‘Talent’ Goes Live,‘ Ahsoka’ Takes the Stage, Gators on ‘Untold,’ an ‘Only Murders’ Breakdown, a ‘Justified’ Showdown

8/7c

Get ready to hit your at-home buzzers, because the audition phase of the summer reality hit is over and it’s now America’s turn to decide who moves on to the finals of the gaudy talent competition. The judges are still around—Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara—and they’ll be selecting their own favorites who don’t make the cut to compete for an Instant Save. But the viewers have the power as 11 of the 55 remaining acts take the stage with hopes of making it to the end, winning that $1 million prize and becoming a headline act in the AGT show at the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

10/9c

It’s too glib to say this Emmy-winning sports newsmagazine is going to the dogs, but this month it’s kind of true. The segments all pay tribute to mankind’s best friend, including David Scott’s report on running guide dogs, who’ve been trained to be able to keep up with sight-impaired athletes who are also running enthusiasts. Mary Carillo explores the world of elite dog sports, and Jon Frankel profiles the Mackey family, legends in Iditarod racing who began their mushing tradition of racing dogs a half-century ago.

The sports documentary anthology finishes its monthlong run with a cautionary four-part miniseries about the pursuit and price of fame on the college-football circuit. Nowhere is the scrutiny more intense than at the University of Florida, which hit new highs—but at tremendous cost—when head coach Urban Meyer took over the Gators’ struggling program from 2005 to 2010. His unrelenting regimen produced stars (including Tim Tebow) and won two BCS National Championships, but also cultivated a mystique that turned Gainesville into “Gaines-Vegas.” Meyer and his players weigh in on how it all went down.

9/8c

“The key here is to find a murderer that won’t cost me the Tony,” muses theatrical director Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) as the mystery-comedy brings its show-within-a-show closer to fruition. Center stage this week is Steve Martin, a riot as Charles-Haden Savage, the onetime TV star nervously approaching his comeback—and completely overwhelmed by the complicated show-stopping patter song his constable character is tasked to perform. The harder Charles works at the tricky lyrics, the more he finds himself in psychological blackouts, trapped in a “white room” of madness. Is the show to blame, or could it be second thoughts about having his girlfriend Joy (the great Andrea Martin) move in with him? In crime-related news, their young sidekick Mabel (Selena Gomez) gets an unexpected offer that may be impossible to refuse.

10/9c

With only one more episode to go, the riveting reboot of one of TV’s very best crime drama builds to the inevitable showdown between the Kentucky-bred lawman and U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and his latest nemesis, the psycho “Oklahoma Wildman” Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook). While would-be judge Carolyn Wilder (Aunjanue Ellis) sifts through the ashes of Mansell’s latest crime, Raylan plots to present his prey with the smoking gun that could bring him down—if the vengeful Albanian mob doesn’t get to him first.

Series Premiere

So who is this Ahsoka Tano, you may well ask, if you’re not a Star Wars scholar? (Even casual fans tend to recognize characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Boba Fett, who scored earlier Star Wars spinoffs.) Check out our handy character profile of the former Jedi Knight, introduced in the animated Clone Wars and Rebels series, and just know that Rosario Dawson, as the live-action Ahsoka, speaks softly but wields a mean lightsaber in a humorless spinoff that’s notable for its female-driven power. (Natasha Liu Bordizzo co-stars as Mandalorian rebel Sabine Wren, with a green-skinned Mary Elizabeth Winstead as General Hera Syndulla.) The series launches with two episodes, as Ahsoka begins her hunt for the Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn (to be played, but not quite yet, by Lars Mikkelsen) before opposing forces—including turncoat Baylan Skoll (the late Ray Stevenson)—bring the blue-skinned baddie out of exile to launch a new war.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• Bobby’s Triple Threat (9/8c, Food Network): Bobby Flay hosts this clash of the culinary titans, leaving the cooking to top chefs Tiffany Derry, Michael Voltaggio and Brooke Williamson, who each week go up against another celebrity chef: in the opener, Michael Symon. Guest judge Naomi Pomeroy picks a winner in blind taste tests, with $25,000 going to the champ.
• The Murder Tapes (9/8c, ID): A new season of the true-crime series that uses authentic video footage to tell the story begins with the case of a man found shot dead in a crashed car in Akron, Ohio. Followed by back-to-back new episodes of Crimes Gone Viral (10/9c), a sort of “America’s Most Disturbing Home Videos,” with highlights including a victim who keeps fighting back after being run over, a crossing guard going the extra mile to save a child and a burglar who gets comically stuck.
• Dark Side of the 2000s (9/8c, Vice TV): Should you need a palette cleanser after Monday’s three-hour finale, an installment titled The Bachelor: Every Rose Has Its Thorn examines the pop-culture dating-show phenom and its manipulative practices.