Coverage of the CBS pilot Untitled Mother & Son Legal Drama. Photo: Michael Courtney/CBS ©2022 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Best-bets for Dec. 29: Todd, Toby & trouble

1) “So Help Me Todd” (shown here), 9 and 10 p.m., CBS. A week before the season resumes, here’s a dandy way to get familiar wth this above-average show. First, the clever pilot film: A by-the-book lawyer (Marcia Gay Harden) and her ignore-the-book son Todd (Skyler Astin), whose detective license was suspended, scramble to find her husband. Then the second hour gets too silly at times, as Todd shirks his own case to work on hers, but is still sort of fun. Read more…

1) “So Help Me Todd” (shown here), 9 and 10 p.m., CBS. A week before the season resumes, here’s a dandy way to get familiar wth this above-average show. First, the clever pilot film: A by-the-book lawyer (Marcia Gay Harden) and her ignore-the-book son Todd (Skyler Astin), whose detective license was suspended, scramble to find her husband. Then the second hour gets too silly at times, as Todd shirks his own case to work on hers, but is still sort of fun.

2) “Fleishman is in Trouble” finale, Hulu. Brilliantly written, this mini-series began as the story of Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg), a good-hearted doctor whose cold-hearted wife vanished, leaving him with kids and questions. We learned that she had a nervous breakdown; now we see that the story isn’t really about them. It’s about his suburban friend (Lizzy Caplan), who narrates; and about aging and changing and more. It’s odd, yet superbly done.

3) “Popstar’s Best of 2022,” 8 p.m., CW. The serious news people have already summed up this odd year, including a two-hour ABC special. Now we get the pop-culture view, based on a poll in Popstar magazine. That’s followed by magicians, with “Masters of Illusion” reruns at 9 and 9:30.

4) “Young Sheldon,” 8 p.m., CBS. In a rerun from last year, Sheldon nudges his sister into raising doubts about the Bible; also, their mom is working with the pastor to hire a youth-pastor. That’s followed by this year’s “Ghosts” season-opener, a clever one in which the ghosts are spies, helping get a good review from two bed-and-breakfast critics.

5) ALSO: There are two season-openers at 8 p.m. — “Restaurants Impossible” on the Food Network and “Restored” on the Magnolia Network.” And Netflix debuts “Brown and Friends,” a charming-looking animated show about a sweet soul (sort of a bear) who works at a coffeeshop.

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