Apart from the Amish, reality shows like to shy away from religion, like the rest of television. But when Pentecostals preachers need snakes to handle, it suddenly becomes one of those reptile critter stories. Hence “Snake Salvation” (National Geographic Channel, 9 and 9:30 p.m.).
It follows the practices of Pastor Jamie Coots of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus name that was founded by his grandfather in Middlesboro, K.Y., and a young protege, Pastor Andrew Hamblin, above, who conducts his snake -handling at the Tabernacle Church of God in LaFollette, Tenn.
A more widely seen homily teen tonight will be the President Obama Speech (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, 9 p.m.) on Syria, still scheduled despite the developments of Monday. It’s likely to bump the rest of prime time from 10 minutes to an hour, depending on the network.
That means a later announcement of the male and female winners of “So You Think You Can Dance” (Fox, 8 p.m.) for season 10. It will be between tap dancer Aaron Turner, 25, of Las Vegas and hip-hopper Du-Shaunt ‘FikShun’ Stegall, 18 of Wichita, and between jazz dancer Amy Yakima, 19, of Northville, Mich., and contemporary dancer Jasmine Harper, 20, of Rochester, N.Y. A whole raft of guest judges join for the final decision including Paula Abdul, Adam Shankman and tWitch.
“So You Think You Can Dance” (NBC, 9 p.m.) is finally down to its Final 12. Half of them will be eliminated tomorrow.
As every minute aspect of the dark day gets a documentary profile, here’s one for the “Hero Dogs of 9/11” (Animal Planet, 8 p.m.). (Look for cats next year). This year, it fits with the documentary about bomb sniffing dogs in Afghanistan titled “Glory Hounds” (Animal Planet, 9 p.m.) (and not “Zero Dark Fido”).
You might mistake “King of Thrones” (Destination America, 10 p.m.) is some variant of the George R.R. Martin HBO saga. Instead it’s about bathroom remodelers in Waconia, Minn., where coincidentally, winter is also coming.
Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood from “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” present their own comedy special, “Colin & Brad: Two Man Group” (The CW, 8 p.m.).
In the absence of “The Bachelor” there is “The Bachelor’s Funniest Moments” (ABC, 9 p.m.).
Jim Parsons tries to see if there’s a genetic explanation for his weirdness on a new “Who Do You Think You Are?” (TLC, 9 p.m.).
Not about reptiles: “Catfish: The TV Show” (MTV, 10 p.m.).
“The Heroes of Cosplay” (Syfy, 10 p.m.) are off to Kansas City’s Planet ComiCon, which by all rights should be called ComicCorn.
“Dance Moms” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.) are awfully excited about the National championships in New Orleans. Meanwhile “Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition” (Lifetime, 9 p.m.) continues after.
The premiere of “The Fugawis” (History, 10 p.m.) last week got the network some of its lowest prime time ratings ever.
Seems odd that the network dedicated to financial gambles has a new show, “Money Talks” (CNBC, 9 p.m.) that follows the work of a handicapper who runs the VIP Sports betting facility in Vegas, where he is always trying to drum up business.
Likewise, there’s a “They Shoot Dogs, Don’t They” vibe to the otherwise fast moving “Million Second Quiz” (NBC, 8 p.m.) on night two of a 10 day run. The fact many contestants lined up for days and the winners sleep in public pods has whiffs of desperation common to the modern day.
The Story of Film continues on Turner Classic Movies wit the silent features “Nanook of the North” (8 p.m.), “The Thief of Bagdad” (9:30 p.m.), “The Passion of Joan of Arc” (12:15 a.m.), “The Crowd” (2 a.m.) and “Greed” (5 a.m.) along with the next chapter of “The Story of Film: An Odyssey: 1918-1928 The Triumph of American Film and the First of Its Rebels” (3:45 a.m.).
Daytime Talk
Kelly & Michael: Howie Mandel, Sean Kingston. The View: Valerie Harper, Tristan MacManus, Gloria Estefan. The Talk: Queen Latifah, Antonia Lofaso. Ellen DeGeneres: Simon Cowell, Kelly Rowland. Wendy Williams: Alicia Keys (rerun).
Late Talk
David Letterman: Billy Crystal, Sheryl Crow. Jay Leno: Rose Byrne, Donny Deutsch, Jennifer Nettles. Jimmy Kimmel: Simon Cowell, Stacy Keibler, Gary Clark Jr. Jimmy Fallon: Michelle Pfeiffer, David Cross, Volcano Choir. Craig Ferguson: Anna Faris, Jean-Michel Cousteau. Carson Daly: Byan Fuller, The Iceman, Blue Hawaii (rerun). Tavis Smiley: B.B. King. Arsenio Hall: Ice Cube, Lisa Kudrow, Mac Miller. Jon Stewart: Bill Dedman. Stephen Colbert: Shane Salerno. Conan O’Brien: Simon Pegg, Martin Riese, Local Natives. Chelsea Handler: Maria Sharapova, Liz Carey, Sarah Colonna, Josh Wolf. W. Kumau Bell: Jamie Kilstein, John Fuselgang.