Now in its second season, “History’s Great Escapes With Morgan Freeman” (9 p.m., History, TV-14) recalls a legendary break that inspired two memorable films.
Shot down over Laos in 1966, German-born American pilot Dieter Dengler was soon captured by Pathet Lao forces and incarcerated and tortured in a POW camp. After several months of mistreatment, he and six other inmates made a daring escape. But only he and a Thai soldier survived, making him one of the only American POWs to escape during the Vietnam War.
His unique story earned him a place on the game shows “I’ve Got a Secret” in 1967 and “Hollywood Squares” the next year. German director Werner Herzog profiled Dengler in the harrowing 1997 documentary “Little Dieter Needs to Fly,” focusing on Dengler’s obsession with flight. His passion for aviation and planes began rather curiously. As a child in Germany, he was captivated by the sight of Allied bombers incinerating his homeland.
Herzog would go on to adapt his documentary into the epic scripted 2006 drama “Rescue Dawn,” starring Christian Bale as Dengler.
“Little Dieter Needs to Fly” can be streamed for free on several platforms, including Prime Video, Peacock, Tubi, Plex and Roku. “Rescue Dawn” can be streamed on Max.
— New to History, “Prison Chronicles” (10 p.m., TV-14) profiles three men who attempted to escape from Alcatraz, an island penitentiary located in San Francisco Bay.
— Acorn streams the second season of the mystery thriller “Signora Volpe.” For the uninitiated, “Volpe” stars Emilia Fox (“Silent Witness”) as a disillusioned spy who retires to a rustic Italian backwater only to fall into one homicide or blackmail plot after another.
— ABC showcases the Hulu reality competition “Dress My Tour” (10 p.m., TV-PG). Hosted by model Kate Upton, “Tour” debuted last Tuesday on the streamer. A combination of “Project Runway” and “American Idol,” it asks 11 competitors to design outfits for a parade of musical acts in need of costuming for their very different stage spectacles. The musical guest judges include Paula Abdul, JoJo Siwa, JT and Ty Dolla $ign, Toni Braxton, Coi Leray, French Montana and Jessie James Decker.
ABC, Hulu and Disney+ are all Disney properties, and series seem to flow rather seamlessly between streaming platforms, network television and Disney cable properties including Freeform. The family reality series “Wayne Brady: The Family Remix” debuted on Freeform last Wednesday and could be streamed on Hulu the very next day. While old-fashioned cable TV grids seemed unwieldy back in the day, it now requires considerable effort to determine where series originate or can be found at any given time.
The presence of “Tour” on the ABC schedule also accentuates the trend toward streamers as incubators of original content and networks as threadbare cupboards of increasingly random sporting events, game shows and contests.
Even CBS, the only network left with what might be called a full-time schedule, is airing “Tulsa Kings,” a hand-me-down from Paramount+.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— “Primetime in Paris: The Olympics” (8 p.m., NBC) presents coverage of swimming, gymnastics and diving.
— “The Bachelorette” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14) visits New Zealand.
— Undercover behind bars on “NCIS” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— Competitors share secrets on “The Great American Recipe” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-G, check local listings).
— A crashed prison transport plane floods the islands with bad characters on “NCIS: Hawai’i” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— “POV” (10 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings) presents the documentary “Against the Tide,” following the increasingly hostile rivalry between two Bombay fishermen as climate change threatens their harvest.
CULT CHOICE
Best known for his casual manner, singer/actor Dean Martin also held his own in some serious efforts. He stars as a middle-aged man with a much younger bride (Yvette Mimieux) in the 1963 adaptation of Lillian Hellman’s stage drama “Toys in the Attic” (8 p.m., FMC). Geraldine Page and Wendy Hiller star as his sisters, who take an unhealthy interest in their brother’s affairs. More proof that time makes everything more “respectable” — both Hellman’s play and this film traded in less-than-subtle hints of incestuous longing. But “Toys” is now considered safe enough for the Family Movie Channel. The title would be recycled into a 1975 song by Aerosmith.
SERIES NOTES
On two episodes of “The Neighborhood” (CBS, r, TV-PG): concert tickets (8 p.m.); a big opportunity (8:30 p.m.) … Amateurs from San Antonio and Chicago face off on “Name That Tune” (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … Patton Oswalt hosts “The 1% Club” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Seth Meyers and Omar Apollo appear on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS, r) … The Tonight Show” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” are preempted for Olympic coverage … Taylor Tomlinson hosts Bert Kreischer, Katherine Blanford and Rich Eisen on “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS, r).
