Alex Gibney’s unblinking look at the opioid crisis, “The Crime of the Century” (HBO, 9 p.m.), covers some ground we’ve heard before — how pharmaceuticals were relentlessly pushed by their manufacturers, causing hundreds of thousands of heroin addicts and deaths. But he both steps back to examine the very notion that any pain is bad to looking at the roots of the drug problem, onion. and must be eliminated. The investigation, with The Washington Post, also has a chilly deposition from Richard Sackler. The scourge needs a reckoning and this straightforward documentary comes close to igniting it. Part two runs Tuesday.
Mindy Kaling, Maya Rudolph, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Sofia Vergara, Kate McKinnon are among those included in the special “Lifetime Presents Variety’s Power of Women: The Comedians” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.).
A snapshot of the modern economy is seen through the stories of two working mothers and a childcare provider in New Rochelle, N.Y., in the film “Through the Night,” making its debut at “POV” (PBS, 10 p.m., check local listings).
“Race to the Center of the Earth” (National Geographic, 10 p.m.) names a $1 million winner.
The Danish import “Blinded — Those Who Kill” (Acorn TV, streaming) looks into the deaths of three young men killed within a few months.
The Welsh thriller “Keeping Faith” (Acorn TV, streaming) ends its third season.