Best-bets for Aug. 23: A singing Cinderella and comic vampires

1) “Cinderella” (1997), 9-11 p.m., ABC; plus a special at 8. It was 25 years ago that the Disney people took a lesser Rodgers-and-Hammerstein musical and spiffed it up beautifully. They inserted Rodgers songs from other shows, then added vibrant sets and splendid Rob Marshall choreography. They also had color-blind casting; Brandy Norwood (shown here) was fine as Cinderella, Whitney Houston soared as her fairy godmother. The casting is a focus of the 8 p.m. special. Read more…

1) “Cinderella” (1997), 9-11 p.m., ABC; plus a special at 8. It was 25 years ago that the Disney people took a lesser Rodgers-and-Hammerstein musical and spiffed it up beautifully. They inserted Rodgers songs from other shows, then added vibrant sets and splendid Rob Marshall choreography. They also had color-blind casting; Brandy Norwood (shown here) was fine as Cinderella, Whitney Houston soared as her fairy godmother. The casting is a focus of the 8 p.m. special.

2) “What We Do in the Shadows,” 10 p.m., FX. A funny show comes up with one of its best – and weirdest – episodes. A take-off on the “Property Brothers” show, “Go Flip Yourself” has brothers booming in to turn the grim vampires’ lair into a dream home. It’s a clever concept, given some wild twists. The Sklar twins have splashy guest roles (one of them only briefly), along with Nick Kroll.

3) “Motherland: Fort Salem” finale, 10 p.m., Freeform. An interesting series concludes after just three seasons. This began with three young women joining the academy, which trains witches to help the military. Now they link with colleagues to battle the Camarilla; also, Gen. Alder races to find the final piece of the First Song.

4) “Password,” 9 p.m., NBC. This fun game has fascinating results. Some words – “chipmunk,” “naked” – are surprisingly easy; “kitchen,” however, is a stumper. And how do you offer a single word to suggest “yellow”? Jimmy Fallon, a terrific player, competes with J.B. Smoove.

5) “Ready Player One” (2018), 8-11 p.m., TNT. In HBO’s epic “House of the Dragon,” Olivia Cooke, 28, is the adult version of Lady Alicent, the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. Now we can see her previous big fantasy role. In a terrific Steven Spielberg film, she’s excellent as an avatar, sort of a hip, teenaged game whiz. That’s followed at 11 by “Titans.” with flashbacks showing why Deathstroke (Esai Morales) has a vendetta against Dick.

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