Best-bets for Jan. 16: A good place for comedy

1) “The Good Place,” 8:30 p.m., NBC. One of TV’s best shows – an Emmy-nominee (and Television Critics Association winner) for best comedy series – is almost done now. There are only three episodes left … and its format changes yet again. Today, a half-hour earlier than usual, Michael (Ted Danson) has a new way to see who gets the good afterlife. That gives people access to everyone’s records – even their own. That brings trouble … and a rare burst of wisdom from Jason (third from left). It’s another clever episode, Read more…

1) “The Good Place,” 8:30 p.m., NBC. One of TV’s best shows – an Emmy-nominee (and Television Critics Association winner) for best comedy series – is almost done now. There are only three episodes left … and its format changes yet again. Today, a half-hour earlier than usual, Michael (Ted Danson) has a new way to see who gets the good afterlife. That gives people access to everyone’s records – even their own. That brings trouble … and a rare burst of wisdom from Jason (third from left). It’s another clever episode,

2) “Grown-ish” season-opener, 8 p.m., Freeform. This slickly filmed college comedy finds Zoey starting her junior year. Back from a summer abroad, she has the prospect of a dream job … and must sort out feelings toward Aaron and Luca. Her friends face bigger complications, including a pregnancy.

3) “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay” debut, 8:30 and 9 p.m., Freeform. Josh Thomas spent four seasons in semi-obscurity … at least for Americans. He created and starred in “Please Like Me,” a likable Australian comedy-drama that aired here on the now-defunct Pivot and then on Hulu. Now his new show is on a bigger channel. Nicholas (Thomas) is a neurotic guy in his 20s, visiting his dying dad and volunteering to take care of his two teen half-sisters. He soon wishes there was a real grown-up.

4) “Perfect Harmony,” 9:30 p.m., NBC. Shuffling its timeslot, NBC slid “Good Place” and “Will & Grace” each up a half-hour, putting this good (but overlooked) comedy back. Tonight, the choir holds a “hymn-a-thon” to raise money for the regionals. That’s part of situation-comedy overload; with as many as 12 sitcoms on four broadcast networks.

5) “The Last Days of Richard Pryor,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. Pryor was, some people feel, the world’s greatest comedian. (When the Mark Twain Prize for humor began in 1998, he was the first recipient.) But he had a complicated childhood (in a brothel) and an adulthood plagued by drug and health troubles. He had his first heart attack at 37, his third (and fatal) one at 65. This documentary includes new interviews with other comedians and old ones with Pryor and Barbara Walters.

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