Battle of the Jimmys on ‘Password,’ Joking with Tig Notaro and Mike Birbiglia, March Madness on ‘FBI: Most Wanted,’ ‘Will Trent’ Spoofs ‘Real Housewives’

10/9c

It’s the battle of the late-night Jimmys—Fallon vs. Kimmel—on the prime-time edition of the classic word game, with Emmy-winning host Keke Palmer presiding. Even Fallon, the show’s constant, is impressed with Fallon’s skills. “Maybe we are twins,” he marvels, and they certainly look the part, each clad in dark suits and ties. They’re all high energy and good humor where it matters, with the contestants. And they’re in especially fine form during a round of “passwords that sound naughty but aren’t.”

Special

The deadpan comedian, who occasionally exercises her acting chops on shows like The Morning Show and Star Trek: Discovery, has them rolling in her droll self-deprecating way during a terrific stand-up comedy special from Brooklyn’s majestic Kings Theatre. Directed by her wife Stephanie Allynne, Notaro riffs on parenting and her latest health issues, then spins hilarious anecdotes out of hearing words the wrong way. (If only she had been familiar with Shailene Woodley!)

Special

Have you ever been curious about how the sausage of comedy is made? This fascinating special goes inside the process of creation as gifted monologist Mike Birbiglia (The Old Man and the Pool) works out new material on the road, mining humor from his life. With commentary by jokesters Seth Meyers (an executive producer) and Hasan Minhaj, this Show About Jokes takes comedy seriously.

10/9c

In what feels like a tie-in with this week’s coverage of the NCAA championships, the Fugitive Task Force becomes immersed in the world of college basketball when they’re called to a Queens campus to deal with an active shooter. Earlier in a full night of franchise drama, the FBI (8/7c) team searches for whoever’s behind a series of poison gas attacks, and FBI: International (9/8c) sends the Fly Team to Prague to get justice for an American college student whose allegations of sexual abuse were dismissed by local police.

8/7c

What’s a “Boo Hag?” Quirky Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Will (Ramón Rodríguez) and his partner Faith (Iantha Richardson) are about to find out, when they look into mysterious small-town hauntings. In a separate case, Angie (Erika Christensen) and Ormewood (Jake McLaughlin) investigate a murder behind the scenes of a Real Housewives-style reality show, with The Real Housewives of Atlanta stars Phaedra Parks and Shamea Morton guesting as prime suspects.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• Night Court (8/7c, NBC): Original cast member Marsha Warfield returns as ex-bailiff Roz, bookending Season 2—she was in the opener, and now the season finale—when she loses her wedding venue. Abby (Melissa Rauch), who’s busy setting relationship rules with Jake (Ryan Hansen), offers up the courthouse for Roz’s ceremony. Guests include Julia Duffy (currently seen in the Apple TV+ series Palm Royale) and Gigi Rice, who played opposite John Larroquette (Dan) in his self-titled The John Larroquette Show.
• Extended Family (8:30/7:30c, NBC): The domestic sitcom ends its first season with a most improbable storyline: Julia (Abigail Spencer) asks her ex, Jim (Jon Cryer), to give her and Trey (Donald Faison) pre-marital counseling. Awkward!
• Crime Nation (8/7c, The CW): The true-crime docuseries explores the high-profile case of Gabby Petito, who disappeared in 2021 while on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé Brian Laundrie.
• The Cancer Detectives (9/8c, PBS): An American Experience documentary reveals how Greek immigrant Dr. George “Dr. Pap” Papanicolaou developed the Pap test, now knows as the pap smear, to detect early signs of cervical cancer and how it took decades to get the medical establishment on board. Followed by The Invisible Shield (10/9c), a four-part docuseries that depicts the role of public health institutions in saving lives, including during the 2020 pandemic.
• The Rookie (9/8c, ABC): Officer Aaron Thorsen (Tru Valentino) returns to work after his assault and is put through a gauntlet of high-stress cases to gauge his readiness for active duty.
• Alert: Missing Persons Unit (9/8c, Fox): A case involving a homeless female teen from Philly’s Gayborhood hits home for Kemi (Adeola Role).
• The Truth vs. Alex Jones (9/8c, HBO): A documentary filmed over four years recounts the war against disinformation when parents of young victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre filed defamation lawsuits against Alex Jones and his InfoWars website after he spread claims that the tragedy was a fabrication.
• Shōgun (10/9c, FX): While Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) regroups after the devastating earthquake in Ajiro, his nemesis Lady Ochiba (Fumi Nikaido), mother of the heir, rallies the Regents in Osaka in her crusade against the man she blames for her father’s death.