Series
Friends (8 p.m., NBC) reruns the one where we meet Chandler’s dad, and he looks an awful lot like Kathleen Turner. A ninth houseguest gets the boot on Big Brother 2 (9 p.m., CBS). The new series Suicide Missions (9 p.m., History Channel) looks at the wartime assignments with the least chance for career advancement. On the season opener of Prime Time Thursday (10 p.m., ABC), Diane Sawyer interviews the father of the Santee High School gunman, and model Carre Otis talks about being plus-size and loving it.
Specials
Jamie Foxx hosts the 18th annual Video Music Awards (8 p.m., MTV), from New York’s Metropolitan Opera House. Performers include the usual suspects: Britney, ‘N Sync, J-Lo, Missy and U2. Plus, a tribute to Aaliyah. Michelle Kwan, Irina Slutskaya and Maria Butyrskaya head the field as women’s figure skating begins on the Goodwill Games (8 p.m., TNT).
Sports
Baseball:
Indians at Red Sox (7 p.m., Fox Family)
U.S. Open tennis:
Men’s quarterfinals, mixed doubles finals, women’s doubles semifinals (11 a.m. ET/ 8 PT, 7 p.m. ET/ 4 PT, USA)
Talk
Rosie O’Donnell (syndicated) Diane Sawyer, Carson Daly
David Letterman (CBS) Tim Robbins, Amy Sedaris, Jimmy Eat World
Jay Leno (NBC) Kelsey Grammer, Trisha Yearwood with Don Henley
Politically Incorrect (ABC) Donnie Wahlberg, John Henson
Conan O’Brien (NBC) Anne Heche, Tom Selleck
Craig Kilborn (CBS) Vin Diesel, Kristen Chenoweth (rerun)
All times Eastern unless noted.
