Federer’s Tennis Finale, ‘Evil’ Takes Flight, Baseball Tribute to the Negro Leagues, Behind the Scenes of ‘Slave Play’

Documentary Premiere

For most of the 2000s, men’s professional tennis was dominated by a Big Three: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Their reign is mostly over, a bittersweet acknowledgement of time for them and their fans, and it was an especially emotional transition for Federer, who announced his retirement at age 41 from the pro circuit in 2022. An intimate and revealing documentary follows the reserved yet emotional Federer through the last days before he made it official, with a film crew led by Oscar-winning co-director Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia granted exclusive access. The footage was not intended to be made public, but the result is a film that honors this classy athlete and his legacy to the sport.

Blending terror and laughter as few have been able to accomplish, this terrific series (now in its final season) takes a detour to Rome and the holy Vatican City with priest David (Mike Colter) and his non-believing colleagues Kristen (Katja Herbers) and Ben (Aasif Mandvi). They’re escorting an ancient relic that may contain a piece of Jesus Christ’s cross, and no surprise, the passage isn’t without incident. Back home, Kristen’s raucous quartet of daughters is momentarily subdued by their dad’s mental health setback, but that soon changes when they’re left alone on a dark and stormy night.

Special

7/6c

Major League Baseball presents a very special regular-season game, featuring the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants playing from historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, the USA’s oldest professional baseball park. Former home to the Birmingham Barons and the Negro Leagues’ Birmingham Black Barons, and where Willie Mays — who died at the age of 93 on Tuesday, June 18 — began his pro career in 1948, the park provides a backdrop to a special tribute to the history of the Negro Leagues.

Documentary Premiere

9/8c

Playwright Jeremy O. Harris, whose audacious and controversial Slave Play made a splash on Broadway in 2019, earning 12 Tony nominations, returns to his celebrated creation, debuting as director of a documentary that goes behind the scenes to deconstruct this challenging work. We see Harris directing acting students as they study and perform the text, which takes the form of a workshop in which interracial couples explore and explode racial stereotypes and gender and power norms. A new production, featuring Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington, is scheduled to open this summer in London’s West End.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Summer Olympic Trials (8/7c, NBC): More swimming trials are followed by diving trials at 9:15/8:15c.
• Alone Australia (9:35/8:35c, History Channel): Offering a double dose of survivalist action, the original Alone (8/7c) is joined by Season 2 of the Down Under spinoff, with 10 adventurous souls dropped off on New Zealand’s South Island with only a bow and arrow to hunt for red deer and stout.

ON THE STREAM:

• Hart to Heart (streaming on Peacock): Kevin Hart returns for a fourth season of candid and fun conversation over wine, with guests including Ben Affleck, Andy Samberg, George Lopez, Niecy Nash, Cynthia Erivo and Judd Apatow.
• Perfect Wife: The Disappearance of Sherri Papini (streaming on Hulu): A three-part true-crime docuseries revisits the 2016 disappearance of the California woman whose claim that she was kidnapped turned out to be a hoax.
• America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (streaming on Netflix): Get up close and personal with the iconic cheerleading squad during their 2023-24 season, in a seven-part reality series that follows them from auditions and training camp through the final game.
• Criminal Minds: Evolution (streaming on Paramount+): While more gruesome killings lead to a revelation about the nature of Gold Star, serial killer and current consultant Elias Volt (Zach Gilford) orchestrates an eventful reunion with his estranged family.