PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
This installment, an unofficial sequel to David Attenborough’s The Private Life of Plants, uses time-lapse photography and other high-tech tricks to let us see plants in a new way: as beings with preferences, motivations, even emotions. According to this, some plants emit a chemical smell – part warning to neighboring plants, part cry of anguish – when they’re hurt. So that smell of freshly mown grass? It’s the olfactory equivalent of a silent scream of pain. It’s like a vegetarian snuff film. But it’s fascinating. Check local listings.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
TCM has a prime-time lineup tonight that invites you to belly up to the Bard. Two Shakespeare movies starring Laurence Olivier are televised tonight, beginning with this 1944 screen version of one of the Bard’s most famous historical plays. Then, at 10:30 p.m. ET, comes 1948’s Hamlet, co-starring Jean Simmons as Ophelia. If you like Shakespeare, Ophelia should be watching this double bill.
ABC, 9:00 p.m. ET
In this new episode, Claire’s stay in the hospital brings her and Phil face to face with their future equivalents: older versions of themselves, and their grown kids, as they visit dad in the next hospital bed. Phil (Ty Burrell) is thrilled by the seeming resemblance to their own lives and relationships; Claire (Julie Bowen), not so much.
BBC America, 9:00 p.m. ET
MINISERIES PREMIERE: Former Doctor Who star David Tennant has the leading role in this spy series set in the years before WWII. Based on the novels by Alan Furst, Spies presents Tennant as a French secret agent who is certain Hitler plans to incite and lead a war, and aims to prove it and try to stop it. His costar, and romantic leading lady, is Janet Montgomery, used to much better effect here than when she starred, with a very different accent, on the CBS series Made in Jersey.
FX, 10:00 p.m. ET
For once, Philip and Elizabeth (Matthew Rhys, Keri Russell) go on the same mission at the same time – but teamwork doesn’t necessarily mean things go more smoothly. In fact, this time, it turns out quite the opposite.