A remarkable and moving documentary directed by and featuring Law & Order: SVU icon Mariska Hargitay is a deeply personal journey into her family’s past — notably the tarnished memory of her sex-symbol movie-star mother, Jayne Mansfield, who died in a horrible car accident in 1967 when Mariska was just 3. (She and two brothers were in the back seat during this traumatic tragedy.) Struggling with feelings of shame over the sex-kitten persona her mother displayed during her brief career as a would-be Marilyn Monroe, Mariska gains newfound respect and insight by conducting frank interviews with her siblings, her dishy press secretary and others who saw the other side of Jayne. Far from a dumb blonde, Mansfield was a gifted musician with a gift for languages, serious if unfilled acting ambitions and a deep love for her family. In this fascinating odyssey of reconciliation with her heritage, Mariska reveals a secret she kept for 30 years involving her own parentage.

Finally, the endgame. Or is it? Surely feels that way for Season 1 champ Gi-hun (Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae), who returned in a bloated and incomplete Season 2 of the global hit thriller to take down the game from within. The third and allegedly final season of the grueling action phenomenon opens with Gi-hun in a numbed stupor — we know how he feels — after leading a failed rebellion against the masterminds of the nihilistic survival contest involving perverted and deadly twists on classic children’s games. He eventually rallies on behalf of the game’s most defenseless players — with pregnant contestant No. 222 (Jo Yu-ri) still in the mix, you can guess what that means. Though the novelty has worn off the franchise, writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk wrings suspense as the net tightens around the elaborate arena and its secret island. Can anything or anyone stop this sadistic enterprise? Probably not when it’s this successful.

Taron Egerton reunites with writer-executive producer Dennis Lehane (of the much more satisfying Apple TV+ crime drama Black Bird) for a psychologically deep but frustratingly sluggish drama about arson investigation that, ironically, is a bit too much of a slow-burner. Egerton stars as Dave Gudsen, an investigator who hopes to turn his obsession with flames and their aftermath into a best-seller (excerpts of which sound awful). He’s paired with aggressively ambitious local detective Michelle Calderone (Jussie Smollett, impressive), who like Dave has personal trauma associated with fires. Inspired by the podcast “Firebug,” Smoke takes an early twist that makes you only more impatient for showrunner Lehane to light a narrative fire. The Chi‘s Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine costars in a compelling subplot as Freddy, a soft-spoken fast-food worker whose dead-end life and deadpan demeanor plays into the trope that, as Dave explains, “Arsonists tend to be powerless in their own lives.” Launches with two episodes.

A match made in physical-comedy heaven, Alan Tudyk aka alien-in-human disguise Harry is reunited with The Righteous Gemstones‘ scene-stealer Edi Patterson as giant blue bird-alien Heather. But can their bizarre otherworldly love story survive, now that Harry has lost his alien energy powers and is stuck in a human shell that finds Heather’s gawky plumage revolting? Elsewhere, Sheriff Mike (Corey Reynolds) frets over whether to confess to his detective girlfriend Lena (Nicola Correia-Damude) that he now believes in aliens, while Mayor Ben (Levi Fiehler) and wife Kate (Meredith Garretson) try to get D’arcy (Alice Wetterlund) to fess up about her knowledge of the grey aliens who are after Kate’s baby.

Equally hilarious and exciting, the inspired sci-fi comedy is just about the only streaming series whose episodes I wish were longer. In the eighth installment, Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård) is once again pulled away reluctantly from its favorite soap opera, Sanctuary Moon, to assist in healing the wounded and ever-suspicious “augmented human” Gurathin (David Dastmalchian). Plugged into each other’s mainframes, each get a disturbing look at what makes the other tick. The Handmaid’s Tale‘s Amanda Brugel appears as the leader of the sinister team who disabled the crew’s rescue beacon and is clearly not to be trusted.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• SportsCenter: 50 States in 50 Days (5 pm/ET, ESPN): Marking the 20-year anniversary of the SportsCenter Across America stunt, the sports show embarks on a seven-week cross-country trip, hitting a different state each day. First stop: Washington, D.C. with host Scott Van Pelt.
• Great American Christmas in July (6/5c, Great American Family): The summer celebration of holiday movies gets an early start with fan favorites including Once Upon a Christmas Wish, A Little Women’s Christmas (at 8/7c), and A Christmas Less Traveled (10/9c).
• X Games Salt Lake City 2025 (9 pm/ET, ESPN2): Coverage from the Utah State Fairpark & Event Center begins with the Moto X Best Trick Final, Men’s BMX Street Final, BMX Dirt Final and Men’s Skateboard Vert Final. ABC picks up coverage Saturday and Sunday.
• American Masters (9/8c, PBS): In Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny, the documentary series profiles the influential writer whose experiences as a political prisoner and refugee during World War II informed her warnings about totalitarianism and threats to American democracy during the McCarthy era and the Watergate scandal.

ON THE STREAM: