1) Academy Awards, 8 p.m. ET, ABC. We can expect some laughs; Jimmy Kimmel is host and a few presenters (Melissa McCarthy, Mindy Kaling, Julia Louis-Dreyfus) know humor. There will also be music from Rihanna, Sofia Carson, David Byrne and the actors who did “Naatu Naatu,” plus Lennie Kravitz in the “In Memoriam” segment. We’ll also see clips of nominees, some of them well-known; that includes “Top Gun: Maveric” (shown here), “Avatar: Way of the Water,” “Elvis” and “Everything, Everywhere All at Once.”
2) Pre- and post-Oscar. Previews go from 1-4 p.m. ET on ABC; they start at 1:30 on the ABC News Live streamer and at 3 on the E cable channel. E goes to the red carpet at 5, with ABC arriving at 6:30. Also, E plans a post-Oscar show (11:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET) and ABC has an hour of “American Idol” auditions. That will air right after the Oscars on the West Coast, but after local newscasts elsewhere.
3) Basketball. Most of the conferences have finished the men’s tournaments now, but a few will wait until the last second. CBS has the finals of the Atlantic 10 and the Big Ten at 1 and 3:30 p.m. ET — leading right into its tourney selection show, from 6-7 p.m. Also, ESPN has the SEC and American Athletic finals at 1 and 3:15 p.m.; ESPN has the Ivy League at noon.
4) “The Blacklist,” 10 p.m., NBC. Sen. Panabaker is back and in danger. An elaborate scheme results in her Secret Service agent being shot by his colleague’s gun. That leads to a wild plot that strains believability (as does a jailbreak scheme), but is fun to watch.
5) And more. Other networks used to duck away from the Oscars, but not any more. New episodes include CBS’ “Equalizer” and “East New York” (8 and 9 p.m.), Fox’s “Simpsons” and “Great North” (8 and 8:30) and NBC’s “Magnum” and “Blacklist” (9 and 10). At 9, HBO has the season-finale of its hit show, “The Last of Us.”And MGM+ has “Top Gun: Maverick” at 6:45, overlapping with its time as a best-picture nominee.