Week’s top-10 for July 22: End is near for Jane and Hannah

1) “Jane the Virgin,” 9 p.m. Wednesday, CW. This terrific episode ends with Jane’s mom asking: “How do we say goodbye?” Good question; after five seasons and 98 episodes, we’ll hate to see the show end. It started well (including a Golden Globe for Gina Rodriguez and a best-comedy-series nomination), stalled a little, and then is soaring at the end. Indeed, this episode manages to settle most of the plot points, one of them (at Jane’s dad’s party, shown here) spectacularly. We’re not sure what will be left for next week’s two-part finale. Read more…

1) “Jane the Virgin,” 9 p.m. Wednesday, CW. This terrific episode ends with Jane’s mom asking: “How do we say goodbye?” Good question; after five seasons and 98 episodes, we’ll hate to see the show end. It started well (including a Golden Globe for Gina Rodriguez and a best-comedy-series nomination), stalled a little, and then is soaring at the end. Indeed, this episode manages to settle most of the plot points, one of them (at Jane’s dad’s party, shown here) spectacularly. We’re not sure what will be left for next week’s two-part finale

2) “The Bachelorette,” 8-10:01 p.m. today, ABC. Here’s another show that has a two-part finale next week. First is the pesky business of getting rid of Luke Parker. Hannah Brown told him last week to leave, but he’s persisted. Tonight, we see him go; then Chris Harrison talks to both Parker and Brown. He also talks to 16 other rejects, finding some emotional moments with Mike Johnson. There are previews of the finale (with Jed Wyatt, Peter Weber and Tyler Cameron) and “Bachelor in Paradise.”

3) “Cash Pad” debut, 10 p.m. Tuesday, CNBC. Sometimes – not often – those dating shows do work out. As the 2016 “Bachelorette,” JoJo Fletcher chose Jordan Rodgers. She’s 28 and has 16 rental properties; he’s 30 and was a quarterback (like big brother Aaron) in college and on pro practice squads. Now they have a plan: Lease an unused space long-term, totally remodel it and use it in a network of vacation rentals. First is gorgeous work on a 400-square-foot cottage in Texas wine counry.

4) “The Planets” debut, 9 and 10 p.m. Wednesday, PBS. Fresh from a string of first-rate moon specials, PBS stays in space with this series. The opener takes an overview, asking this: Many of the planets are quite similar, so why did only one – yes, that’s us – manage to sustain life? The second hour focuses on Mars. With a splendid use of photos and computer creations, it views a pock-marked world that at one point may have been filled with the elements of life … even the solar system’s largest waterfall.

5) Shark overkill, cable. Right now, sharks are being passed between networks. “Sharkfest” started last week on National Geographic, then moved Sunday to Nat Geo Wild. It continues there (through Aug. 2), but now has competition: Discovery — which started this back in 1988 – brings back its “Shark Week” for an eight-day run. That begins Sunday with a search for evidence of the long-ago megalodon at 8 p.m. and a “Shark Trip” with Rob Riggle, Anthony Anderson, Joel McHale and more, at 9.

6) “The Conners” and more, 8-11 p.m. Tuesday, ABC. We should savor situation comedies while we can, because they’re wilting in the summer. CBS and NBC temporarily dumped all of theirs, replacing them with reality shows; next week, the second night of ABC’s “Bachelorette” finale will (for one week) replace more. Before then, catch “Conners” at 8 (Becky keeps Harris’ secret), “Modern Family” at 9 and 10 (Cam confronts a bully; he also sees Lily’s intermet hero) and “Black-ish) at 10 and 10:30.

7) “Pandora” and “The 100,” 8 and 9 p.m. Tuesday, CW. On some levels, this is a solid, summertime diversion – new episodes of female-based sci-fi tales. The catch? After a fairly good start last week, “Pandora” stumbles; its second episode has a cardboard villain, a too-easy rescue and stiff dialog. (When was the last time a friend used the phrase “serpent-tongued Mephistopheles”?) It may get better; “The 100” did. Here, Octavia and Bellamy – siblings, which is rare in this world – save their friends.

8) U.S. Track and Field Championships, Thursday through Sunday. Next year, we’ll be gaga about track-and-field, during the Olympics in Tokyo; first, this year’s national championships are in Des Moines, sprawled across several networks. You can catch much of it at www.nbcsports.com/gold. Other coverage is scheduled on the NBC Sports Network from 7-9 p.m. ET Friday and 7-8 p.m. Sunday; NBC is scheduled from 4-6 p.m. ET Saturday and then has some of the finals, from 8-9 p.m. Sunday.

9) “The Movies,” Saturday and Sunday, CNN (barring breaking news). It looks like our time machine is broken. On Sunday, this slick series debuted “The 2000s and Beyond”; it even had a closing bit, designed to wrap up the series. Now, however, it skids backward: Saturday has reruns of the 2000s at 9 p.m. ET, the ’90s at 11 and the ’80s at 1 a.m. Sunday has a new episode of the ’70s at 9 and 1 a.m., sandwiching the 2000s at 11. The next two Sundays will debut the ’60s and then everything before that.

10) “Masterpiece: Grantchester,” 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS. Will Davenport roared in on his motorcycle, ready to be the village vicar. Then he was sort of ignored. The current vicar stayed, solved two more crimes, then resigned; the assistant vicar, Leonard, even helped solve one. Now Will takes over, amid trouble: The housekeeper fumes, after learning that Leonard is gay; also, Leonard resents Will — who’s actually quite charming and helps solve a case. It’s an excellent one involving a young, silent witness.

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