Best-bets for March 7: Fun with Bond, Beatles, brothers

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. We never suspected Daniel Craig could be a funny guy. In his James Bond role (shown here) and others – especially the dark “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – he seems tough and no-nonsense. But he did host “SNL” in 2012; he also had fun playing 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, plus a couple of times backing others. Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. We never suspected Daniel Craig could be a funny guy. In his James Bond role (shown here) and others – especially the dark “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – he seems tough and no-nonsense. But he did host “SNL” in 2012; he also had fun playing 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, plus a couple of times backing others.

2) “Yesterday” (2019), 8 p.m., HBO. This gem blends a great idea, a smart script, sharp direction and (of course) a wonderful soundtrack. A guy suddenly finds he’s virtually the only person who knows the Beatles existed; now he turns their songs into new hits. Richard Curtis – who has ranged from TV’s “Blackadder” and “Mr. Bean” to such films as “Love Actually” and “Notting Hill” – wrote a great script and Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”) directed skillfully.

3) “The FBI” and “NCIS: Los Angeles,” 8 and 9 p.m., CBS. Both reruns center on FBI efforts at prevention. First, a nightclub shooting suggest that previous threats by a white-supremacist group were ignored. Then the FBI and NCIS link, trying to find a terrorist cell before there’s an attack.

4) “Murdoch Mysteries,” 7 p.m. ET, Ovation. Here’s the 200th episode of a pleasant-enough Canadian show that seems to go on forever. Set early in the 20th century, it sometimes drops in historical figures; for this episode, they’re all back in town. It’s Ford and Edison alongside Tesla, Bell, Carnegie.Curie and more … all swirled into one mystery. As usual, the story is lightweight and sort of adequate; still, there’s a gentle quality here that makes “Murdoch” watchable … and, maybe, eternal.

5) “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” 11 p.m ET., GetTV. One of TV’s all-time best variety shows is back with a weekly spot … even if it is a hard one to find. GetTV exists on satellite (Dish, Channel 373) and as sub-channels to stations (www.get.tv/get-the-channel). Beginning tonight, it has a Smothers rerun each Saturday. The show mixed occasional political humor with goofy fun and innovative music numbers. Tonight’s guests are Cher, Sonny Bono and married actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain.

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