Tribute to Toby Keith, Paralympics Opening Ceremony, Looking Back at ‘Baywatch,’ a ‘Bad Monkey’ Flashback

Special

9/8c

Country Music Hall of Famer Toby Keith passed away in February of stomach cancer at 62, but his chart-topping hits live on. That’s the takeaway from a two-hour concert special in which his country-music peers pay tribute by performing songs from his extensive legacy of 42 top-10 hits and 44 million albums sold. Carrie Underwood opens the show with “A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action,” with highlights including Luke Bryan (in a black cowboy hat) singing “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” Yellowstone’s Lainey Wilson riding her horse to join Jamey Johnson on “Beer for My Horses,” and Tyler Hubbard leading a rendition of “Red Solo Cup” with friends including Jelly Roll, HARDY, Jordan Davis and the Warren Brothers. The roster also includes Darius Rucker, Eric Church, Ashley McBryde and a special performance by Keith’s daughter, Krystal Keith.

Special

2/1c

Welcome back to Paris as the Paralympics get underway with the opening ceremony from the Champs-Élysées at the Place de la Concorde, hosted by NBC Sports’ Ahmed Fareed and 13-time Paralympic medalist Chris Waddell. Once again, the parade of athletes takes place outside a traditional stadium, showing off the City of Lights to its best advantage. Four-time wheelchair basketball Paralympian Steve Serio and 2016 Rio Paralympic sitting volleyball gold medalist Nicky Nieves are Team USA’s flagbearers, joining more than 180 delegations representing 6,000 athletes and officials, culminating in the lighting of the Paralympic cauldron. NBC airs highlights of the ceremony Friday night at 9/8c.

Documentary Premiere

Hot bodies performing rescues (and occasionally more personal duties) on the California beach made for a hit seen around the world when Baywatch exploded into a pop-culture phenomenon in the 1990s (when it went into first-run syndication after NBC dumped it following the first season). A four-part docuseries from ABC News Studios and producer/director Matthew Felker relives those heady years of instant fame, with candid home-movie video footage and behind-the-scenes reminiscences. “It was a wild time, and I was a wild chick,” recalls Carmen Electra, one of many exclusive interviews including stars David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson and many more.

After shocking us with last week’s big twist, the terrific comedy-mystery based on Carl Hiaasen’s novel backs up several years to reveal how the series’ bad guys, two-bit con man Nick (Rob Delaney) and the sociopathic narcissist Eve (Meredith Hagner), first hooked up. We also see Yancy (Vince Vaughn) when he was still a Miami detective, before getting suspended and sent to the Keys with a reputation as “consistently reckless, inappropriate and glib.” Scott Glenn joins the fun as Yancy’s philosophical dad, and we see how Yancy crossed paths with the nothing-but-trouble Bonnie (Michelle Monaghan), “a bad decision in an orange dress.”

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• Killer Lies: Chasing a True Crime Con Man (8/7c, National Geographic): A three-part docuseries (continuing at 9/8c and 10/9c), based on The New Yorker reporter Lauren Collins’ 2022 exposé, takes a deep dive into the deceptions of so-called serial killer expert Stéphane Bourgoin, whose reputation was built on lies.
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (8/7c, ABC): The season finale pairs comedians Reggie Watts and Ron Funches, then beckons Community alums Gillian Jacobs and Danny Pudi to the hot seat. Followed by the season finale of Claim to Fame (9/8c).
• Odysseus Returns (9/8c, PBS): A two-hour documentary tells the fascinating story of amateur historian Makis Mataxas, whose claim to have discovered the lost tomb of the legendary Odysseus sets off a controversy that embroils two neighboring Greek islands.
• The Real CSI: Miami (10/9c, CBS): The true-crime series’ season finale recounts the 1990 murder of Palm Beach mom Marlene Warren, shot to death at her front door by a stranger in a clown suit. It would take decades for DNA technology to reveal the killer’s identity.

ON THE STREAM:

• Worst Ex Ever (streaming on Netflix): A true-crime docuseries reveals over four episodes what Lifetime movie viewers have known for years: Breaking up is hard to do, and harder to survive when an ex plots against their former partner.
• Sunny (streaming on Apple TV+): The surreal penultimate episode of the futuristic Japan-set mystery finds the titular robot trapped in a wild psycho-parody of a game show, with the fate of Sunny’s memory in the balance.
• Women in Blue (streaming on Apple TV+): The Spanish-language crime drama takes a Silence of the Lambs twist when 1970s police officer Maria (Bárbara Mori) ventures inside a prison to pick the brain of a convicted serial killer who may have insights into the Undresser fiend, whose newly published manifesto is creating panic throughout Mexico City and the police department.