The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

The best TV programs this week

Rihanna 777

Last year, Barbados-born R&B singer Rihanna invited journalists and fans to follow her by plane on a whirlwind seven-day, seven-show global tour. The stunt resulted in some sour PR when the press wound up feeling caged and underfed, but this tour documentary from Rihanna’s own production company chose not to probe that angle. The show does an excellent job, though, of capturing the seven-time Grammy winner’s smoldering allure. Monday, May 6, at 8 p.m., Fox

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Monumental Mysteries

Adventurer and history buff Don Wildman visits various monuments around the country to share a secret or mystery associated with each. In the first episode, he looks into an alleged vampire burial at the Chestnut Hill Baptist Church in Exeter, R.I., and a scam involving New York’s Brooklyn Bridge. Thursday, May 9, at 9 p.m., Travel Channel

Great Bear Stakeout

Up north in the Alaskan wilderness, the world’s largest concentration of grizzly bears carve out lives that humans seldom witness. To create this captivating two-hour special, scientists and camera crews spent a full season on location and used spy cameras to generate unprecedented footage of the day-to-day drama of various bears’ lives during the five-plus months they’re out of hibernation. John Goodman narrates. Sunday, May 12, at 9 p.m., Discovery

10 Buildings That Changed America

Every so often, a building comes along that redefines expectations of what our homes and places of work, play, and worship should look like. This illuminating documentary visits 10 of them—from Thomas Jefferson’s radically backward-looking Virginia State Capitol to the nation’s first indoor mall—to tell the stories behind them and explore the revolutions they sparked. Sunday, May 12, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Other highlights

Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell

Political comic W. Kamau Bell brings his edgy late-night weekly talk show back after a short hiatus. Thursday, May 9, at 11 p.m., FX

Small Town Security

Returning for a second season, the oddball employees of Ringgold, Ga.’s JJK Security still make a singular impression, even for denizens of reality TV. Thursday, May 9, at 10 p.m., AMC

The Confession

Hone your own fairy-tale radar with this melodrama about a young Amish woman who leaves home to reconnect with her wealthy birth mother. Based on a novel by best-selling Christian author Beverly Lewis.Saturday, May 11, at 9 p.m., Hallmark