Action Bronson & Friends Watch Ancient Aliens 11 p.m., Viceland

When the Olympics kick off this weekend, you’ll feel the thrill of competition, the pride of victory on the world stage, and the guilt of being a lazy shlub watching it all from the couch with a giant bag of Doritos. But before this happens, I urge you to watch rapper/chef/hedonist-in-chief Action Bronson and his friends (Thursday, Riff Raff, Andy Milonakis, and Simon Rex) get almost competitively stoned and watch episodes of the History Channel cult hit series “Ancient Aliens.’’ It’s mesmerizing. And compared to Action Bronson, you’ll feel like Ashton Eaton.

Rio Olympics Preview 8 p.m., NBC

Speaking of Ashton Eaton, the star decathlete (which is a thing) will certainly be one of NBC’s chosen ones as he seeks to defend his gold medal from the 2012 Games in London (he already won the event in the Olympic trials). Thursday, on the eve of the opening ceremonies, the host network offers a preview of the Games, a tour of Rio, and forecasts from Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, Kerri Walsh Jennings, and Usain Bolt.

BattleBots 8 p.m., ABC

Circuit breakers.

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear 8 p.m., IFC

Nielsen ratings.

Big Brother 9 p.m., CBS

Veni, vidi, evicti.

Michael Andor Brodeur can be reached at mbrodeur@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MBrodeur.