It would be a swell night for “Sharknado 2,” but that’s not premiering until Wednesday (make plans now, I’m not kidding). Until then, Syfy gets you ready with a variant with a return of its giant sized Mega Shark. This time, the government has built a robotic replica that will go head to head with it. “Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark” (Syfy, 9 p.m.) stars Christopher Judge, Debbie Gibson and Elisabeth Rohm.
The other original cable movie tonight is “The Choking Game” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.) starring Freya Tingley as a teen who gets into the dangerous game of cutting off oxygen for kicks. Peri Gilpin of “Fraiser” co-stars as her worried mom in the film based on Diana Lopez’s novel “Choke.”
It’s about time TV movies tackled the central teenage problem of The war to end all wars is also the one to fill all Saturday nights “WWI: The First Modern War” (History, 8 p.m.) shows all four episodes consecutively. The first concentrates on tanks as weaponry; at 9 it’s about chemical weapons and at 10, it’s about military airships.
“Sauce boss” Harley Morensten shifts his cooking show from YouTube to cable with the new “Epic Meal Empire” (FYI, 10 p.m.). His first recipes are for excessive items such as whiskey-laced cheeseburger lasagna, doughnut casseroles and cupcakes made with Jack Daniel’s and Coke.
Last year’s sequel “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (Epix, 9 p.m.) makes its cable premiere.
You know it’s a bad Saturday night when there is a live UFC (Fox, 8 p.m.).
The band Phoenix plays a replay of “Austin City Limits” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings).
Also, TV newsmagazines pile up like regular magazines: two hours of “Dateline” (NBC, 8 p.m.), two separate hours of “48 Hours” (CBS, 8 and 10 p.m.) and one of “Nightline Prime” (ABC, 10 ;.m.).
There’s double rerun of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” (ABC, 8 and 9 p.m.), the show that failed to become the H.I.T. it was predicted to be; and “The Blacklist” (NBC, 10 p.m.), which was.
And they run the final burn off episodes you’ll see of “Bad Teacher” (CBS, 9 and 9:30 p.m.). It’s the last of its like until “Bad Judge” this fall.
Poppy and George go to Nashville on “Almost Royal” (BBC America, 10 p.m.).
The two part second season opener of “Cedar Cove” (Hallmark, 8 p.m.) concludes.