PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
DOCUMENTARY SERIES PREMIERE: With his multipart series Jazz, Ken Burns and company made a case for the originality and development of a quintessentially American musical genre. That was 18 years ago. And now, even more confident, accomplished and focused, Burns and his team turn their attention to Country Music, which has roots and tendrils that stretch to even more places in America’s history and emotional memory. Longtime Burns collaborator Dayton Duncan is the writer, Burns is the director, and Country Music starts out of the gate as yet another of Burns’ “race and place” triumphs. Tonight’s opener is the musicologist’s equivalent of a superhero origin story, tracing the beginnings of country music to a few specific locations, and dramatizing the discovery and popularity of the genre’s first, still influential stars, the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. Want to know about the development of the guitar-picking style of the former, or the yodeling of the latter? It’s all here, and more, told in smart, methodical, engrossing style. Check local listings. For full reviews, see the carousel above Best Bets. You might get the idea we think it's worth watching.
AXS TV, 8:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: I like it when like-minded, and similarly talented, artists get together to talk craft. I liked it, for example, when David Steinberg talked one-on-one with fellow comedians on his talk show Inside Comedy. And now here comes Paul Shaffer, the musical Zelig who ran the bands for both David Letterman’s talk shows and the early Saturday Night Live, not to mention a bunch of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, talking music one-on-one with a series of musician, with instruments at the ready. And given Shaffer’s tenure in show business, this series could run for a decade before he runs out of guests with whom he’s performed on stage. The guest for his opening show: guitarist Joe Walsh, not only a successful solo artist, and member of both The James Gang and The Eagles, but – and I doubt this will come up in tonight’s TV program – one of the Kent State University students who was present at the National Guard shootings of students in 1970. Just another oddball fact, brought to you by the folks at TVWW.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Peter Fonda died last month, and TCM is devoting tonight’s lineup to a prime-time double feature of his films. Starting things off at 8 p.m. ET is his late-career highlight Ulee’s Gold, from 1997, in which he stars as a loner and beekeeper. Then, at 10 p.m. ET, is his most famous film: 1969’s Easy Rider (pictured), in which he starred as a drug-running hippie biker opposite Dennis Hopper, who also directed, and a young wannabe actor named Jack Nicholson.
HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
The power play in play in tonight’s episode is so ruthless and obvious, and the stakes so high, that calling it a power play minimizes its nastiness. This is no game, and no one is playing.
Comedy Central, 10:00 p.m. ET
SPECIAL PREMIERE: Comedy Central champion roastmaster Jeff Ross gives this show’s guest of dishonor, Alec Baldwin, some sharp jabs about his Donald Trump impression on Saturday Night Live – but the most cutting knives of all may come from family. One of the guest roasters is Ireland Baldwin, Alec’s daughter, whom he infamously berated in a nasty voicemail message to her that went public. Tonight: Her revenge, served cold.
Showtime, 10:00 p.m. ET
At the climax of last week’s episode, Kirsten Dunst’s Krystal finally discovered the way to get on an equal footing with her FAM home-merchandise-salesman boss Cody, and make him accept her as an equal partner: She slapped him a few times, grabbed him by the neck, dropped him to his knees, and had her way with him in a manner that certainly wasn’t an established part of the FAM system. As a result, this week their teamwork is working on a higher level, and they both get invited to a work retreat to meet the FAM founder himself.
HBO, 11:15 p.m. ET
Tonight, the topics from last week will include the most recent debate among Democratic hopefuls for the 2020 presidential race. There are other topics, too, but that one, for John Oliver, would be more than enough…