Thursday’s TV highlights: ‘The Orville’ on Fox

SERIES

The Big Bang Theory Penny and Leonard (Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki) organize a paintball game for fun, but it soon devolves into a medium for settling grudges when Sheldon (Jim Parsons) becomes jealous of Amy (Mayim Bialik) in this new episode. 8 p.m. CBS

The Titan Games Dwayne Johnson hosts this energetic new athletic competition testing contestants’ physical prowess and mental abilities. Liam McHugh and Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez provide commentary and Cari Champion interviews competitors. 8 p.m. NBC

Gotham The comic book-inspired drama returns for its fifth and final season, which will see the city’s criminal landscape emerge, pitting Gordon and Bullock (Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue) against depraved and mercurial villains. David Mazouz also stars. 8 p.m. Fox

Young Sheldon Sheldon (Iain Armitage) uses his unwitting sister (Raegan Revord) as a test subject for an experiment. Also, Georgie (Montana Jordan) joins Mary’s (Zoe Perry) Bible group to get close to his crush (Isabel May). 8:30 p.m. CBS

The Orville Ed (Seth MacFarlane) and the crew discover a planet about to be destroyed by its sun in this new episode of the science-fiction parody. Adrianne Palicki, Penny Johnson Jerald and Scott Grimes also star. 9 p.m. Fox

Surviving R. Kelly This three-night documentary series, premiering tonight with two episodes and concluding Saturday, sheds a light on many of the dark rumors surrounding R&B superstar R. Kelly. Among those sharing their perspectives on Kelly’s controversial past are civil rights activist Tarana Burke, musician John Legend, talk show host Wendy Williams, ex-wife Andrea Kelly and brothers Carey and Bruce Kelly. 9 and 10 p.m. Lifetime

S.W.A.T. The team receives a warning that a copycat plans to reenact an old school shooting the team had responded to, in this new episode. Shemar Moore, Stephanie Sigman, Alex Russell and Lina Esco star. 10 p.m. CBS

The Blacklist This crime drama returns for a new season with a two-part story (concluding Friday) that opens as Red (James Spader) hands off a new case to the team, prompting a search for a plastic surgeon who specializes in creating new identities for fugitives. Elsewhere, Liz (Megan Boone) and her sister Jennifer (guest star Fiona Dourif) mount their own covert investigation into what happened the night the real Raymond Reddington died. Kenneth Tygar and Christopher Lambert guest star. 10 p.m. NBC

SPECIALS

The Last Days of John F. Kennedy Jr. This new special looks back at the weeks leading up to the plane crash that killed Kennedy, his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her sister, Lauren. 9 p.m. ABC

TALK SHOWS

CBS This Morning (N) 7 a.m. KCBS

Today (N) 7 a.m. KNBC

KTLA Morning News (N) 7 a.m. KTLA

Good Morning America Aidan Gillen. (N) 7 a.m. KABC

Good Day L.A. David Mazouz (“Gotham”); Dr. Steve Perry; Mary Wilson performs; Mayor Eric Garcetti (D-Los Angeles). (N) 7 a.m. KTTV

Live With Kelly and Ryan Jada Pinkett Smith; Shay Mitchell; Sam Heughan; Troye Sivan. (N) 9 a.m. KABC

The View Author Alan Dershowitz. (N) 10 a.m. KABC

The Talk Shemar Moore. (N) 1 p.m. KCBS

Dr. Phil Kathy Bates talks about her battle with cancer and living with lymphedema. (N) 3 p.m. KCBS

The Ellen DeGeneres Show Podcaster Dax Shepard; special education teacher Jenna Albi. (N) 3 p.m. KNBC

The Dr. Oz Show A gynecologist recorded patients before being caught; how caffeine impacts weight gain and anxiety. (N) 3 p.m. KTTV

Amanpour and Company (N) 10 p.m. KVCR; 11 p.m. KOCE; 1 a.m. KLCS

Nightline (N) 12:37 a.m. KABC

SPORTS

College Basketball Penn State at Michigan, 4 p.m. ESPN; Illinois at Indiana, 4 p.m. FS1; Saint Mary’s at San Francisco, 6 p.m. ESPN2; Colorado at Arizona, 6 p.m. FS1; Loyola Marymount at Pepperdine, 7 p.m. SPST; Stanford at UCLA, 8 p.m. ESPN

NHL Hockey The Chicago Blackhawks at the New York Islanders, 4:30 p.m. NBCSP; the Kings host the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:30 p.m. FSN.

NBA Basketball The Toronto Raptors at the San Antonio Spurs, 5 p.m. TNT; the Houston Rockets visit Golden State Warriors, 7:30 p.m. TNT

For more sports on TV, see

the Sports section.

Customized TV listings are available here: www.latimes.com/tvtimes

Click here to download TV listings for the week of Dec. 30, 2018 - Jan. 5, 2019, in PDF format

This week’s TV Movies

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