Tonight is the big Season 4 finale of “This Is Us,” and I’m about as excited as a person who hasn’t watched the show since seeing a few of the very first episodes can be.
Ratings have fallen from their first-year highs, but NBC’s heartstrings plucker continues as the network’s biggest audience draw among scripted series.
The episode (7 p.m., WMAQ-Ch. 5) includes the central Pearson family gathering for the first birthday of baby Jack, and, well, my eyes are starting to well up already.
There’s also a scene where Milo Ventimiglia’s doomed character wears only a Pittsburgh Steelers towel, apparently calling back to a moment from the first season. I hope they washed the towel.
This show’s multigenerational, time-shifting family soap opera and unabashed targeting of the tear ducts is not for everybody (raising hand). But escaping into another clan’s joys and woes in this troubled historical moment doesn’t seem like the worst idea, either.
Additional Tuesday highlights from Tribune News Service
SERIES
The Conners
Newly unemployed and depressed, Harris (Emma Kenney) moves back into the Conner home, while Becky (Lecy Goranson) struggles to find childcare she can afford in a new episode. John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf also star with guest stars Rene Rosado and Steve Agee. 7 p.m. ABC
My Big Fat Fabulous Life
Whitney loves Paris, where Ryan challenges her to a brutal climb up the Eiffel Tower stairs in the season finale. 7 p.m. TLC
Ghost Adventures
The new episode visits the Whaley House in San Diego. 7 p.m. Travel
The Biggest Loser
The final four contestants revisit a fitness milestone to see how much progress they’ve made. 8 p.m. USA
Bless This Mess
When Rio (Lake Bell) jokes about Mike’s (Dax Shepard) lack of follow-through on his hobbies and projects, he sets out to prove her wrong. Also, Constance (Pam Grier) struggles to end her romance with Pastor Paul (Geoffrey Owens). 7:30 p.m. ABC
FBI
In the opener of tonight’s two-part crossover with sister series “FBI: Most Wanted,” Maggie and OA (Missy Peregrym, Zeeko Zaki) investigate a bus carrying 26 students that inexplicably vanished. A prime suspect soon emerges, someone previously arrested by Special Agent LaCroix (guest star Julian McMahon, in his “FBI: Most Wanted” role). 8 and 9 p.m. CBS
Mixed-ish
Helping a friend who has mono sparks Rainbow’s (Arica Himmel) interest in the medical field in this new episode of the comedy prequel. 8 p.m. ABC
Empire
While on the road Cookie, Candace and Carol (Taraji P. Henson, Vivica A. Fox and Tasha Smith) take a painful trip down memory lane. Also, Lucious (Terrence Howard) uses something special from the past to help give Yana (Kiandra Richardson) a big break. 8 p.m. Fox
black-ish
Andre (Anthony Anderson) volunteers at Jack and Diane’s (Miles Brown, Marsai Martin) school carnival. Also, Rainbow makes an appointment for Junior (Andre Johnson Jr.) to get his flu shot but Ruby (Jenifer Lewis) objects. 8:30 p.m. ABC
One Day at a Time
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This reboot of a 1975 Norman Lear sitcom — now set in the Cuban-American Alvarez household in contemporary Los Angeles — finds a new home on Pop. In the fourth-season premiere Penelope (Justina Machado) has a new relationship, while her mother, Lydia (Rita Moreno), goes through a religious crisis. Todd Grinnell and India de Beaufort also star. 8:30 p.m. Pop, TV Land, Logo
Council of Dads
Tom Everett Scott (“13 Reasons Why”) stars as a devoted father of five whose life is shaken up by an unexpected health scare. Clive Standen, J. August Richards, Michael O’Neill and Sarah Wayne Callies also star. 9 p.m. NBC
Frontline
The new episode “NRA Under Fire” documents how the National Rifle Association has aligned with President Donald Trump and now faces challenges from all sides as the 2020 presidential election looms. 9 p.m. PBS
Project Blue Book
A massive and highly sensitive naval exercise on the border of Russian waters is plagued by UFOs, USOs (unidentified submersed objects) and other phenomena in the season finale of the mystery series. Aidan Gillen, Michael Malarkey, Neal McDonough and Michael Harney star. 9:03 p.m. History
Miracle Workers
Chauncley and Alexandra (Daniel Radcliffe, Geraldine Viswanathan) make big plans for their futures in the first installment of a two-episode story. Steve Buscemi also stars. 9:30 p.m. TBS
CORONAVIRUS
Pandemic: What You Need to Know (N) 11 a.m. ABC
Diario del coronavirus 2 p.m. Univision
Coronavirus Crisis (N) 6 p.m. Fox
Coronavirus Pandemic Coverage (N) 9 p.m. Fox News
SPECIALS
East Lake Meadows: A Public Housing Story Filmmaker Ken Burns is an executive producer on this new documentary from Sarah Burns, Ken’s daughter, and her husband, David McMahon, which explores the impact of racism on public housing through the prism of East Lake Meadows, a community that opened just outside Atlanta in 1970. 7 p.m. PBS
TALK SHOWS
CBS This Morning (N) 6 a.m. CBS
Today Coronavirus. (N) 6 a.m. NBC
Good Morning America Ryan Seacrest; Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. (N) 6 a.m. ABC
Live With Kelly and Ryan Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie (“American Idol”). (N) 8 a.m. ABC
The View Sara Haines; Katy Perry; Lionel Richie; Luke Bryan. (N) 9 a.m. ABC
Rachael Ray Hilaria Baldwin. (N) 9 a.m. Fox
The Dr. Oz Show The Coronavirus pandemic: What the government is doing to protect the most vulnerable; helping seniors access care and testing; how to disinfect a home and a car. (N) Noon Fox
The Kelly Clarkson Show Lucy Hale; Neil deGrasse Tyson; Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval (“Vanderpump Rules”). (N) 1 p.m. NBC
Dr. Phil Dr. Phil speaks with parents and teens about living and parenting under quarantine. (N) 2 p.m. CBS
The Ellen DeGeneres Show Will Ferrell (“Downhill”); Selena Gomez (CD “Rare”); guest host Jennifer Aniston. 2 p.m. NBC
The Real (N) 2 p.m. Fox
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah 10 p.m. Comedy Central
Conan Jameela Jamil. 10 p.m. TBS, 11:30 a.m. TBS
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.); Lady Antebellum performs; filmmaker Peter Jackson. 10:35 p.m. CBS
Nightline (N) 10:35 p.m. ABC
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Mandy Moore talks and performs; actor Dane DeHaan. (N) 11 p.m. NBC
Jimmy Kimmel Live! Elle Fanning; Dave Burd; Local Natives perform. 11:04 a.m. ABC
The Late Late Show With James Corden Actor Rob Corddry; actress Lake Bell; comic Anna Drezen. 11:37 a.m. CBS
Late Night With Seth Meyers Bernie Sanders; Julio Torres; DeRay Mckesson; Carter McLean performs. 12:03 a.m. NBC
A Little Late With Lilly Singh Karen Gillan. 1:04 a.m. NBC
MOVIES
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
Jodie Foster narrates this 2018 documentary profile from filmmaker Pamela B. Green that explores the life and work of cinema’s first female filmmaker, a multifaceted late 19th century French artist who is widely credited as among the first to make a narrative fiction film. 4 and 8 p.m. TCM
DAYTIME MOVIES
Tabloid (2010) 7:10 a.m. TMC
Trumbo (2015) 8:05 a.m. Showtime
The Lookout (2007) 8:05 a.m. Starz
The Princess Bride (1987) 8:30 a.m. AMC
Sense and Sensibility (1995) 8:40 a.m. and 7 p.m. TMC
The Cincinnati Kid (1965) 8:45 a.m. TCM
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) 9 a.m. FX
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) 9:30 a.m. Syfy
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Rocky Balboa (2006) 9:45 a.m. Starz
Mission: Impossible II (2000) 10:15 a.m. IFC
The Impossible (2012) 10:15 a.m. Showtime
The Sand Pebbles (1966) 10:45 a.m. TCM
A Few Good Men (1992) 11 a.m. Sundance
Personal Velocity (2002) 11 a.m. TMC
The Fault in Our Stars (2014) 11:30 p.m. FXX
American Gangster (2007) 12:33 p.m. Starz
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) 12:43 p.m. Syfy
Top Gun (1986) 1 p.m. AMC
Les Misérables (2012) 1:15 p.m. HBO
Dazed and Confused (1993) 1:31 p.m. Encore
Saving Private Ryan (1998) 2 p.m. Sundance
An Enemy of the People (1978) 2 p.m. TCM
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) 2:30 p.m. FXX
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) 3 p.m. OVA
The First Wives Club (1996) 3 p.m. POP
Speed (1994) 3:30 p.m. AMC
The Babadook (2014) 3:30 p.m. TMC
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) 3:35 p.m. Syfy
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018) 4 & 8 p.m. TCM
Something’s Gotta Give (2003) 4:50 p.m. EPIX
Slap Shot (1977) 4:54 p.m. Encore
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) 5 p.m. Freeform
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) 5:30 p.m. OVA
The Matrix (1999) 6 p.m. AMC
The Karate Kid (1984) 6 p.m. Sundance
Beirut (2018) 6:15 p.m. Starz
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) 6:30 p.m. Syfy
Sense and Sensibility (1995) 7 p.m. TMC