Fireworks, Hot Dogs and Barbecue on the 4th, Streaming Godzilla and Kong, ‘Twilight Zone’ Marathons

Special

8/7c

Should you choose to beat the heat and stay indoors, the annual New York City celebration promises spectacular new effects during the fireworks extravaganza, with more than 60,000 shells going off over the Hudson River. Country star Mickey Guyton hosts with Access Hollywood’s Zuri Hall, with performers including Lainey Wilson, Tony winner Alex Newell, Bell Biv DeVoe, Amber Mark, Brandy Clark, The War And Treaty, Luis Fonsi, and Tanner Adell.

Special

8/7c

A more established tradition, the concert from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol marks its 44^th year, with Alfonso Ribeiro returning as host, welcoming a powerhouse lineup including Smokey Robinson, Fantasia, Sheila E., Sister Sledge, Darren Criss and more. Gold medal Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson East leads a tribute to Team USA, with the National Symphony Orchestra delivering a 40^th-anniversary performance of John Williams’ “Olympic Fanfare,” written for the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Also marking a milestone, Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” will be performed by Chloe Flower on its centennial. And no Capital Fourth would be complete without fireworks over the National Mall while the symphony plays the “1812 Overture” with cannon fire.

Special

7/6c

CNN traverses the country, featuring performances and fireworks with an itinerary that includes NYC and D.C. but also Boston, Philadelphia, Niagara Falls, Fort Lauderdale, Nashville, New Orleans, Chicago, Houston, St. Louis, Las Vegas, San Diego and Seward, Alaska. Coverage continues through 1 am/ET, with music from Keith Urban, Ben Platt, En Vogue, The Goo Goo Dolls, Bebe Rexha, T-Pain, Kane Brown, REO Speedwagon, Chris Young, and more.

Season Premiere

This show is the pits. The barbecue pits. While grilling burgers and dogs or possibly something more ambitious, see how the pros do it when nine top barbecue cooks from across the U.S. gather for the competition series’ second season, with a $50,000 grand prize on the line. Comedian Michelle Buteau hosts, with BBQ experts Melissa Cookston and Kevin Bludso as judges, and guest appearances by celebrity chefs including The Bear’s Matty Matheson.

Streaming Premiere

Can’t they just get along, that giant irradiated lizard and the greatest ape of all time? They clashed in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, but now the heroes of the Monsterverse are on the same side, taking on a terrible threat from the bowels of Hollow Earth. The humans (including Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens, Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry, and Rebecca Hall) are basically window dressing to the main event: watching monsters fight while civilization crumbles all around them. (Hint: There’s never a bad time to revisit the original 1933 King Kong. It holds up.)

6am/5c

Here’s another great 4^th of July holiday tradition: wall-to-wall marathons of The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling’s classic anthology of speculative storytelling, encompassing horror, science fiction, allegory and satire, always with an underlay of thoughtful humanism. Syfy’s tribute spans 24 hours, while the Heroes & Icons Network’s “Rod, White & Blue: A Twilight Zone Celebration” airs episodes over four days, through Monday at 6 am/5c.

Yellowstone’s Jefferson White guests in a spooky episode as a train conductor on the late shift who’s seen way too many suicides on the tracks. But now he’s seeing the ghost of one of the victims — and could it be a coincidence that this part of his route is directly overhead of Kirsten’s (Katja Herbers) possibly haunted house? Even scarier is the long-awaited faceoff between Kirsten’s outraged mother Cheryl (Christine Lahti) and the evil Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson).

Inside Thursday TV:

• 2024 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest (10:45 am/ET, ESPN3; noon/ET, ESPN2): Maybe you’ve picked up on the tough-to-swallow controversy, when 16-time men’s champ Joey Chestnut was barred by Major League Eating from the annual Coney Island competition after signing an endorsement deal with a plant-based rival brand. (He’ll be scarfing down dogs in Texas at an alternate contest.) But the show goes on, the women first (including reigning champ Miki Sudo) on ESPN3 and the men following on ESPN2, featuring No. 2 ranked eater Geoffrey Esper. ESPN airs replays at 5 pm/ET and 9 pm/ET.
• Hart to Heart (streaming on Peacock): Kevin Hart’s guest is Tony, Grammy and Daytime Emmy winner Cynthia Erivo, star of the forthcoming Wicked.
• The Family Business (streaming on BET+): Ernie Hudson stars in Carl Weber’s crime-family drama, returning for a a fifth season with threats from within the Duncan family as well as from their adversaries in the Dixie Mafia.
• Space Cadet (streaming on Prime Video): Emma Roberts (American Horror Story) stars in a comedy as a party girl with stars in her eyes who lands in NASA’s astronaut training program after faking the “right stuff” on her resumé. Houston, we have a problem.