Shark Week Goes ‘Jurassic,’ ‘Kitchen Undercover,’ All About the ISS, ‘Shazam’ Rejoins the Game Show Summer

Jurassic Sharks

In what the channel is calling a first, which is saying something for a franchise in its 38th year, a Shark Week special uses cutting-edge CGI tech to reimagine life under the seas in the prehistoric Jurassic era. In Jurassic Sharks, the first of three new Tuesday offerings, footage from modern expeditions blends with CGI recreations to depict shark activity from a far-distant time. Followed by the more contemporary Jaws vs. Orca (9/8c), in which Dr. Tristan Guttridge investigates attacks on great whites by killer whales, who are also ramming vessels in the Strait of Gibraltar. The evening ends with Chum Island: Catching a Killer (10/9c), set on Australia’s southern coast, where marine biologist Dr. Riley Elliott creates a “chum island” lure to discover which sharks are behind a series of aggressive attacks.

Kitchen Undercover

If Fox‘s Kitchen Nightmares (Tuesdays at 8/7c) isn’t enough for you, Food Network launches its own series about restaurants in distress, featuring star chef Antonia Lofaso and her sous chef Nestor Milian traveling to eateries on the verge of collapse. Their first stop: Gritz N’ Wafflez, which expanded from a ghost kitchen bringing Southern comfort food to L.A. but could use some tough love to bring order to a chaotic business. While Milian joins the staff to get an inside look at the operation, Lofaso watches from a hidden command center, biding her time until she can help guide the owner and employees back on the road to success.

Once Upon A Time in Space

The docuseries explores the origins of the International Space Station, whose assembly began in the late 1990s while Russia’s own Mir station was beginning to show its age. The episode depicts efforts, ultimately unsuccessful, by millionaire Walt Anderson to lease Mir as a commercial space hub. By 2001, Mir would no longer be in orbit, and the future of cooperative space habitation would rest with the ISS. The rest is space history.

Beat Shazam

Back on the lineup after a year’s absence, Beat Shazam rejoins summer TV’s game-show deluge, with Jamie Foxx and DJ daughter Corinne returning as hosts, welcoming three teams of two each week as they compete to identify a song by its music alone. The contestants in the Season 8 opener include former NFL cheerleaders, bartender buddies, and moms who are each other’s best friends. The highest-scoring team gets to play against the Shazam app in the final round, with a potential $1 million grand prize. (Only five teams to date have successfully beat Shazam and reaped the cool million.)

America’s Got Talent

The auditions are officially over, but not the judging. This week, judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara, and Mel B reveal which lucky acts have advanced to the live shows. Perhaps more crucially, the panel also sets the stage for next week’s new Judges’ Callback round, where performers who are seen as less than slam-dunks get a second chance to up their game and impress the judges.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• Kitchen Nightmares (8/7c, Fox): Gordon Ramsay heads to Illinois to address management and staff conflicts at a high-end brunch-oriented restaurant.
• Password (10/9c, NBC): Longtime TV favorite Connie Britton, most recently seen on HBO‘s Rooster, plays the word game opposite Jimmy Fallon.
• Mary Beth Barone: Galaxy Brain (streaming on Netflix): The comedian riffs on being a woman in a male-dominated biz in a stand-up comedy special.