Behind the Scenes With ‘Percy Jackson’ and NASCAR, ‘Quantum Leap’ Returns, ‘Night Court’ Goes to Comic Con

Season Finale

9/8c

When you’ve finished with the fantasy adventure’s Season 1 finale, featuring an epic battle between 12-year-old demigod Percy (Walker Scobell) and God of war Ares (Adam Copeland), plus the final TV performance of Lance Reddick as Olympian king Zeus, you’ll almost certainly be left wanting more. Enter A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a 50-minute documentary featuring the cast and creative team reflecting on the challenges and joys of bringing Rick Riordan’s ever-popular world to life.

Documentary Premiere

In the immersive tradition of the streamer’s sports docuseries about Formula 1, pro football, tennis, golf and other popular pastimes, Full Speed gets an all-access pass to 2023’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Top drivers including Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Dennis Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick open up about their lives and regimen as they steel themselves for the grueling competition to decide who reigns in the world of stock car racing.

10/9c

The time-tripping fantasy returns with a midseason premiere to close out the rest of its second season, wrapping with a two-hour finale on Feb. 20. Where and when and as who Ben (Raymond Lee) will land, nobody can predict, and in the opener, he takes over the body of a bounty hunter in pursuit of a particularly elusive criminal. Back in the more-or-less real world, his hologram partner and ex-fiancé Addison (Caitlin Bassett) has a tough decision to make. Should she tell Ben about the discovery that could be the key to bringing him home?

8/7c

John Larroquette, a multiple Emmy winner for the first incarnation of the courtroom sitcom, is almost unrecognizable under layers of Klingon makeup as the prosecutor-turned-public defender gets into the cosplay spirit. He may be a bit outside the usual Comic Con demographic, but he’ll do whatever it takes to woo his frenemy from Season 1, the great Wendie Malick, returning in seductive Catwoman garb as the vengeful Julianne. Elsewhere, judge Abby (Melissa Rauch) finds her usually sunny spirit tested by the return of a childhood friend (Playing House’s Jessica St. Clair) towards whom she doesn’t feel all that friendly.

Special

10/9c

Frontline takes a deep dive (two and a half hours) into former President Trump’s impending trial on federal conspiracy and obstruction charges connected to the efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The series’ political team, led by director Michael Kirk, examines the work of the Jan. 6 House Select Committee and how it built its case in an attempt to predict how the federal prosecutors and the former president’s defense team will proceed.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• Vanderpump Rules (8/7c, Bravo): The reality series’ 11^th season opens with past and present staffers of Lisa Vanderpump’s L.A. eatery still digesting the fallout of last season’s #Scandoval, when it was revealed that Tom Sandoval was cheating on longtime love Ariana Madix (who’s just beginning a Broadway run in Chicago) with castmate Rachel Leviss.
• Finding Your Roots (8/7c, PBS): Comedians Bob Odenkirk and Iliza Shlesinger get serious with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as he unravels their past. Revelations include Better Call Saul’s Odenkirk learning his fourth great-grandfather fought in the Napoleonic Wars, and his sixth great-grandfather was a German duke.
• La Brea (9/8c, NBC): A raging fire threatens the sinkhole survivors in 10,000 B.C., while in 2021, Gavin (Eoin Macken) meets an important someone with access to an item that could lead him to his missing wife, Eve (Natalie Zea).
• Jack Whitehall: Settle Down (streaming on Netflix): The British comedian and actor (The Afterparty) performs stand-up at London’s 02 Arena, riffing on dogs—a toy poodle when he yearned for a guard dog—and his decision to settle down and become a dad.