Worth Watching: CMT Music Awards on CBS, ‘Daily Show’ Back Home, Facing Fears on ‘9-1-1,’ Learning from the French Chef

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Kelsea Ballerini and Anthony Mackie host the annual fan-voted ceremony from Nashville, and for the first time the show moves to broadcast TV, with a live-streaming and On Demand option on the Paramount+ platform. As usual, it’s all about the performances, which include Carrie Underwood (CMT’s most-honored artist) performing from her Las Vegas residency at the Resorts World Theatre. Among the collaborations: Mickey Guyton and Black Pumas, Jason Aldean and Bryan Adams, Jimmie Allen with Monica and Little Big Town, Thomas Rhett and Riley Green, Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd, Cole Swindell and Lainey Wilson, with solo turns by the likes of Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert and many more.

Having offended virtually no one with his affable hosting of the Grammy Awards a week ago, Trevor Noah returns to his late-night roost, which no longer will be calling itself The Daily Social Distancing Show. That means a return to the show’s 11th Avenue digs in Manhattan, where a live in-studio audience will bring old-fashioned energy to the topical comedy.

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It’s all in a day’s work of facing one’s fears when the 118 responds to a rash of anxiety-related emergencies, including a novice diver crippled by panic in a shark cage and a house-sitter trapped in a room full of tarantulas. (That would break me.) But Eddie (Ryan Guzman)’s fears about his own mental health may be well-founded, while Buck (Oliver Stark) has to man up and be honest with Taylor (Megan West). In other firehouse news, Chimney (Kenneth Choi) ahs finally returned to work, with Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) opening up to brother Buck after her long absence.

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The remaining home cooks get a crash course in Julia Child’s legendary TV career. (Maybe they should all gather to watch the wonderful Julia series on HBO Max.) Then it’s time to turn to her iconic series, The French Chef, for inspiration as they’re tasked to make a perfect French omelet, then turn out a classic dessert from one of her many tasty episodes.

• Bake or Break (10/9c, Food Network): Famed pastry chef Stephanie Boswell brings her expertise to struggling bakeries, helping their owners freshen up their shops with makeovers and enhanced menus.
• Harry Wild (streaming on Acorn TV): In another batch of back-to-back light mysteries, Harry (Jane Seymour) recognizes a body pulled out of the river near her favorite pub, then the retired literature professor finds a link between Crime and Punishment and the murder of a local loan shark’s ill-fated employee.