Figure Skating at the Olympics, Explosive Sci-Fi on ‘Discovery’ and ‘Wolves,’ Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s ‘Foodie’ Fun, Frontier Stories

The silence was deafening Tuesday in the NBC broadcasting booth when Russian skater Kamila Valieva (about whom they’d gushed during the team competition) took the ice in the Women’s Figure Skating short program, despite having tested positive for a banned substance. As the Free Skate competition ensues, she’s the favorite to win—but there will be no medal ceremony, placing the entire event under an unfortunate cloud. If you didn’t watch it live at daybreak on Peacock, the skating can be streamed on replay or you can wait for the prime-time package on NBC, which also features live coverage of the halfpipe final in Women’s Freestyle Skiing. Other events covered by NBC, USA, CNBC, streamed live (with replay options) on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app include Women’s Alpine and Freestyle Skiing, Men’s Freestyle and Nordic Combined Skiing, Women’s Speed Skating, Men’s Hockey semifinals and Curling. For complete listings by sport of what and where to watch and when, go to nbcolympics.com/schedule.

The situation is beyond tense in a pivotal chapter of the outer-space spinoff when Capt. Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) takes Discovery in pursuit of her rogue lover, Book (David Ajala), and loose-cannon scientist Ruon Tarka (Shawn Doyle). They’ve fled with the purloined spore drive on a forbidden mission to destroy the mysterious anomaly that blew up Book’s home planet. Burnham is joined by a familiar face, who’s ordered to keep her in check because of her conflict of interest, and as the ships play an exciting game of cat and mouse, the rest of the crew scrambles to find a peaceful way out of this situation.

Change comes quickly to the planet Kepler-22b in a momentous episode of the sci-fi drama, changing the tenuous balance of power in the Tropical Zone. When an alarming medical emergency brings android Mother (Amanda Collin) face to face with her nemesis Marcus (Travis Fimmel) to save the life of someone both cherish, the aftermath forces a confrontation between Mother and the all-powerful AI known as The Trust (reminiscent of the Mighty and Powerful Oz of yore). Also on HBO Max: the Season 1 finale of superhero action-comedy Peacemaker, with the appropriately jokey title “It’s Cow or Never.”

10/9c

Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson mixes martinis—“How dirty do you like it?”—as he gets in the spirit of the humorous cooking competition. He challenges master chefs Kristen Kish, Jeremy Ford and Justin Sutherland to create their own versions of his favorite fast-food treat: Schlotszsky’s Original sandwich, a crispy sourdough bun stuffed with a ton of deli meat. Not to be watched on an empty stomach.

Series Premiere

6/5c

Meet the rugged explorers and mountain men who helped settle the Old West in a series using dramatic recreations to tell their legendary stories. Several of the names will be familiar to all—Daniel Boone, Kit Carson—but Frontier opens with a profile of the lesser-known John Colter, regarded as America’s first survivalist. A hunter and scout for the Lewis and Clark expedition—the explorers named Colter Creek (now Idaho’s Potlatch River) in his honor—Colter chose to stay in the wilderness, discovering Yellowstone’s hot springs and geysers and surviving a grueling encounter with the Blackfoot tribe.

Inside Thursday TV:

• Jeopardy! National College Championship (8/7c, ABC): Winners of earlier games move on to the first round of semifinals.
• Call Me Kat (9/8c, Fox): Oscar (Christopher Rivas) clashes with Randi (Kyla Pratt) when he fills in for vacationing Phil (Leslie Jordan) at the café.
• grown-ish (10/9c, Freeform): A very special episode addresses cultural and personal perceptions of mental health when Jazz (Chloe Bailey) heads back to therapy. Followed by a new episode of Single Drunk Female (10:30/9:30c), in which Sam (Sofia Black-D’Elia) gets an opportunity to restart her writing career. But will the words still come now that she’s sober?
• Big Nate (streaming on Paramount+): Kids TV alert! The popular book and comic strip about the misadventures of sixth-grader Nate comes to animated life, with eight episodes available for binge-watching. Also suitable for family viewing: Season 6 of Trolls: TrollsTopia on Hulu.
• La Fortuna (streaming on AMC+): In the thriller’s Season 1 finale, Frank Wild (Stanley Tucci) pulls out all the stops to keep Alex (Álvaro Mel) from recovering the treasure and delivering it back to Spain.
• The Space: Theatre of Survival (streaming on BroadwayHD): Tony winner James Earl Jones narrates a documentary about The Space Theatre in South Africa and its co-founder, Brian Astbury, who used the art of theater to challenge apartheid laws in the 1970s.