What's On Tonight (Wednesday): This house is Payneful

House of Payne

Helloooooooo! Finally the news you've been waiting year to hear: After 8 years, the Tyler Perry sitcom House of Payne is back! But this time it is on BET, not TBS. Calm down... calm down. It's only been two years since we last saw the Payne family. I'm sure everyone here remembers The Paynes on OWN back in 2018. This revival reunites the original cast, including China Anne McClain (aka Lightning). Of note: The sitcom also has more episodes than any other television series with a predominantly African American cast, surpassing The Jeffersons right before it ended its BET run.

Elsewhere, the Paynes aren't the only Tyler Perry TV family making a comeback. The Browns (Meet the Browns) are also back in Assisted Living. (Both shows are in Madea-verse.) Also on the agenda tonight, the chef's table turns to the BBQ masters, Smithsonian takes us to Tibet, MTV is looking for more ghosters, the coroner celebrates Thanksgiving, and America's Talent gets its weekly results.

Yibambe, here's what's on television for tonight, Wednesday, September 9!

STREAMING & EARLY PRIMETIME

All My Children (YouTube, now): Check out the 2003 episodes from January 2, 3, and 14 to see Chadwick Boseman as Reggie, his first screen role. Complaining about how the character was a bad stereotype, Boseman was fired and quickly replaced by Michael B. Jordan, who was on the show for a couple years. Yet the producers listened to Boseman, refining the character, and Jordan didn't know Boseman originated the role until their Black Panther press tour. RIP Chadwick.

Avengers: Infinity War / Avengers: Endgame (Disney+, now): RIP Chadwick.

Bad Boy Billionaires (Netflix, 3 a.m.): SERIES PREMIERE. An Indian docuseries that explores the greed, fraud and corruption that built up — and ultimately brought down — India's most infamous tycoons.

Captain America: Civil War (Disney+, now): This movie is terrible... except for the Black Panther plot. RIP Chadwick.

Chef's Table: BBQ (Netflix, 3 a.m.): SERIES PREMIERE. Netflix's excellent and Emmy-nominated show gets a spinoff that focuses on the craft of quality BBQ.✔️

David Blaine Ascension (YouTube, 9 a.m.): SPECIAL. An illusion or a delusion?

ER (Hulu, now): Check out the season 15 episode "Oh, Brother." Both Morris and Neela have authority issues with Dr. Banfield and Gates upsets Sam. This is the first episode for the recurring Courtney B. Vance and also features Carl Weathers and Shiri Appleby. Pay attention and you will spot Chadwick Boseman. RIP.

Freaks: You're One of Us 🎥 (Netflix, 3 a.m.): A German movie that is not related to the 1932 movie.

Law & Order (Peacock, now): Check out season 14 episode 16, "Can I Get a Witness?" A boy is murdered in the park in front of two witnesses by a man on a bicycle. When the witnesses are repeatedly threatened and one turns up dead, the case against the murderer begins to unravel. You can also spot young Chadwick Boseman. RIP.

Quantum Leap 📺 (Comet, 7 p.m.): As a lounge piano player, Sam is spotted by an ex-partner he deserted after witnessing a mobster's murder.

Reno 911! (Quibi, 3 a.m.): This is episode 22. Quibi's press site doesn't have upcoming episode descriptions anymore.

QUICK NOTICE:

NBA 🏀 (ESPN, 6:30 p.m.): Miami at Milwaukee

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In 📺 (Decades, 7 p.m): Don Louise (19 Feb 1973)

FOR THE RECORD: 60 in 6 (Quibi, 3 a.m.); Married at First Sight: Unfiltered (Lifetime, 7:30 p.m.); Nice One! 💲 (Quibi, 3 a.m., season finale); Was It Love? (Netflix, 3 a.m., season finale)

🕗 EASTERN / 🕖 CENTRAL

21 Bridges (Showtime, 8 p.m.): Embattled NYPD detective Chadwick Boseman is thrust into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers after uncovering a massive and unexpected conspiracy. RIP Chadwick.

Cult of Personality (Reelz, 8 p.m.): SPECIALS. Back-to-back specials will examine the controversial Unification Church, founded by Reverend Sun Myung Moon with its millions of followers known as "Moonies." Later, the Children of God (now The Family), which courted chaos practicing a method of evangelism called Flirty Fishing using sex to recruit members, is explored.

⭐ House of Payne (BET, 8 p.m.): SEASON PREMIERE. Welcome back? Malik is hesitant to give the news to his family about Lisa's pregnancy. Later, Malik confesses to Curtis that he thinks Lisa is pregnant. Since we're talking about Tyler Perry, who will receive the Governors Award at the Emmys later this month, here's Roxane Gay in her great 2014 book Bad Feminist:✔️

"Tyler Perry is building his success on the backs of black women and the working class, by using them, all too often, to teach his lessons, to make his points, or to make them the butts of his jokes. In many of Perry's movies, women are not to be trusted. Women are regularly punished in these movies, whether by abuse, addition, or adultery... 

"Perry has a finely honed obsession with fetishizing the working class, which in and of itself, is not a problem and could almost be admired. It's that his motives are disingenuous. It's that Perry denigrates one thing in order to elevate another instead of suggesting that there is pride to be had in being working class but that aspiring toward anything more isn't inherently evil."

In the Cut (Bounce, 8 p.m.): Jay undergoes dental surgery and milks his recovery for longer than necessary. Meanwhile, Mable's Tables new manager, Trish Devoe. has a new plan to grow business for the restaurant.

Into the Wild Tibet (Smithsonian Channel, 8 p.m.): SPECIAL. At the Tibetan Plateau, spend a year (compacted to one hour) with packs of wolves, herds of chiru antelope, and small families of pika as they struggle to survive and raise their young in one of the harshest environments on Earth.

FOR THE RECORD: AEW: Dynamite (TNT); America's Got Talent (NBC); Big Brother (CBS); Catfish: The TV Show (MTV); Expedition Unknown (Discovery Channel); Married at First Sight (Lifetime)

🕘 EASTERN / 🕗 CENTRAL 

Assisted Living (BET, 9 p.m.): SERIES PREMIERE. The Brown family is back on TV!(?) In the first episode of their new show, Jeremy and his family arrive at an assisted living facility in Atlanta to visit his Grandpa Vinny. The Wilson family is shocked by who and what they find at the facility. Jeremy and Leah attempt to get Sandra and Phillip adjusted to their new living situation. [*studio audience laughs*]✔️

Coroner (The CW, 9 p.m.): While hosting Thanksgiving dinner with her father and mother-in-law, Jenny's work life and personal life collide.

QUICK NOTICE:
Final 24 (AXS TV, season finale): Keith Moon

NBA 🏀 (ESPN, 9 p.m.): Oklahoma City at Houston

FOR THE RECORD: Dodgeball Thunderdome (Discovery Channel); Food Paradise (Cooking Channel); Ghosted: Love Gone Missing (MTV, season premiere); Guy's Grocery Games (Food Network); Mind of a Monster (Investigation Discovery, special); The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (Bravo, special); Restored (DIY Network); Tough As Nails 💲 (CBS, season finale); Vacation House Rules (HGTV); Wheeler Dealers (Motor Trend)

🕙 EASTERN / 🕘 CENTRAL

FOR THE RECORD: Cari & Jemele (Viceland); Donkmaster (Viceland, 10:30 p.m.); Growing Belushi (Discovery Channel); House Hunters/House Hunters International (HGTV); Marrying Millions (Lifetime); Resto My Ride (Motor Trend); Super Factories (Science); World's Most Evil Killers (Reelz, special)

🕚 EASTERN / 🕙 CENTRAL 

QUICK NOTICE:
Carol Burnett and Friends 📺 (MeTV): David Hartman and Paula Kelly (10 Mar 1973)

FOR THE RECORD: Helicopter ER (Science); Nightly Pop (E!, 11:30 p.m.); Ridiculousness (MTV); The Soup (E!); Vice News Tonight (Viceland)

LATE-NIGHT TALK & SATIRE

Conan (TBS, 11 p.m.): Rory Scovel
The Dick Cavett Show 📺 (Decades, 9 p.m.): Jimmy Breslin, Howard Cosell, Joe Louis, and Barbara Loden (4 Mar 1974)

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS, 10:30 p.m.)
Johnny Carson 📺 (Antenna TV, 10 p.m.): Charles Grodin, B.B. King, and Amy Yasbeck (5 Sep 1990)

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Note: All times are Eastern.

Key Sources: The Futon Critic; IMDb; TV Passport; Zap2it
⭐: Top Pick
💲: Game show
🎥: Movie
📺: Throwback
✔️: Video/gif/photo included

🏈⚾🏀🏒🥊⛳⚽🏎️: Sportsballs

Happy watching, everyone!