an odd imbalance to this new HBO telemovie, which tells of the brief and by all accounts troubled film career of actress Tippi Hedren, who was “discovered” by Alfred Hitchcock and starred in his The Birds and Marnie. It’s told entirely from Hedren’s Birds-eye view, which means we must accept at face value her account of the director’s behind-the-scenes misogyny, sexual harassment and intentionally shocking off-color limericks. In this docudrama, Sienna Miller captures Hedren’s icy look, but even with all the script’s sympathy thrown her way, embodies less of an intriguing character than Tony Jones’ Hitchcock. And by choosing to all but avoid Sean Connery (the co-star of Marnie) and most of the visual set pieces of The Birds, The Girl does itself no favors. It’s a curiosity worth watching – but unlike many films by the real Hitchcock, it’s no classic.
NBC, 11:29 p.m. ET
Bruno Mars is both the guest host and musical guest of this week’s new show – so if he’s your favorite Martian, make sure to tune in.