Tuesday at 8 p.m. is must-see TV for me. That’s when “America’s Got Talent” airs on NBC.

If you’ve never tuned in, it’s is a talent show, reminiscent of “The Ed Sullivan Show,” which millions of Americans like me watched most Sunday evenings from 1948 to 1971.

Now in its 19th season, family-friendly “America’s Got Talent” features performers from around the world doing extraordinary things: singers, dancers, magicians, mentalists, comedians, ventriloquists, acrobats, quick-change artists, yoyoers, impressionists, contortionists, dog acts, danger acts, sand painters, spoken word poets, jump-ropers, roller skaters, sword swallowers and more.

Many of the performances are surprising, like that of the shy 13-year-old English girl Courtney Hadwin singing like Janis Joplin and gyrating like James Brown. Or the Belgian archer Aaron Crow, who, while standing on a rotating platform, shot an apple off Heidi Klum’s head. Or the Taiwanese boy Feng E, who wailed on his ukulele – his ukulele! – in a way that made me think of Jimi Hendrix. Don’t believe it? Watch his performance on YouTube.

Then again, there are the ridiculous acts that are more reminiscent of “The Gong Show” than “Sullivan.” One that immediately comes to mind is Sethward, the guy who performed as a caterpillar. Yikes!

In contrast, I bet you’ll crack up watching Australian magician Dom Chambers make beer appear in his shoe – and then take a gulp. Ditto, listening to the self-deprecating comedienne Erica Rhodes. You may get teary-eyed, as I did, listening to the Mzansi Youth Choir of South Africa pay tribute to Nightbirde, a past contestant who died of breast cancer. I must say that I never would have thought that I could be moved by a choir. See for yourself.

For this viewer, “America’s Got Talent” is much more than a talent show. Thanks to the performances of its international cast, the show becomes an enthralling display of our species’s vast potential. It’s humbling. It’s inspiring. It’s simply delightful.

Each and every week, the performers demonstrate to American viewers acts of body and mind we never could have imagined otherwise, accustomed as we are to our own traditions and aesthetic forms. Simply put, “America’s Got Talent” is a show that for two hours each week removes us from the confines of the box in which we sometimes find ourselves.

The onstage variety becomes a most powerful testimonial to human diversity. Viewers cannot but be filled with admiration as contestants of all colors, shapes and sizes continuously push the limits of what is possible. One way or another, contestants defy gravity, or fire, or pain, or doubt and the auditorium is always full of good will.

As a cultural anthropologist living at a time of seemingly ever-increasing malice of one form or another, it’s heartwarming to see a program that celebrates diversity at the same time that it promotes unity. Such displays of humanism are increasingly rare commodities these days.

A recent show, for example, featured a young man from India who danced one-legged while balancing a stack of goblets on his head. Another performer, born in Ethiopia but now residing in San Diego, described her act as foot juggling, the highlight of which was spinning a table on its every side – with her feet, of course. There was also a 14-year-old boy from Alabama who put his cool imprint on the 1963 classic “You Don’t Own Me,” earning himself a golden buzzer from one of the judges. All received standing ovations.

In sum, the very best human attributes – creativity, determination, strength, courage and wit – are on display every week. And it’s impossible to imagine anyone watching urging a performer to “go back to where you came from.” Such unbridled acceptance is most welcome in these fraught times.