AFI Salute to Nicole Kidman, ‘The Great American Recipe,’ Lucy Lawless in ‘Murder,’ Tragedy in Jonestown

Special

10/9c

Winner of an Oscar (The Hours) and two Emmys (Big Little Lies), Nicole Kidman at 56 is the first Australian actor to receive the coveted American Film Institute accolade. The ceremony includes clips and salutes from fellow Aussies Cate Blanchett, Hugh Jackman and Naomi Watts and New Zealander Russell Crowe, plus Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Reese Witherspoon, husband/musician Keith Urban and more. Before the special, TNT airs Aquaman (8/7c), in which Kidman plays Queen Atlanna. (When Turner Classic Movies repeats the special on June 27, it’s accompanied more appropriately by her 2002 Oscar performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours.)

Season Premiere

9/8c

The uplifting cooking competition returns for a third season, with L.A. restaurateur Tim Hollingsworth and public radio’s The Splendid Table host Francis Lam joining returning judge Tiffany Derry as eight new home cooks prepare dishes reflecting the diversity of American cuisine. In the opener, filmed at Nashville’s 350-acre Green Door Gourmet farm, they each present food representing their cultural influences, which range from African and Alaskan to Chinese, Sicilian, German, Mexican and Southern, reminding us of the scrumptious melting pot that is our nation. Alejandra Ramos returns as host for the series, airing through Aug. 12.

Season Premiere

Lucy Lawless, immortalized as Xena: Warrior Princess, is back as New Zealand private eye Alexa Crowe in the cozy mystery’s fourth season. Flanked by IT whiz Madison (Ebony Vagulans), detective Harry Henare (Rawiri Jobe), brother Will (Virgin River’s Martin Henderson) and café owner Reuben (Joe Naufahu), Alexa tackles crime when she isn’t baking bread or tending to her willful cat Chowder. In the back-to-back opening episodes, team Alexa looks into the death of a well-coiffed socialite who left her fortune to her cat, then competes with a rival P.I. to solve the murder of a demanding tennis coach.

Documentary Premiere

A three-part National Geographic docuseries features interviews with survivors of Jim Jones’ People’s Temple cult, journalists, politicians and a Special Ops officer to provide context to the shocking mass suicide and murders that occurred on Nov. 18, 1978 in and around the Jonestown settlement in Guyana. The tragedy ensued after a U.S. contingent including California congressman Leo Ryan arrived to investigate rumors of abuse within the supposedly utopian community. Before it was over, 918 people would be dead.

INSIDE MONDAY TV:

• All American (8/7c, The CW): With excitement building as Draft Day approaches, Spencer (Daniel Ezra) decides to celebrate early, making several costly purchases. Olivia (Samantha Logan) is less upbeat about her first book signing, fearing no one will show.
• Summer Olympic Trials (8/7c, NBC): In the build-up to next month’s Olympic games in Paris, contenders in swimming and diving compete to make the U.S. team.
• Maine Cabin Masters: Building Italy (9/8c, Magnolia Network): Chase Morrill, wife Sarah and their four children leave the Northeast to travel to a remote Italian village, with the goal of renovating the home of their dreams.