“Joe Louis: America’s Hero ... Betrayed” (8 p.m., HBO): From the Great Depression

“Joe Louis: America’s Hero ... Betrayed” (8 p.m., HBO): From the Great Depression through World War II and into the 1950s, heavyweight champ Joe Louis was a symbol of America. In 1938, when Louis defeated Germany’s Max Schmeling, his victory was interpreted as democracy’s defeat of Nazism. But after spending four years in the U.S. Army and working for the government to raise money for the war, Louis found himself in financial distress — and was harassed by the Internal Revenue Service. Says biographer Christopher Mead, Louis looked forward to a quiet, pleasant life after the war, “but the minute he got out of the Army, he was done financially.” The grandson of slaves who became America’s first black sports star to be worshipped by both black and white fans, he is a great man done wrong in the HBO documentary “Joe Louis: America’s Hero ... Betrayed.”

“Ordinary People” (10 p.m., TCM): “The 31 Days of Oscar” film fest turns its attention to the 1980s with “Ordinary People.” Robert Redford directed this heart-wrenching Best Picture winner about an affluent family struggling to cope with the drowning of a son. Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton star.

“Conversations from the Road” (9 p.m., GAC): Brad Paisley opens up about his latest tour.