Best-bets for May 12: from goofy masks to intense protests

1) “The Masked Singer,” 8 p.m., Fox. Two weeks from its finale, this fifth edition is down to its final five – Black Swan, Piglet, Chameleon, Yeti and several people inside Russian Dolls (shown here). Lately, this has unmasked top singers — Bobby Brown, Mark McGrath and, last week, Tyrese Gibson. Earlier, it dumped movie villain Danny Trejo, Internet star Logan Paul, ex-Olympian (and current politician) Caitlyn Jenner, actress Tamera Mowry-Housley and all-around superstar Kermit the Frog. Read more…

1) “The Masked Singer,” 8 p.m., Fox. Two weeks from its finale, this fifth edition is down to its final five – Black Swan, Piglet, Chameleon, Yeti and several people inside Russian Dolls (shown here). Lately, this has unmasked top singers — Bobby Brown, Mark McGrath and, last week, Tyrese Gibson. Earlier, it dumped movie villain Danny Trejo, Internet star Logan Paul, ex-Olympian (and current politician) Caitlyn Jenner, actress Tamera Mowry-Housley and all-around superstar Kermit the Frog.

2) “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” 8 p.m., CBS. Last week’s opener was a disappointment, a classic case of a show trying too hard. Previous versions, with Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby, had taken their time, letting kids’ comments slowly emerge; the same was true of Steve Harvey’s “Little Big Shots.” By comparison, this leaped frantically from bit to bit, plus promotions of what was ahead. Maybe it will be better tonight, when Tiffany Haddish and Cedric the Entertainer meet identical twins.

3) “Nancy Drew,” 9 p.m., CW. For more than a century, novels have featured Tom Swift, whose brilliant inventions helped save the day. Attempts to make movies or TV pilot films have sputtered. But now – a time when a young tech whiz can be a pop-culture star – may be the ideal. This is a “backdoor pilot” for a possible series next season, with Nancy meeting Tom Swift, who’s young, Black and rich.

4) “The Conners,” 9 p.m., ABC. Candice Bergen makes her third visit as Barb, the sometimes-cold mother of Darlene’s boyfriend Ben. She has a heated discussion with Darlene, who makes her decision about the trip to Hawaii. There’s more, involving Jackie’s goal to be on “Jeopardy” and Becky discussing addiction in the class of her nephew Mark.

5) “A Million Little Things,” 10 p.m., ABC. This is one of several shows that have folded the George Floyd protests into their stories. In this case, several of the friends join protests in the streets and also re-evaluate their own biases. Rome skips that for the sake of his mental health, but does ask his father about his experiences as a Black man in the early civil rights era.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *