1) “American Idol” special, 8 p.m. today, ABC. It was 20 years ago (almost) that the first “Idol” auditions aired. On that June day, Americans met Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini and more. Now “Idol” pauses for an anniversary concert. It has the top two from its 10th season (Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina, shown here), plus more winners – Ruben Studdard (Season 2), Jordin Sparks (6), David Cook (7), Kris Allen (8), Maddie Poppe (16) and Laine Hardy (17), plus others.
2) “American Song Contest,” 8-10 p.m. today, NBC. This is the latest in the flurry of music shows trying to be the new “Idol.” It started with one singer from each state or territory, then trimmed the field. Last week had 11 semi-finalists; here are the other 11, from California, Connecticut (Michael Bolton), Georgia, Kansas, New York, North Cartolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Puerto Rico and Samoa. Next week brings the 10-person finale.
3) “Blue Bloods” season-finale, 10 p.m. Friday, CBS. In a skittish TV world, this deserves some extra credit: “Blue Bloods” was recently renewed for its 13th season. This finale offers a family confluence: Jamie and his nephew Joe have been searching for an undocumented teenager who was being sex-trafficked. Now that probe converges with one by Danny (Jamie’s brother), after the murder of a woman who was in witness protection.
4) More season-finales, all week. That starts at 10 p.m. tonight with NBC’s “Endgame,” then continues at 10 p.m. Wednesday with CBS’ “Good Sam.” Both are long-shots for being renewed; in the Nielsen ratings, “Good Sam” is 30th of 31 CBS shows, topping only “Come Dance With Me.” The other finales are Fox’s “Call Me Kat” (9 p.m. Thursday) and CBS’ “Magnum P.I.” (9 p.m. Friday). Last week saw Kat collapse; now she deals with anxiety issues.
5) “Independent Lens: Try Harder!” 10-11:30 p.m. today, PBS. This isn’t your usual tale of teen chaos. We’re at San Francisco’s Lowell High School, a place for high achievers and huge expectations. Anything short of Ivy League (or Stanford or Berkeley) is considered a failure. This documentary (shot in 2017) offers a warm portrait of kids who sometimes try too hard. You’ll end up rooting for several of them, while getting an occasional surprise.
6) “Holey Moley” season-opener, 8 p.m. Tuesday, ABC. Summer shows are arriving early. “Duncanville” (7:30 p.m. Sundays, Fox) is already here; now ABC starts its Tuesday line-up: “Holey Moley” has the Muppets join as miniature-golf commentators. At 9 is “The Chase”; Ken Jennings is gone, but his “Jeopardy” colleagues (Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer) return, with three newcomers. At 10, we hear both sides of a real dispute, in “Who Do You Believe?”
7) “Grey’s Anatomy,” 9 p.m. Thursday, ABC. After a three-week break, ABC’s Thursday dramas – “Station 19,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Big Sky” – return for the final month of the season. Addison (Kate Walsh) is back at the hospital – for the first time since October – and Owen returns to work. Others are grumbling: Tensions rise between Meredith and Richard. Bailey faces Catherine, who is dealing with audits of several of her hospitals.
8) “Sheryl,” 9 p.m. Friday, Showtime. In the youth-oriented world of pop-music, Sheryl Crow emerged gradually. She was a grade-school music teacher in Missouri, singing with bands on weekends. She did commercial jingles, sang back-up for Michael Jackson, did the final “Cop Rock” episode — then soared. At 33, she won Grammys for both best newcomer and record of the year. Now, at 60, she takes a frank and fascinating look back.
9) “Navalny” … but not quite. This was going to be a great week for documentaries. In a late switch, however, CNN is delaying this rerun by a week. Now the compelling film about Russian dissident Alexei Navalny will air 9-11 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 14.
10) ALSO: There’s a new “Saturday Night Live” (11:29 p.m. Saturday, NBC), with Benedict Cumberbatch hosting and Arcade Fire as music guest. For more laughs, the second “Ten Percent” episode —- a good one – arrives Friday on Sundance Now and 10 p.m. Sunday on BBC. Another British gem is “Signora Volpe,” with Emilia Fox as a spy, visiting family in Italy. The three weekly movies (starting today on www.acorn.tv) have deep characters and splendid backdrops.