Best-bets for March 8: Songs and stories blend

1) “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” 9 p.m., NBC, and more. In an era that lacks music variety shows, we’ll settle for scripted shows that ripple with songs. Here are three, with Skylar Astin in two of them. In “Playlist” — a fun show, with Zoey (Jane Levy) hearing people’s thoughts via song — Astin (shown here with Levy) is Zoey’s friend Jesse; tonight has a key moment with his bubbly girlfriend. In “Perfect Pitch” (2012, 5:50 p.m., Freeform), he’s Max, in a choral group. He’s not in “Yesterday” (2019, 6:55 p.m., HBO), but it’s a music gem. Read more…

1) “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” 9 p.m., NBC, and more. In an era that lacks music variety shows, we’ll settle for scripted shows that ripple with songs. Here are three, with Skylar Astin in two of them. In “Playlist” — a fun show, with Zoey (Jane Levy) hearing people’s thoughts via song — Astin (shown here with Levy) is Zoey’s friend Jesse; tonight has a key moment with his bubbly girlfriend. In “Perfect Pitch” (2012, 5:50 p.m., Freeform), he’s Max, in a choral group. He’s not in “Yesterday” (2019, 6:55 p.m., HBO), but it’s a music gem.

2) “Little Big Shots,” 7 and 8 p.m., NBC. After being a ratings hit, this show vanished for 20 months. Now it’s back, with Melissa McCarthy taking over as host, meeting clever kids. This lacks the droll humor of Steve Harvey, but it does add some good films. Last week’s opener had a great one, with Martin Luther King’s granddaughter in his boyhood home. It reruns at 7 p.m., with a new hour at 8.

3) “God Friended Me,” 8 p.m., CBS. What do you say when God tells you to help an atheist? Tonight, the “God account” (on Facebook) tells Miles to help a famed author who has attacked Miles’ podcast.

4) “Rob Riggle: Global Investigator” debut, 10 p.m., Discovery. As a comedian who’s also a retired lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, Riggle sometimes blends genres. This opener is a fairly interesting travel hour, following notions about the lost city of Atlantis. Riggle visits ruins, explores an underwater cave, talks to scientists, even visits a museum that has an Atlantis model. Mixed in is the humor of a too-cocky guy, always on the verge of a great discovery.

5) “Kidding” conclusion, 10 and 10:30 p.m., Showtime. You can’t put everything back together, after absorbing this many fractures: Jeff (Jim Carrey) has been battered by the death of one of his twin sons, the collapse of his marriage and his sister’s marriage, the deterioration of their father and the loss of rights to his puppets. Still, this finale suspends enough reality to wrap things up. If this is the end (which seems likely), it’s a fairly clever way to conclude a frustrating-but-interesting series.

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