‘America’s Got Talent’ Finale, Ellen’s Last Laugh, ‘Murder in a Small Town,’ ‘Frontline’ Examines the Presidential ‘Choice’

America’s Got Talent

A sure sign that fall has officially arrived: the season finale of the summer’s top-rated talent contest. All of the Top 10 will be on hand for the announcement of the $1 million winner, but in classic tradition, the two-hour finale is front-loaded with special guests. Top of the roster is Olympic gymnastics sensation Simone Biles & the Gold Over America Tour, with performances from The Voice coach Michael Bublé, Neal Schon and members of Journey, comedian Gabriel Iglesias, singer-songwriter Andra Day, DJ/producer Steve Aoki, the Las Vegas cast of Magic Mike and AGT alums Detroit Youth Choir.

Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval

With the droll irony that has distinguished her comedy through a successful stand-up career, a groundbreaking sitcom and a long-running hit daytime show, Ellen DeGeneres takes the stage for her first comedy special in six years and which she says is her last. Ever. She riffs about getting “kicked out of show business” after revelations that the “Be Kind to One Another” queen of daytime may not always have been as kind as her image. Now seemingly content with gardening and raising chickens, Ellen still finds absurdities in daily life.

Murder in a Small Town

“Something about small towns, you get to be who you are,” muses newly arrived police chief Karl Alberg (Rossif Sutherland), a soft-spoken and soulful sort who left the big city for British Columbia’s “Sunshine Coast.” In the seaside town of Gibsons, Alberg settles in for some low-key sleuthing in a series based on the novels of L.R. Wright. Sutherland conveys a quiet authority as well as vulnerability in his new relationship with town librarian Cassandra Lee (Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk). In the 90-minute opener, James Cromwell guest-stars as a widower who Alberg suspects may be implicated in the bludgeoning murder of an elderly local.

Frontline

Every presidential election season since 1988, this peerless documentary series takes a deep dive into the life stories of the contenders in The Choice, a parallel investigative biography of the Republican and Democratic candidate. This year’s special, capturing the turbulence of an extraordinary political season, features interviews with biographers, journalists, associates, advisers and critics to present a full picture of the forces that shaped the lives, characters and political ambitions of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Only Murders in the Building

A voicemail from the late Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) leads to suspicion that her killer may be involved with the Only Murders movie production. Among the suspects: screenwriter and podcast fanboy Marshall (Pachinko’s Jin Ha), who gushes over the “classic trio bickering” when they interrogate him. The intrigue leads to a photo shoot that more than lives up to its name. And while there’s plenty of competition, this episode features one of the funniest surprise cameos to date.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• Dancing with the Stars (8/7c, ABC): A double elimination awaits the 13 teams in the second week of competition, dancing to an “Oscars Night” of movie music. While there are several clumsier dancers in this year’s cast than con woman Anna Delvey, it’s hard to remember anyone whose self-absorption brought the ballroom to such a standstill.
• Fly (9/8c, National Geographic): Wicked hasn’t cornered the market on defying gravity. An exhilarating documentary captures the thrills and risks of parachute BASE jumping, profiling three daredevil couples whose love for each other is matched by their love of flying.
• Last Bite Hotel (9/8c, Food Network): Being sent to Room 13 is the penalty in a cooking competition set at a remote hotel where eight chefs work with only the 13 ingredients they’ve brought with them. (Each eliminated player gets to deed their remaining foodstuffs to a challenger.) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Tituss Burgess hosts and plays hotel manager, with VIP guest Marcus Samuelsson the first judge.
• High Potential (10/9c, ABC): “We’re really doing this?” Det. Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) barks when newly minted LAPD consultant Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) returns to work. He’d better get used to it, because she’s essential in cracking their next case, involving the near-murder of a tap dancer who falls — or was pushed — from a rooftop.
• American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez (10/9c, FX): When undergrad football star Aaron (Josh Rivera) struggles with fame and temptation, devout quarterback Tim Tebow (Patrick Schwarzenegger) invites him to church, setting up a battle for the young man’s soul.

 ON THE STREAM:

• We Will Dance Again (streaming on Paramount+): A wrenching documentary captures the horror of the Oct. 7 attack on the Nova Music Festival in Israel by Hamas terrorists. The film includes eyewitness accounts by festival attendees who managed to survive and footage from survivors and from cameras recovered from Hamas.
• Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal (streaming on Hulu): An eight-part docuseries suggests supernatural activity—from UFOs, witches, ghosts and other urban-legend monsters — may be responsible for mysterious crimes.
• Evolution of the Black Quarterback (streaming on Prime Video): Controversial NFL Pro Bowler Michael Vick hosts a three-part sports documentary delving into the historic breakthroughs of Black quarterbacks from pioneers including Marlin Briscoe to such contemporary sensations as Patrick Mahomes.
• Penelope (streaming on Netflix): Megan Stott (Little Fires Everywhere) stars in an eight-part series as a 16-year-old who leaves her family to commune with and live in nature.