What’s On: ‘The Story of God with Morgan Freeman,’ ‘Before the Slenderman,’ ‘The Witness’ and more for Monday, January 23
The Story of God with Morgan Freeman (9/8c, National Geographic Channel): Finding new ways to explore issues of faith from multiple perspectives, the provocative series explores “Heaven and Hell” by taking a deep dive into the Native American underworld, investigating exorcisms and the gift of tongues, and interviewing a woman who says she has seen heaven. (But has she seen NBC’s The Good Place?)
Beware the Slenderman (10/9c, HBO): “Chilling” is a word that has oft been used to describe this bizarre incident from 2014, when two 12-year-olds savagely stabbed a classmate nearly to death in the Wisconsin woods, a crime they claimed was at the behest of a fictional boogeyman who only exists on the Internet as an urban myth. The documentary from director Irene Taylor Brodsky interviews the girls’ baffled parents and serves as a cautionary tale of how impressionable minds can be affected by what they experience online. (The same can be said about the current “fake news” phenomenon.)
The Witness (10/9c, PBS, check local listings at pbs.org): Independent Lens revisits the infamous 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese, which became an urban legend of its own when it was reported that 38 witnesses did nothing to prevent the killing. Further reporting 40 years later shed some doubt on the accuracy of this account, and when Kitty’s brother Bill Genovese decided to seek the truth, he and filmmaker James Solomon spent 11 years assembling this documentary to debunk myth from reality.
Inside Monday TV: Hallmark Channel presents highlights of the American Kennel Club’s National Championship dog show, conducted last month in Orlando, in a three-hour special (6/5c) featuring color commentary by canine enthusiast Jerry O’Connell. … Kevin Smith directs an episode of The CW’s Supergirl (8/7c), in which Kara (Melissa Benoist) and Mon-El (Chris Wood) find themselves powerless on a red-sun planet. Also returning from holiday hiatus on The CW: Jane the Virgin (9/8c), in which Jane (Gina Rodriguez) can’t keep her nose out of her mother Xo’s (Andrea Navedo) and ex Rafael’s (Justin Boldoni) affairs. … The ever-appealing Christopher Gorham (Covert Affairs) makes a good impression on Caroline (Beth Behrs) in a guest appearance on CBS’s 2 Broke Girls (9/8c) as the contractor who’s renovating their dessert bar. Naturally, she finds him pretty tasty. … NBC’s where/when-will-they-go-next Timeless (10/9c) makes a stop in the Wild West, as the team pursues Flynn (Goran Visnjic) on a crime spree alongside the notorious Jesse James (Daniel Lissing).
