1) “The Voice” finale, 8-10 p.m. today, 8-11 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. This year’s final five is a richly varied field. The young people are from Japan (Micah Iverson, 25), Hawaii (Thunderstorm Artis, 23) and South Carolina (CammWess, 21). And the others? Todd Tilghman – a Mississippi pastor and father of eight, some of them in this hectic screen shot – is 41; Toneisha Harris, of Georgia, is 44, resuming her career after her son recovered from leukemia. Tonight, they sing from home; performances rerun at 8 p.m. Tuesday, with the finale at 9.
2) “National Memorial Day Concert,” 8 p.m. Sunday, PBS, rerunning at 9:30. The week starts and ends with big music. The Memorial Day eve event in Washington, D.C., was canceled, but PBS will use tributes from the past, plus new music taped at scattered spots. The line-up is strong on Broadway, with Tony-winners Cynthia Erivo and Kelli O’Hara, plus Tony-nominee Chrtistopher Jackson doing the National Anthem a cappella. It also has country’s Trace Adkins and classical soprano Renee Fleming.
3) “The Masked Singer” finale, 8 p.m. Wednesday, Fox. The masks have hidden a surprising mix of pro singers and others. The ringers – Sarah Palin, Tony Hawk, etc. – were ousted early, followed by some talented singers, from Dionne Warwick, 79, to the angelic-voiced Jackie Evancho, 20. But last week brought a surprise: Under the Rhino mask was baseball’s Barry Zito; he had topped Warwick, Evancho, Hunter Hayes, Bret Michaels and Chaka Khan. Now the other masks come off and we have a winner.
4) “Stargirl” debut. 8 p.m. Tuesday, CW. Many teens would be reluctant to move from sleek California to small-town Nebraska … especially to a place where the high school has stereotypical mean kids. So Courtney is fuming about life in general and her step-dad in particular … until she finds his staff, with magic powers only she can control. Despite excesses (especially in the perplexing opening), this works well. Brec Bassinger is immensely likable as Courtney and Luke Wilson brings real depth to her dad.
5) “American Experience: Mr. Tornado,” 9 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. Back in 1945, Ted Fujita’s home town was almost destroyed. There was cloud cover over Kokura, so the atomic bomb was dropped on its alternate target, Nagasaki. Fujita, then a young researcher, studied the impact there and in Hiroshima, developing a “micro-burst” theory, key to aviation. At the University of Chicago, he was a tornado expert, created the “f-scale,” but never saw a tornado until he was 61. Here’s a fascinating profile.
6) “Red Nose Day,” 8-11 p.m.Thursday, NBC. When Ethiopia was faced a famine in 1985, screenwriter Richard Curtis (“Yesterday,” “Love, Actually”) started this fundraising effort in England. That’s raised money for children’s charities worldwide. This first hour is a “Celebrity Escape Room,” with “Friends” alumni Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow, plus Ben Stiller and Adam Scott … and with Jack Black as the game master. From 9-11 p.m., there will be short bursts of music, comedy and documentary films.
7) “Burden of Truth” season-opener, 8 p.m. Thursday, CW. Most scripted shows are mired in reruns, but the CW has a fresh batch – “Stargirl,” “The 100” (starting its final season at 8 p.m. Wednesday with a high-stakes, but tangled episode) and “Burden.” Joanna (Kristen Kreuk) is smart and diligent, with “likability issues.” She and her boyfriend have a small Winnipeg law firm, but she’s tugged back to their home town. The story lacks credibility, but is redeemed by solid acting and Canadian subtlety.
8) “AKA Jane Roe,” 9-11 p.m. Friday, FX. Deep layers of pain ripple through this documentary. Norma McCorvey says her role “was to be stomped on and spit on.” She was 10 or 11, she says, when she stole money from a gas station and ran away. She talks of reform school, sex abuse, drugs, alcohol … and being “Jane Roe” in the Roe vs. Wade case that legalized abortion, At various times, she was outspokenly pro- and anti-abortion. Filmed shortly before her death in 2017, this offers her final views.
9) “Saving Private Ryan” (1998), 10 a.m. Thursday, AMC; 5 p.m. Saturday, Sundance; 9:30 a.m. Sunday, AMC. Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece gets multiple Memorial Day weekend runs. So does the much-hated “Green Berets” (1968), on Sundance at 8:45 and 11:45 p.m. today, 9 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday. Even Turner Classic Movies has it at 5:30 p.m, ET Saturday ,,, but TCM also has such gems as “Glory” (1989) at 9:30 a.m. ET Saturday and “Best Years of Our Lives” (1946) at 8 p.m. ET Monday.
10) Also: This is when the big networks switch to summertime reality shows. CBS had scheduled “Amazing Race,” then decided to hold it until fall; others, however, step in: At 9 p.m. Wednesday, Fox debuts “Ultimate Tag” – which is sometimes like wrestling. At 9 p.m. Thursday (sandwiched by “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and “To Tell the Truth”), ABC debuts “Holey Moley II,” a miniature-golf game. And at 9 p.m. Thursday, Fox’s Labor of Love” has Kristy Katzmann, 41, meeting 15 suitors.