‘Supergirl’s Final Flight, Paralympics Open, ‘Real Sports,’ ‘David’ and ‘Fort Salem’ Finales

The CW’s Supergirl returns from hiatus to finish out her sixth and final high-flying season. Sports fans can look again to Tokyo as the Paralympics begin. HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel investigates abuse within the world of cheerleading. Cable series on OWN (David Makes Man) and Freeform (Motherland: Fort Salem) wrap their second seasons. A selective critical checklist of notable Tuesday TV:

Jason Behr as Zor-El, Melissa Benoist as Kara in Supergirl
Bettina Strauss/The CW

Supergirl

Filling the time slot vacated by freshman superhero show Superman & Lois, the long-running series featuring Kal-El/Clark Kent’s cousin Kara (Melissa Benoist) returns from a three-month hiatus with the remainder of its sixth and final season. In the episode appropriately titled “Welcome Back, Kara,” Supergirl makes a hero’s entrance to National City alongside her father, Zor-El (original Roswell star Jason Behr), after all that time in captivity in the Phantom Zone. He’ll have to learn how to fit in on Earth, and who better to teach him than his mighty daughter?

Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Logo
NBC

Paralympics Opening Ceremony

The regular Summer Games have been over for two weeks, but all eyes are on Tokyo again as the Paralympics gear up. If you missed the Opening Ceremony when it aired live in the early morning, NBCSN replays the events, welcoming these very special athletes and revealing many of their inspiring stories. Coverage of competition kicks off at 10 pm/ET with swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair ruby and track cycling. (For a full list of events and where and when to watch, go to nbcolympics.com.)

Cheer Abuse Investigation on Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel
Courtesy of HBO

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel

The award-winning sports newsmagazine features a segment from correspondent Mary Carillo, investigating allegations of sexual abuse inside the world of All-Star cheerleading. (Can a Lifetime movie be far behind?) Other segments include Jon Frankel’s report on the boom during the pandemic in through-the-roof sales of collectible sports cards, including the trendy digital Non-Fungible Tokens. In what may be the most fascinating story, David Scott profiles the police department in Marietta, Georgia, which has taken up jiu-jitsu martial-arts training, resulting in a reduction in violent clashes with the community.

Finales: On the second-season finale of OWN’s pensive David Makes Man (9/8c), adult David (Krame Patterson) ends his dealings with shady real-estate developer Joe Padilla (Tony Plana—who’s also appearing on The Good Fight this season). Then he shares a meaningful moment with his younger self (Akili McDowell). Also wrapping its second season: Freeform’s supernatural Motherland: Fort Salem (10/9c), where witch pals Raelle (Taylor Hickson), Abigail (Ashley Nicole Williams) and Tally (Jessica Sutton) take on the legendary witch-hunting Camarilla when they attack the fort.

Inside Tuesday TV:

  • Untold: Caitlyn Jenner (streaming on Netflix): Hard to imagine there’s anything Jenner has left untold, but this docuseries reliving major moments in sports history gives her the opportunity to walk us through her historic Olympic performance in 1976, when the world knew Jenner under a different name. Home videos and reels of newly discovered Olympic footage add new insight into Jenner’s journey.
  • Cold Blooded Alaska (streaming on discovery+): Blending two of TV’s obsessions, Alaska and true crime, a 10-episode docuseries revisits some of the Last Frontier’s grisliest acts and what it took to achieve justice.
  • America’s Got Talent (8/7c, NBC): The winner of “America’s Wildcard,” voted on by fans, takes the final spot in the last round of live quarterfinals. Among the other competitors: two Golden Buzzer winners, quick-change magician Léa Kyle and martial-arts group World Taekwondo Demonstration Team.
  • DC’s Stargirl (8/7c, The CW): Comedian Jim Gaffigan provides the voice for Thunderbolt in an episode where the Justice Society of America consults Thunderbolt en route to a confrontation with The Shade.
  • Fantasy Island (9/8c, Fox): All My Children’s Debbi Morgan lights up the screen as a flamboyant mom who’s desperate to reconnect with her neglected and resentful daughter and her family on the island. But first, she needs to look within before she’s even visible to them again.
  • Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail (10:30/9:30c): Steve Buscemi as no-longer-all-that outlaw Benny the Teen takes the spotlight in the irreverent Western comedy when he splits from the wagon train and takes up with an embattled Native American tribe. He sees himself as their “white savior.” Chief Sleeping Bear (Wes Studi) rightly pegs Benny as “the dumbest man I have ever seen.”