It’s hard to imagine any TV how reaching its 50th season — let alone two on the same night.
Most of the attention will go, of course, to “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 11:30 p.m.), reaching its half century mark with all manner of pomp, including a motion picture in theaters.
I’m thinking this might overshadow the content this season — which will already get a lot of attention because it’s an election year. Certainly the choices for the 50th season premiere hosting are somewhat underwhelming — Jean Smart, 73, of “Hacks” is hosting; musical guest the overly-tattooed country act Jelly Roll.
Gone from the cast will be names you may have never gotten to know — Punkie Johnson, Molly Kearney and Chloe Troast. New additions are Ashley Padilla, Emil Hakim and, from TikTok, Jane Wickline.
The other late night show starting its 50th season is the venerable music showcase “Austin City Limits” (PBS, 11 p.m., check local listings) who is devoting its entire season premiere to Kacey Musgraves.
Earlier in the day it’s all about college football again, with primetime broadcast offerings including Illinois at Penn State (NBC, 7:30 p.m.) and Georgia at Alabama (ABC, 7:30 p.m.). The day’s other games are listed below.
The documentary “WrestleMania XL: Behind the Curtain” (CW, 8 p.m.) is likely not going to be as revealing as, say, “Mr. McMahon” (Netflix, streaming).
Kimberley Sustad plays a widowed mom who meets a cowboy (Lucas Bryant) while on a family lavation to a ranch in the made-for-TV romance “The Real West” (Hallmark, 8 p.m.).
A high school influencer is stalked by an online fan in the made-for-TV thriller “He Slid Into Her DMs” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.), said to have been inspired by actual events. Stella Gregg and Courtney Thorne-Smith star.
A live Brooklyn event with the MSNBC stars held earlier this month, which was already turned into a special two weeks ago, gets an “extended cut,” with a three-hour version of “MSNBC: Democracy 2024” (MSNBC, 8 p.m.). Clearly they had a lot to say.
“To Catch a Smuggler: Secret Stash” (National Geographic, 9 p.m.) finds coke in the oatmeal.
A Concorde crash is among the catastrophies studied on “Disaster Autopsy” (National Geographic, 10 p.m.).
“Missing” (NewsNation, 8 p.m.) solicits viewer input to help solve cases.
Kolby tells Russell she’s overwhelmed on “Love & Marriage: Detroit” (OWN, 8 p.m.).
“Ghost Adventures” (Travel, 9 p.m.) checks out a California home.
An Elizabethan house is the focus on “Help! My House is Haunted” (Travel, 10 pm.).
“Dead of Night” (MeTV, 8 p.m.), a 1977 anthology of three horror stories, with Ed Begley Jr., Joan Hackett and Patrick Macnee, is featured on “Svengoolie.”
Some see the Donald Trump story in “A Face in the Crowd” (Movies!, 8 p.m.).
Turner Classic Movies celebrates the 100th birthday of Marcello Mastroianni with the double feature of “8 1/2” (8 p.m.) “A Special Day” (10:30 p.m.), “La notte” (2:30 a.m.) and “Le Notti Bianche” (4:45 a.m.) In between all that is the midnight noir, “High Wall” (12:30 a.m.). Earlier, the midway musical is “Melody Cruise” (noon).
Baseball includes Pittsburgh at Yankees (MLB, 1 p.m.), Tampa Bay at Boston (MLB, 4 p.m.) and Baltimore at Minnesota (Fox, 7:30 p.m.).
It’s Omaha vs. Houston (MLB, 10 p.m.) in the AAA baseball championship in Las Vegas.
College football begins at noon with games that include Navy at UAB (ESPN2), Minnesota at Michigan (Fox), Kentucky at Mississippi (ABC), Northern Illinois at North Carolina State (CW), Oklahoma State at Kansas State (ESPN), South Florida at Tulane (ESPNU), BYU at Baylor (Fox Sports 1) and Buffalo at Connecticut (CBS Sports).
Games at 3:30 p.m. include Colorado at Central Florida (Fox), Oklahoma at Auburn (ABC), Wisconsin at Southern California (CBS), Arkansas at Texas A&M (ESPN), Georgia Southern at Georgia State (ESPNU), Fresno State at UNLV (Fox Sports 1) and San Diego State at Central Michigan (CBS Sports).
Then comes North Carolina at Duke (ESPN2, 4 p.m.), Stanford at Clemson (ESPN, 7 p.m.), Iowa State at Houston (Fox Sports 1, 7 p.m.), Middle Tennessee at Memphis (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.), Cincinnati at Texas Tech (ESPN2, 8 p.m.), Air Force at Wyoming (CBS Sports, 8 p.m.), Washington State at Boise State (Fox Sports 1, 10 p.m.), Arizona at Utah (ESPN, 10:15 p.m.) and Oregon at UCLA (Fox).
Preseason hockey has Boston at Philadelphia (NHL, 7 p.m.).
There is third day action in the Presidents Cup (Golf, 7 a.m.; NBC, 8 p.m.).
The Indonesia Grand Prix Sprint (truTV, 10:30 a.m.) is run.