Dancing to Prince in the Semifinals, Murder in a Larger Town, Toxic Fandom on ‘NCIS,’ Hbo’s ‘Thoughts & Prayers’

Dancing With the Stars

The ballroom will be awash in purple rain for the semifinal round, with the six remaining couples each performing two dances to the music of Prince: one routine in a style they haven’t tackled yet, and the other in a repeat style to show how much they’ve improved during the season. After an opening number set to “Let’s Go Crazy,” the dancers go crazy with the Argentine Tango, Viennese Waltz, Jive, Cha-Cha, Foxtrot, and Paso Doble. After the votes are counted, we’ll find out who makes it to next week’s finals.

Murder in a Small Town

Police chief Karl Alberg (Rossif Sutherland) leaves Gibsons reluctantly for a return trip to his former stomping grounds of Seattle, where he’s reacquainted with the fiendish serial killer Tommy “the Canvas Killer” Cummins. The murderer has designated Karl as the only person to whom he’ll reveal the location of his many victims, offering closure to their families. Karl senses something fishy, and he’s probably right.

NCIS

Shades of Stephen King’s Misery when McGee (Sean Murray) is kidnapped while on a book tour for the latest volume in his Deep Six crime series. The team investigates his “#1 fan” in a case that may also link to a murder involving stolen classified documents. Followed by NCIS: Origins (9/8c), where the death of a young Marine is connected to a previous murder; and NCIS: Sydney (10/9c), which contends with Australia’s first case of the deadly Ebola virus.

Thoughts & Prayers

As HBO’s 1960s-set It: Welcome to Derry reminds us, schools used to promote “duck and cover” drills as a precaution amid fears of nuclear war. Now, schools are much more concerned about the possibility of an active shooter within their walls. An offbeat and unsettling documentary explores the elaborate methods and gadgets schools are turning to in order to avert the growing trend of mass shootings, shining a light on a $3 billion preparedness industry. With teachers engaging in mock battles and weaponized VR simulations, and children learning how to fight back with bulletproof equipment and everyday school supplies, the film reveals just how abnormal the “new normal” has become.

Doc

While Dr. Amy Larsen (Molly Parker) continues pushing herself with risky neurological treatments to recover the eight years of memories lost after a car accident, she’s risking her own comeback at Westside Hospital. “She’s on the road to losing her ability to practice medicine,” warns Amy’s boss, Dr. Joan Ridley (Felicity Huffman), who’s hiding her own medical condition from colleagues. Elsewhere, Jake (Jon Ecker) reels from a personal loss while going to extremes to save a patient.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• Center Stage: Countdown to the CMA Awards — Special Edition of 20/20 (10/9c, ABC): A curtain-raiser for Wednesday’s CMA Awards features Kenny Chesney revisiting the venues in Nashville’s Lower Broadway where he performed before making it big. Also sharing memories, in celebration of the Grand Ole Opry’s 100th anniversary: Lauren Alaina, Gabby Barrett, Dan + Shay, and Russell Dickerson.
• Magnificent Obsession (8/7c, Turner Classic Movies): To mark the 100th birthday (November 17) of Star of the Month Rock Hudson, TCM devotes the night to the movie star’s 1950s collaborations with virtuoso director Douglas Sirk, including the romance co-starring Jane Wyman, followed by All That Heaven Allows (10/9c), Written on the Wind (11:45/10:45c) and The Tarnished Angels (1:45 am/12:45c).
• Squid Game: The Challenge (9 pm/ET, streaming on Netflix): Find out who’s the last player standing, risking everything to take home the $4.56 million prize, in the Season 2 finale.
• Vanguard (streaming on Viaplay): An acclaimed Swedish drama follows the rise of Jan Stenbeck (Swedish Emmy winner Jakob Oftebro), who leaves his career at Morgan Stanley in New York to transform his family’s industrial empire in Sweden into a telecom and media powerhouse, a success gained at personal cost.
• Gerry Dee: Funny You Should Say That (streaming on Netflix): The Canadian comedian (D, Family Feud Canada) delivers a set of observational stand-up comedy, reflecting on his past as a schoolteacher during a set filmed in Montreal during the Just for Laughs festival.