Best-bets for March 6: a magic night, despite killers and zombies

1) “Winning Time: The Rise of the Los Angeles Lakers” debut, 9 p.m., HBO, rerunning at 10 and 11:30. In 1979, pro basketball was sagging; even with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Norm Nixon and a winning team, Los Angeles fans shrugged. Then Jerry Buss – who didn’t have the money – bought the team; he added flair, fun and Laker Girls. He also overruled his crabby coach and drafted Magic Johnson. (Shown here are John C. Reilly and Quincy Isaiah as Buss and Johnson.) It’s a fun story, jauntily told in this scripted mini-series. Read more…

1) “Winning Time: The Rise of the Los Angeles Lakers” debut, 9 p.m., HBO, rerunning at 10 and 11:30. In 1979, pro basketball was sagging; even with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Norm Nixon and a winning team, Los Angeles fans shrugged. Then Jerry Buss – who didn’t have the money – bought the team; he added flair, fun and Laker Girls. He also overruled his crabby coach and drafted Magic Johnson. (Shown here are John C. Reilly and Quincy Isaiah as Buss and Johnson.) It’s a fun story, jauntily told in this scripted mini-series.
2) “Transplant” season-opener, 10 p.m., NBC. Early in the pandemic, NBC grabbed this Canadian show to help patch holes in its line-up. Bashir, who fled from Syria with his sister, got a job as an emergency-room doctor. In the final minutes of the season, a newcomer arrived. Now – after a 15-month wait – we learn who she is. It’s a fairly good episode that also sees Bash’s boss in intensive care; an enigmatic guy replaces him … and hopes to make the change permanent.
3) “Killing Eve,” 8 p.m., BBC America. For Villanelle,” this has been a big switch – from assassin to just another camper at a religious retreat, talking to her own, odd vision of Jesus. Meanwhile, Eve is a step closer to confronting The Twelve. It’s a stylish hour that ends with a potent jolt.
4) “The Walking Dead,” 9 p.m., AMC. Josh McDermitt gives a brilliant performance, in an hour that is touching and almost zombie-free. He plays Eugene, finally happy since apparently meeting the Stephanie he’d been talking to on the radio. Then come some bewildering moments. It’s an emotional episode (and a touching one, thanks to McDermitt) that ends with one more surprise.
5) ALSO: CNN had planned to debut “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.” That’s been delayed because of Ukraine coverage, but there are plenty of options. NBC debuts “The Courtship” (a dating show in old-England style) at 8 p.m. and revives “The Weakest Link” at 9. Showtime has its second “Super Pumped” episode at 10, with Uber skirting local rules, then partying. And Turner Classic Movies has the wonderful “Shakespeare in Love (1998) at 10.

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