Best-bets for May 1: drama debuts, “Idol,” more

1) “Ten Percent” (shown here) debut, 10 p.m., BBC America. At a public-relations firm in London, only the founder (Jim Broadbent) seems peaceful and pleasant. His son (Jack Davenport) is frazzled, especially when young Misha shows up. An aide fumes; a young agent struggles with delivering bad news to Kelly McDonald (playing herself). The result is fast and funny … sometimes too fast, with the British accents. “Ten Percent” also streams Fridays on Sundance Now. Read more…

1) “Ten Percent” (shown here) debut, 10 p.m., BBC America. At a public-relations firm in London, only the founder (Jim Broadbent) seems peaceful and pleasant. His son (Jack Davenport) is frazzled, especially when young Misha shows up. An aide fumes; a young agent struggles with delivering bad news to Kelly McDonald (playing herself). The result is fast and funny … sometimes too fast, with the British accents. “Ten Percent” also streams Fridays on Sundance Now.

2) “I Love That for You” debut, 8:30 p.m., Showtime. In real life, Vanessa Bayer had leukemia at 15; she emerged healthy, happy and (much later) on “Saturday Night Live.” In this fiction, she’s a cancer survivor whose dream is to be on a home-shopping network. The result lightly satirizes such networks, while admiring their zest. It’s a gentle pleasure, leading into strong hours of “The First Lady” and “The Man Who Fell to Earth.”

3) “Masterpiece: Ridley Road” debut, 9 p.m. PBS. The key is to ignore the two-minute opener, a clumsy flashforward that can only confuse viewers. After that, there’s a fairly solid start to a four-week drama. This is 1962 London, soon to soar with the Beatles and with Carnaby Street fashions. But it was also a time of renewed hatred; a Jewish woman, fleeing an arranged marriage, meets Colin Jordan, who was a real-life figure in the neo-Nazis.

4) “American Idol,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. The top 10 contestants will sing Disney songs … then wait a week to learn if they’re in the top seven. (On Monday, “Idol” will pause for a 20th-anniversary special, bringing back some past champions.) And at 10 p.m., ABC’s “The Rookie” wraps up a two-parter, with Niecy Nash as an FBI trainee, helping find a bomber.

5) MORE: “Outlander” (9 p.m., Starz) wraps its sixth season, with Claire facing a murder charge. Also, the summer line-up gets an early start, when “Duncanville” (7:30 p.m., Fox) has a fairly funny season-opener. CBS rests “Equalizer” tonight; instead, it has “NCIS: Los Angeles” at 8 and 9 p.m., setting up next week’s 300th episode. And two great films – “The Godfather” (1972) and its sequel (1974) — are at 4 and 7:45 p.m. on the Paramount Network.

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