The Republic of Sarah -- "Pilot" -- Image Number: REP101A_0577r.jpg -- Pictured: Stella Baker as Sarah Cooper -- Photo: Philippe Bossé/The CW -- © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

Week’s top-10 for June 14: Strong dramas begin, end

1) “The Republic of Sarah” debut, 9 p.m. today, CW. In this New Hampshire town, nestled against the Canadian border, life is quiet and autumn is gorgeous. Then heavy equipment rolls in; everything will change. The real plot doesn’t click in until the second half of this hour; “Republic” toys with our first assumptions about Sarah and others. We won’t spoil any surprises; just expect some neat twists. The villains here are absurdly overdrawn, but Sarah (newcomer Stella Baker, shown here) is immensely likable. Read more…

1) “The Republic of Sarah” debut, 9 p.m. today, CW. In this New Hampshire town, nestled against the Canadian border, life is quiet and autumn is gorgeous. Then heavy equipment rolls in; everything will change. The real plot doesn’t click in until the second half of this hour; “Republic” toys with our first assumptions about Sarah and others. We won’t spoil any surprises; just expect some neat twists. The villains here are absurdly overdrawn, but Sarah (newcomer Stella Baker, shown here) is immensely likable.

2) “Masterpiece: Us” opener, 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS. The week starts and ends with new, scripted dramas. This one is shorter (two Sundays, four hours), but cleverly written and perfectly played. Douglas and Connie (Tom Hollander and Saskia Reeves) are taking their college-bound son on a grand vacation. One complication: Connie has just decided she wants a divorce. The trip proceeds – beautifully filmed in Paris, Venice, Amsterdam and Barcelona – amid a splendid mixture of humor and human drama.

3) “Cruel Summer” season-finale, 10 p.m., Freeform. Remember when teens had simple stories about simple people? This is the opposite: Olivia Holt (a former Disney Channel star) and Chiara Aurelia (a near-unknown) are terrific in complex roles. Kate (Holt) had bubbly friends and a loving boyfriend; Jeanette (Aurelia) was barely noticed. Then Kate vanished; Jeanette seemed to take her place … and was accused of failing to rescue her. Revelations have emerged; now painful secrets will collide.

4) Juneteenth celebrations, Friday through Sunday. On June 19, 1865 – 10 weeks after the Confederate surrender – a Union general reached Texas and freed its slaves. Now TV will spend the weekend noting the Juneteenth holiday. On Friday, ABC has a two-hour party (9 p.m.) and Tiffany Haddish debuts her “Friday Night Vibes” (7:30 p.m., TBS) with conversation and two “Creed” movies. Saturday has the “Fight the Power” documentary (8 p.m., History); Sunday has the “Selma” movie (2014, 8 p.m., CBS).

5) Olympic trials, daily, NBC and NBC Sports Network. The Olympics are finally coming, so it’s time for the U.S. team to take shape. Now the trials will consume a large chunk of NBC’s time: It will be swimming from 8-10 p.m. today through Wednesday and 10-11 p.m. Thursday. Friday and Saturday have swimming at 9 p.m. and track & field at 10; Sunday has swimming at 8, track from 9-11. There’s more on the NBC Sports Network, including swimming at 6:30 p.m. ET daily, through Saturday.

6) “Celebrity Dating Game” debut, 10 p.m. today, ABC. Hannah Brown has spent a large chunk of time on ABC. She did “The Bachelor” (finishing seventh), was the “Bachelorette,” tried “Bachelor in Paradise” and was the “Dancing With the Stars” champion. Now Brown, 26, is back … and still looking for love. This time, the three guys won’t know whom they’re talking to … but Michael Bolton will offer a musical hint. The other half of the hour has Nicole Byer, 34, the fun “Nailed It” host.

7) “The $100,000 Pyramid” season-opener, 9 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. Summer should be stuffed with fun and games, ABC feels. With its three-game Sunday line-up in place, the network adds the rest: On Monday is “Celebrity Dating Game” … on Wednesday, “Press Your Luck” arrived last week and two more shows debut now – “Pyramid” (hosted by Michael Strahan) at 9 p.m., “Card Sharks” (hosted by Joel McHale) at 10. Then Thursday has a two-hour “Holey Moley” at 8 p.m. and “The Hustler” at 10.

8) “Dave” season-opener, 10 p.m. Wednesday, FXX. In the first season, Dave was a lot like the guy who plays him – David Burd, a Jewish guy from suburbia who used self-effacing humor to become a rap star named Lil Dicky. Now much of that has changed: The record label put him in a luxury apartment; he’s also gone to Korea, to work with a K-Pop star … a problem, since he knows little about Korea and nothing about K-Pop. Here are two episodes, the first one filled with darkly funny twists.

9) “Kevin Can (bleep) Himself” debut, 9-11:07 p.m. Sunday, AMC. At first, this is a retro situation comedy, complete with laugh track. In the TV tradition, Kevin is obese and oafish, his wife Allison is slender and smart, their friends are dolts. But stick around: Increasingly, we see Allison’s life on her own; the laughter ends, the story turns serious. Annie Murphy of “Schitt’s Creek” is terrific in what’s almost a double role. “Kevin” works well … except when the bad-sticom parts become too awful.

10) “The Moodys” series finale, 9:30 p.m., Fox. This was an earnest effort to do something different – a droll comedy about a blue-collar family, filled with both love and chaos. A Christmastime mini-series worked well; the series that followed was clever and likable … and a ratings failure. Now the Moodys (Denis Leary and Elizabeth Perkins) and their three adult kids go to a wedding. Their daughter finally gets a burst of romance; their older son patches things up with Marco, his partner in an iffy business.

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