‘Only Murders’ in a Haunted Theater, Inside the NFL, Football Movies on TCM, Basketball Hopefuls in Overtime Elite

9/8c

All Broadway theaters have a ghost light, but the Goosebury—where movie star Ben (Paul Rudd) first collapsed on his opening night, foreshadowing his actual murder—may actually be harboring a ghost. That’s what superstitious stage manager Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) believes, anyway, as the cast and crew of Death Rattle Dazzle prepare to return to the spooky theater as a moody thunderstorm rages. Danger lurks on and backstage as the mystery-comedy investigates new leads while revealing the first rule of theater (“Don’t feed Hugh Jackman after midnight”) and addressing the eternal question: “Is SNL still on?”

Season Premiere

8/7c

With the official start of the NFL season just days away, the long-running studio panel series moves to a new network home—and a new host in Emmy-winning analyst Ryan Clark, the former Super Bowl champ safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’ll lead the discussion each week, breaking down highlights and exclusive NFL Films footage, with commentary by fellow panelists and NFL stars Channing Crowder, Jay Cutler, Chad Johnson and Chris Long.

8/7c

Turner Classic Movies is also getting in the gridiron spirit, featuring a lineup of vintage football flicks starting with the 1968 adaptation of George Plimpton’s book about embedding in the Detroit Lions’ training camp (Alan Alda plays Plimpton), followed by 1979’s North Dallas Forty (10/9c), starring Nick Nolte and Mac Davis as football players beginning to feel their age; Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson as pro ballers vying for Jill Clayburgh in 1977’s rom-com Semi-Tough (12:15 am/11:15c); and overnight, the biopics Knute Rockne, All American from 1940 (2:15 am/1:15c) and Burt Lancaster as Jim Thorpe, All American (4 am/3c) from 1951.

Documentary Premiere

Sports fans get a behind-the-scenes look at a new generation of basketball talent in a six-part docuseries that goes inside the world of Overtime Elite, a professional league providing training and education for players from 16 to 20 years old. One Shot follows these young athletes, including NBA draft picks Amen and Ausar Thompson, and their teams as they chase dreams of stardom in the big leagues.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• Tamron Hall (syndicated, check local listings): The Daytime Emmy-winning talk show’s fifth season opens with a performance by Grammy winner Macy Gray and rapper Maino, followed by updates from some of the Tam Fam’s favorite guests.
• America’s Got Talent (8/7c, NBC): America votes on 11 more qualifiers, performing live at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, but we won’t know which two go through to the next round until Wednesday.
• The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (9/8c, Bravo): The Utah group welcomes a new member, Monica Garcia, who’ll fit right in among the drama queens with her outspoken attitude. She arrives on the scene as she’s divorcing her husband for a second time, raising four children on her own while managing a baby products business. This excommunicated ex-Mormon isn’t known for holding her tongue. (If she was, she’d be of no use to Bravo.)
• My Big Fat Fabulous Life (9/8c, TLC): A new season of the reality series joins the Thore family in grieving the loss of Whitney’s mom, Babs, while Whitney prepares a bucket list for her dad to raise his spirits. What she doesn’t expect is the revelation of a sister whose existence is news to her. Followed by a new season of Welcome to Plathville (10/9c), where parents Kim and Barry are headed toward divorce.
• Frontline (10/9c, PBS): The documentary series, collaborating with The Marshall Project and Firelight Media, presents two unsettling reports about the criminal justice system. The first, “Two Strikes,” explores the impact of Florida’s “two strikes” law, which sentences repeat offenders to mandatory maximum sentences. Followed by “Tutwiler,” an emotional account of pregnant women incarcerated in Alabama’s Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women.