The 2003 romantic comedy “Love Actually” (Showtime 2, 8 p.m.) never got an official sequel despite its popularity, especially at Christmastime. That changes tonight, sort of, in a 15 minute update from writer-director Richard Curtis called “Red Nose Day Actually,” in accordance with “The Red Nose Day Special” (NBC, 10 p.m.) to raise funds and awareness for organizations aiding poor children in the U.S. and abroad.
Hugh Grant, Kiera Knightley, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Andrew Lincoln, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Marcos Brigstocke and Rowan Atkinson are all back from the original cast in the film originally made for BBC One and shown in the UK in March.
For the U.S. premiere tonight, additional scenes include Laura Linney and Patrick Dempsey. (Emma Thompson, Martin Freeman, Rodrigo Santoro did not take part; and Alan Rickman died before production started earlier this year).
That segment is part of the hour-long special hosted (of course) by Chris Hardwick that otherwise features Ben Affleck, Jack Black, Orlando Bloom, Bryan Cranston, Ben Stiller, Patrick Dempsey, Seth Meyers, Kenan Thompson, Mindy Kaling and Julia Roberts, who also appears in a Red Nose Day-themed “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” (NBC, 9 p.m.) in Kenya.
The evening begins with “Celebrity Ninja Warrior” (NBC, 8 p.m.), where the celebrities consist of Derek Hough, Mena Suvari, Erika Christensen, Nikki Glaser and Jeff Dye on the obstacle course.
The new game show “Beat Shazam” (Fox, 8 p.m.) has nothing to do with wailing on Sinbad for his role in the fabled film. It’s actually a techie update of the old “Name that Tune” with Jamie Foxx hosting (though having Sinbad do it would have been a nice touch).
A more direct update comes in a new version of “Love Connection” (Fox, 9 p.m.) with Bravo’s Andy Cohen sitting in Chuck Woolery’s old seat, with probing questions about TV-engineered first dates.
Everything else on broadcast TV is a rerun, save for a penultimate episode of “The Amazing Race” (CBS, 10 p.m.) with the final four teams rushing through Seoul, South Korea, before next week’s finale.
The latest family-oriented property rehab show, “Cyrus vs. Cyrus: Design and Conquer” (Bravo, 10 p.m.) involves neither Miley nor Billy Ray. Instead, it’s Billy Ray’s wife Tish and another daughter, Brandi, renovating in Nashville.
Toni has a health scare in the fifth season finale of “Braxton Family Values” (WeTV, 9 p.m.).
A sixth season starts for “Million Dollar Listing New York” (Bravo, 8 p.m.).
Gossip is sullying “Married at First Sight: Second Chances” (Lifetime, 9:17 p.m.).
Clues drop 20 years later in a gas station killing on “Cold Case Files” (A&E, 9 p.m.).
The inventor of Tupperware is among the “Mysteries at the Museum” (Travel, 9 p.m.).
Veronica is frustrated with her philandering husband on “Second Wives Club” (E!, 8 p.m.).
The kids of “Stranger Things” (Netflix, streaming) perform on “Lip Sync Battle” (Spike, 10 p.m.).
Turner Classic Movies wraps up its month-long Thursday Night Creature Features with “Tarantula” (8 p.m.), “Return of the Fly” (9:30 p.m.), “The Cosmic Monster” (11:15 p.m.), “The Wasp Woman” (12:45 a.m.), “Swamp Thing” (2 a.m.) and “The Killer Shrews” (4 a.m.).
Earlier, it’s all about the impending season: “Summer Stock” (TCM, 6:30 a.m.), “Corvette Summer” (TCM, 8:30 a.m.), “Suddenly, Last Summer” (TCM, 10:30 a.m.), “A Summer Place” (TCM, 12:30 p.m.), “Summer Holiday” (TCM, 2:45 p.m.), “Summer of ’42” (4:30 p.m.) and “In the Good Old Summertime” (6:15 p.m.).
In the NBA playoffs, it’s Cleveland at Boston (TNT, 8:30 p.m.) in game 5 of the east finals.
In the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s Ottawa at Pittsburgh (NBC Sports, 8 p.m.) in game 7 of its east finals.
Baseball includes San Francisco at Cubs (MLB, 2 p.m.), Texas at Boston (MLB, 7 p.m.) and St. Louis at Dodgers (MLB, 10 p.m.).
In soccer’s FIFA U-20 World Cup, it’s France vs. Vietnam (Fox Sports 1, 4 a.m.), Ecuador vs. Saudi Arabia (Fox Sports 2, 4 a.m.), United States vs. Senegal (Fox Sports 1, 7 a.m.) and New Zealand vs. Honduras (Fox Sports 2, 7 a.m.).
In the NCAA softball tournament it’s Alabama at Florida (ESPN, 7 p.m.) and Mississippi at UCLA (ESPN, 9 p.m.) in the super regionals.
Daytime Talk
Kelly and Ryan: Jamie Foxx, Alexandra Daddario, Normani Kordei & Val Chmerkovskiy. The View: Donald Rumsfeld. The Talk: Andy Cohen. Harry Connick: Keith Urban, Gloria Estefan, Lauren Alaina, Ricky Martin. Ellen DeGeneres: Howie Mandel. Wendy Williams: Joe Levy, Lisa Evers, Judge Faith Jenkins. The Real: Nature Naughton.
Late Talk
Stephen Colbert: Oscar Isaac, Laurie Metcalf, April Ryan. Jimmy Kimmel: Jada Pinkett Smith, Jon Bass, Lil Yachty. Jimmy Fallon: Jamie Foxx, Niall Horan. Seth Meyers: Bryan Cranston, Alexandra Daddario, Jessica Seinfeld, Matt Frazier. James Corden: Orlando Bloom, Zac Efron, Zach Woods, Sigrid. Carson Daly: Sofia Boutella, Potty Mouth, Emily V. Gordon, Arielle Kebbel. Trevor Noah: Wanda Sykes (rerun). Conan O’Brien: Julia Louis Dreyfus, Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Reid Scott, Matt Walsh, Timothy Simons, Kevin Dunn, Gary Cole, Sam Richardson, Mastadon.