Best-bets for April 2: Broken people bring laughs

1) “Broke” debut, 9:30 p.m., CBS. Even before the economic slowdown, TV planned shows about penniless relatives moving in. In NBC’s “Indebted,” it’s the parents; here, it’s an older sister and her husband. Oddly, both shows air at the same time. “Indebted” is loud and lame, but a sampling indicates “Broke” (shown here) could be quite good. Pauley Perrette (“NCIS”) plays a single mom and bar-owner whose sister (Natasha Leggero) arrives with her husband (Jaime Camil of “Jane the Virgin”) and his manservant. Read more…

1) “Broke” debut, 9:30 p.m., CBS. Even before the economic slowdown, TV planned shows about penniless relatives moving in. In NBC’s “Indebted,” it’s the parents; here, it’s an older sister and her husband. Oddly, both shows air at the same time. “Indebted” is loud and lame, but a sampling indicates “Broke” (shown here) could be quite good. Pauley Perrette (“NCIS”) plays a single mom and bar-owner whose sister (Natasha Leggero) arrives with her husband (Jaime Camil of “Jane the Virgin”) and his manservant.

2) “Mom,” 9 p.m., CBS. Some of the best scenes in this terrific show have come with the collision of Bonnie and her therapist. Two towering and talented actors (Allison Janney and Rainn Wilson) wield great dialog. Now his life falls apart and she may or may not help. Two problems for “Mom”; it’s preceded at 8:30 by the season-opener of “Man With a Plan,” which tends to be so-so. And at 9, it faces the delightful “Yesterday” (2019) on HBO.

3) “How to Get Away With Murder” return, 10 p.m., ABC. With only six episodes left in the series, there are huge problems. Asher is dead; Michaela and Connor, charged with murder, are forced to make a difficult decision. Annalise (Viola Davis, an Emmy- and Oscar-winner) is the defense lawyer to contact, but she has problems. Her disappearance is uncovered, affecting everyone.

4) “Siren” season-opener, 9 and 10 p.m., Freeform. Two relationships have key turning points in the first hour. One is good, one bad … due to the silly cliché of an unforced confession. But don’t let this lull you: There are bigger, messier problems in these fairly good hours. We get an early hint, when a newcomer joins the show fiercely. In the second hour, forces collide in the midst of a jarring storm.

5) “Better Things,” 10 p.m., FX. Setting aside the show’s other regulars, Sam (producer-director-writer Pamela Adlon) goes to New Orleans. “We’re survivors,” one woman tells her. They’d already survived Katrina and the subsequent battered economy; this episode catches them before COVID-19 delivered another body blow. The episode is loose, formless, but – in its own scattered way – appealing.

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