American Music Awards, Kevin Costner and ‘The West,’ Simon Cowell’s ‘Talent’ Memories, the Tylenol Murders Scare

American Music Awards

Jennifer Lopez returns after 10 years to host and perform at the 51st edition of the music awards show voted by fans. Among the highlights at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas: Janet Jackson receiving the Icon Award and performing on TV for the first time in seven years, and Rod Stewart accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award, gracing the AMA stage after a 21-year absence. Scheduled performers include Gloria Estefan, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Benson Boone, Lainey Wilson, and Reneé Rapp. Leading the field with 10 nominations: Kendrick Lamar, followed by Post Malone (eight), and Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, and Shaboozey with seven each. Holding the AMA record with 40 previous wins, Taylor Swift could add to her tally with six nominations.

Kevin Costner’s The West

Oscar winner Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves) became enamored with Westerns and their history as a kid, when he reportedly first saw the 1962 epic How the West Was Won. In collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the actor-director-producer serves as host and executive producer of a sweeping eight-part historical docuseries that aims to take an unvarnished look at the culture clash of western expansion. The series opens with two episodes, the first telling the story of Chief Little Turtle of the Miami, who led the Indian Nations of the Northwest Confederacy to a victory over the U.S. Army, which sparked a counteroffensive by General “Mad” Anthony Wayne. The second episode profiles John Colter, a hunter during Lewis and Clark’s famed expedition who clashes with the Blackfeet when he stays behind in the wilderness to become a fur trader.

America’s Got Talent

The hit talent competition launches its 20th season on Tuesday, a milestone that has inspired OG judge Simon Cowell to look back on the many acts — good, bad, and ridiculous — he has observed over the years on America’s Got Talent and Britain’s Got Talent. With AGT host Terry Crews, Cowell shares his “most memorable auditions,” which will surely include Susan Boyle stunning the British panel in 2009 with her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream.” Cowell tends to be a lot nicer than he was during his breakthrough on American Idol, but he’ll likely include a fair amount of turkeys who earned his dismissive buzzer.

Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders

“It was a new way for a mass murder,” says one of the subjects in a three-part true-crime docuseries reliving the 1982 panic after at least seven Chicago residents died from swallowing cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules. The case is still unsolved, though prime suspect James Lewis served time for extortion after sending a letter to Johnson & Johnson asking for $1 million to stop the killing. Directors Yotam Guendelman and Ari Pines say their hope in reopening the case is to give some relief to the victims’ families by “shedding new light through overlooked evidence, unheard testimonies and troubling inconsistencies.”

Mike Birbiglia: The Good Life

Emmy-nominated for his most recent Netflix special, The Old Man & the Pool, the master of observational comedy monologues returns with what he says is his most personal show to date. In The Good Life, Birbiglia reflects on his dad’s recent stroke and how it led him to reassess his own fatherhood. He explains his methods: “I try to probe into what’s most painful in order to figure out what’s most funny.”

INSIDE MONDAY TV:

• Yes, Chef! (8/7c, NBC): The remaining chefs sit with judges Martha Stewart and José Andres to partake in a family-style dinner they all prepared, passing judgment on each other’s food and deciding who will go to the cook-off.
• 90 Day: Hunt for Love (8/7, TLC): In the latest expansion of the 90 Day franchise, eight singles comprised of fan favorites and newbies head to Tulum, Mexico, for another shot to find a soulmate.
• Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie (9/8c, Investigation Discovery): Sherri Papini tells her own side of the story in a four-part docuseries (concluding Tuesday) reliving the media circus surrounding her 2016 disappearance and subsequent arrest after lying to authorities that she was abducted. The series also explores the aftermath of the scandal, including her custody battle with ex-husband Keith to get joint custody of their children.
• Rock the Block (9/8c, HGTV): In the two-hour season finale, the teams scurry to finish their homes and exhaust their budgets before judges Jonathan Scott and Ty Pennington declare a winner.
• Harry Wild (streaming on Acorn TV): Don’t be alarmed by the episode title “The Death of Harry Wild.” It’s Harry’s (Jane Seymour) doppelgänger who’s pushed to her death from a balcony during a crime convention. Still, unnerving.