‘Genius’ Profiles Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, the Rise of Run-DMC, Carla Hall Chases Flavor, Bachelor Farmers Look for Love

Series Premiere

9/8c

Previous seasons of the docudrama anthology focused on a singular figure of world renown: Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Aretha Franklin. In an unusual and rewarding departure, Genius launches Black History Month with a dual, side-by-side dramatic biographical portrait of the civil-rights era’s two most dominant leaders: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre). They only met once in person, and their views on how to achieve social change were often diametrically opposed, but they shared a passionate goal of equality for Black people, paying the ultimate sacrifice for their crusades. Airing over four weeks, two episodes a week, the limited series features The Walking Dead’s Lennie James as Martin’s father and, in one of his last performances, This Is Us Emmy winner Ron Cephas Jones as Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammed, Malcolm’s spiritual and political mentor. Weruche Opia and Jayme Lawson co-star as Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz, their partners in life and the movement. ABC simulcasts the first hour, and the episodes are available for streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.

Documentary Premiere

“We exploded out of nowhere.” With commentary from surviving members Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, a three-part docuseries charts the rise of hip-hop pioneers Run-DMC, sparking a movement with two turntables and a mixer that would change the sound and face of popular music. Among those weighing in on the rap group’s influence: Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Questlove, Beastie Boys, Chuck D, Doug E. Fresh and MC Lyte.

Series Premiere

Top Chef alum and TV personality Carla Hall headlines a six-part series that’s part travelogue and part culinary adventure. Her goal in Chasing Flavor is to explore the origins of popular American foods by going to the source: in one case, traveling to Italy and onward to Turkey for insights into the development of ice cream (or as they say in Italy, gelato). Other stops include Mexico for a crash course in tacos al pastor, Jamaica for the roots of chicken pot pie, and Ghana for a taste of hot chicken, with chef Eric Adjepong for company.

Season Premiere

9/8c

If the current season of The Bachelor leaves you wanting more made-for-the-TV-camera romance, Fox complies with a second season of its life-on-the-ranch reality series, introducing four new bachelor farmers: Missouri’s Ty Ferrell, a 42-year-old divorced dad on a 50-acre farm; Tennessee’s Mitchell Kolinsky, a 27-year-old first-gen farmer residing in a 19^th-century cabin; Colorado’s 29-year-old Brandon Rogers, a potato and barley farmer on 1,000 acres; and Florida’s Nathan Smothers, a 23-year-old citrus and cattle farmer who lives on a 300-acre farm with another 500-acre cattle property. In the opener, each of the farmers welcome eight big-city women into their world, but only five will be invited to stay for the duration.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV

• Pro Bowl Games: Skills Showdown (7 pm/ET, ESPN): The Pro Bowl festivities kick off in Orlando with players showing their mastery of games including precision passing, dodgeball and “kick tac toe.”
• Next Level Chef (8/7c, Fox): No longer riding NFL coattails, the cooking competition moves into its regular time period with eight more home cooks auditioning for five spots.
• The Life: Antron Brown (8/7c, MAVTV): The racing channel profiles the first Black champion in Top Fuel drag-racing history.
• Son of a Critch (9/8c, The CW): Now airing an hour later, the nostalgic Canadian family sitcom finds young Mark (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) prepping for the TV quiz bowl Reach for the Top. Will his training pay off once he realizes he’s playing opposite his new crush, Cara (Maya McNair)?
• Law & Order: Organized Crime (10/9c, NBC): Stabler’s (Christopher Meloni) family continues to expand when he’s reunited with his younger brother, Joe Jr. (Michael Trotter). Back on the job, Bell (Danielle Moné Truitt) puts undercover detective Reyes (Rick Gonzalez) on desk duty after an assignment goes awry.

ON THE STREAM:

• A Bloody Lucky Day (streaming on Paramount+): A 10-episode South Korean thriller rides along with a taxi driver (Lee Sumg-min) who thinks he’s struck it rich when he accepts a passenger (Yoo Yeon-seok) for a long and pricey fare, only to realize he’s chauffeur to a serial killer on the run. Mayhem ensues.
• Three Little Birds (streaming on BritBox): From Sir Lenny Henry, inspired by his mother’s history, a period drama follows three Jamaican woman, two sisters and their devout friend, as they leave Jamaica in the 1950s for a new life in London.
• Clone High (streaming on Max): All 10 episodes of Season 2 of the rebooted animated comedy, about the adolescent clones of historical figures, are available for a binge.
• Lunar Lockdown (streaming on ALLBLK): Think Orange Is the New Black on the moon, when an inmate (Laila Odom) is sent to Orion Colony Prison on the lunar surface to serve her sentence, fighting back when she realizes how the prisoners are being exploited. Also new to ALLBLK: the stand-up comedy special Erica Nicole Clark at Levity Live New York.
• The Tourist (streaming on Netflix): After being axed by Max following its first season (with the second already completed), the thriller starring Jamie Dornan as an amnesiac in the Australian outback moves to Netflix. Season 2 drops on Feb. 29.