Week’s top-10 for Feb. 17: A time for farewells

1) “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” finale, 8-10 p.m. today, NBC. It’s time to name what the shows calls its “world champion.” This started with 22 people who had done well on “America’s Got Talent,” plus 18 from other “Got Talent” shows globally. Last week, its top 10 – six of them from “AGT” – performed and viewers voted. There are three singers (including young Norwegian Angelina Jordan, shown here) and three dance groups (one adding acrobatics), plus acrobats, a trapeze act, a dog act and a violinist. Read more…

1) “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” finale, 8-10 p.m. today, NBC. It’s time to name what the shows calls its “world champion.” This started with 22 people who had done well on “America’s Got Talent,” plus 18 from other “Got Talent” shows globally. Last week, its top 10 – six of them from “AGT” – performed and viewers voted. There are three singers (including young Norwegian Angelina Jordan, shown here) and three dance groups (one adding acrobatics), plus acrobats, a trapeze act, a dog act and a violinist.

2) “Better Call Saul” season-opener, 10:05 p.m. Sunday, AMC. This weird-but-brilliant show is as odd as ever, with its mega-pauses and its time leaps. Before the opening titles, it has a 13-minute, black-and-white stretch with the former “Saul” hiding out as a mall Cinnabon worker. Then it bounces back to Jimmy evolving into his identity as Saul, lawyer for the guilty, while his wiser girlfriend tries to rein him in. There’s more involving Gustavo, Mike and drug deals, much of it disconnected yet fascinating.

3) “Criminal Minds” series finale, 9 and 10 p.m. Wednesday, CBS. This is a week of farewells, with four shows ending their runs. Here’s the veteran of the group; its 15 seasons puts it No. 5 all-time for dramas. Now the final case involves Everett Lynch, known as “The Chameleon,” who preys on and kills middle-aged women. He’s eluded the team three times before, once almost killing Rossi (Joe Mantegna). Now Lynch gives Dr. Reid hallucinations of ghosts from his past. Every finale needs that.

4) “Fresh Off the Boat” series finale, 8 and 8:30 p.m. Friday, ABC. This comedy began six years ago by tracing the real life of Eddie Huang, whose family moved in the 1980s from Washington, D.C. to Orlando … where he and his brothers felt like the only Chinese kids. That’s key to Friday’s first episode, when the boys head to Washington to dig up their time capsule. In the second one, Eddie wants to be a chef (as he did in real life); when his mom sees his high SAT scores, she intervenes.

5) “Masterpiece: Sanditon” finale, 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS. This richly crafted drama series began with a novel Jane Austen had barely started; it then took her characters in wild directions. Charlotte resented the arrogant Sidney, then began to change her mind after he rescued Georgiana Lambe. Wealthy Lady Denham became ill, stirring greed among the lustful step-siblings Edward and Esther, complicated when he had sex with scheming Clara. Tonight, it all peaks spectacularly, during the Midsummer Ball.

6) “Almost Family” finale, 8 and 9 p.m. Saturday, Fox. It’s merely the “season finale,” but this show (like “Sanditon”) isn’t expected to return. “Almost Family” started with a fertility doctor (Tim Hutton) charged with secretly substituting his own sperm. His daughter (Brittany Snow) was devastated. Now comes the trial – complicated by a threat to reveal an affair between Amanda (with the prosecution) and Edie (formerly with the defense). Edie is one of many offspring; so is Roxy, who plans a drastic move.

7) “Washington,” 6-10 p.m. today, 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, History. On Presidents Day, we can settle in for a deeply layered documentary (with re-enactments) about the first president. At 6 p.m. is a rerun of Sunday’s opener, which saw an eager young soldier make some key mistakes – and even tell a big lie. At 8, we see him develop as a smart leader of a ragged army. That reruns at 10:03 p.m. and just past midnight. On Tuesday, the first parts rerun at 4 and 6 p.m., with the finale at 8 and just past midnight.

8) “Frontline: Amazon Empire,” 9-11 p.m., Tuesday, PBS. Amazon has had stunning success. By 2013, it had 40 per cent of book sales, then expanded; it’s near a million employees worldwide. But this balanced documentary (with ample company responses) views the dark side. There’s “a strategy to monopolize the markets,” says anti-trust expert Stacy Mitchell. Dealing with Amazon “was like going out to dinner with the Godfather,” a publisher says. There are worker troubles, tax breaks and more.

9) “For Life,” 10 p.m. Tuesday, ABC. This got off to a promising start last week, when we met Aaron, who leaves prison (with guard and tether) to defend fellow inmates as a lawyer. Now the show adds a key supporting character: Roswell (Tim Busfield) is a recovering alcoholic who lost his law license, but provides experience and advice. Tonight, Aaron is suing the police to get access to a case file. He also repays a debt to an inmate by defending a white supremacist – enraging some of his fellow prisoners.

10) “The Walking Dead” amd “When Calls the Heart,” Sunday. Here are opposite ends of the cable world. “Walking Dead” (with its “midseason premiere” at 9 p.m. on AMC) finds people in great danger, with swarms of zombies blocking their escape. “Heart” (with its season premiere at 8 p.m. on Hallmark) has remained remarkably zombie-free. In this frontier town, Elizabeth, the good-hearted teacher, is falling for Lucas, the saloon keeper. Now his advice causes her to seek writing inspiration.

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