Top-10 for week of March 2: “Empire” returns, FX soars

1) “Empire” return, 9 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. For six seasons, this has offered a unique mix: It’s had great music – rhythm-and-blues, pop and rap – alongside messy, over-the top soap opera (shown here). For this final season, the show aired 10 episodes, then took an 11-week break; now it’s back for its last 10. Fox says only that this hour has a “shocking revelation”; there have been plenty in “Empire.” It also implies that a death shakes the Lyon family. Also, Andre makes an important decision and Devon confronts Tiana.

2) Election coverage, Tuesday, ABC, CBS, NBC and news channels. This is a rare time when news gets more viewers than entertainment. Recent debates drew record ratings; now networks focus on “Super Tuesday,” when 14 state primaries decide one-third of the convention votes. Alternatives? There’s Fox (“The Resident,” “Empire”), CW (“Flash,” “Legends of Tomorrow”) and Leonardo DiCaprio movies – “The Aviator” (2004) is at 6:08 p.m. on Starz, with “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013) at 7 p.m. on FX.

3) “Breeders” debut, 10-11:14 p.m., Monday, FX. Paul and Ally (Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard) are maybe-typical British folks, with decent jobs, a nice home and two noisy children. They also seem to periodically teeter toward madness. In the first of these two hilarious episodes, they can’t get the kids or themselves to sleep; in the second, they scheme to get the kids in the best school. They also confront his clueless parents, her careless dad (Michael McKean) and Paul’s failure to pursue dreams.

4) “Better Things,” 10-11:15 p.m. Thursday, FX. This is a huge week for FX and FXX. Four comedies arrive, each with two episdoes at 10 … then go to the new “FX on Hulu” hub the next day. FXX has “Dave” (a fun show about a white rapper from suburbia) Wednesday and the “Cake” sketch show Thursday. FX has “Breeders” Monday and this much-praised show Thursday. With subtle humor and warmth, Sam (Pamela Adllon) deals with her daughters’ odd requests and her own mid-life crisis.

5) “The Masked Singer,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, Fox. This has been rough on the great women of rock/pop history. Last week, Dionne Warwick (79, with six Grammys) was the second ouster from the six-person Group B. In Group A, Chaka Khan (66, 10 Grammys) was the third ouster from Group A. They were early departures, alongside a skateboarder and a comedian. Gladys Knight did finish 3^rd in the first edition, but Patti LaB elle was eighth in the second. This week, one more “B” is ousted and unmasked.

6) “The Twenties” debut, 10 and 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, BET. As she neared 30, Lena Waithe created a YouTube series about a subject she knew well – being young, black and broke, near Hollywood. BET optioned it in 2014, just as her career was soaring. She won an Emmy (for writing a “Master of None” episode) and wrote and produced Showtime’s “The Chi” series and the “Queen & Slim” movie. Now her idea has been revived. In the opener, Hattie – evicted and broke – meets a producer she’s criticized.

7) “Blue Bloods,” 10 p.m. Friday, CBS. A half-century ago, Ed Asner became a CBS star on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”; 10 years later, Tom Selleck arrived with CBS’ “Magnum, P.I.” Now they share an episode. Selleck, 75, is Frank Reagan, the New York police commissioner; Asner, 90, plays his friend, the victim of a home invasion. Meanwhile, Frank’s son Jamie is investigated after a criminal is found wearing his police vest. The other son, Danny, investigates what was originally called a suicide.

8) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m. Saturday, NBC. We would have never figured Daniel Craig as a funny guy. In his four James Bond movies and others – especially the gloomy “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – he’s seemed hard-boiled and no-nonsense. But he did host “SNL” back in 2012; he also seemed to have fun as a Southern-fried detective in the terrific “Knives Out.” Now Craig – whose next Bond film opens April 10 – hosts. The music guest is The Weeknd, who has done it twice before.

9) “Little Big Shots” (7 and 8 p.m.) and “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” (9 p.m.), Sunday, NBC. These combine for a bright, uptempo night. After a 20-month gap. “Big Shots” now has Melissa McCarthy meeting the clever kids. The new version lacks the droll humor of Steve Harvey, but adds some good films. Last week’s opener (rerunning at 7) had a great one with Martin Luther King’s granddaughter, in his childhood home. At 9, Zoey hears people’s thoughts in songs; now, for the first time, it’s a duet.

10) And more: “The Bachelor” has its “Women Tell All” episode, at 8 p.m. today on ABC, with a lot to talk about. Last week, Madison Prewett told Peter Weber it would be hard for her to get engaged to him if he’s had sex with Victoria Fuller and Hannah Ann Sluss – which he has. Also, Hulu has a huge week: It shares those comedies with FX, but also has the FX-produced “Devs” (a fascinating and elusive tech drama) all to itself. That arrives Thursday, with an ambitious Hillary Clinton documentary on Friday.