Week’s top-10 for March 20: “Succession” returns, others debut

1) “Succession,” 9 p.m., HBO. A much-praised drama (shown here) starts its fourth and final season, 15 months after the third ended. Each year has been nominated for the best-drama Emmy and the second and third seasons won. There have been 11 other wins, including three straight for Jesse Armstrong’s scripts. Throughout, family members have vied for control of the media conglomerate. Now, instead, there are plans for a sale to a tech visionary; lives are in flux. Read more…

1) “Succession,” 9 p.m., HBO. A much-praised drama (shown here) starts its fourth and final season, 15 months after the third ended. Each year has been nominated for the best-drama Emmy and the second and third seasons won. There have been 11 other wins, including three straight for Jesse Armstrong’s scripts. Throughout, family members have vied for control of the media conglomerate. Now, instead, there are plans for a sale to a tech visionary; lives are in flux.

2) “Chicago P.D.,” 10 p.m. Wednesday, NBC. This is what “P.D.” does best – intense, time-factor stories that hit the edge of ethics. Voight guesses a juror has been intimidated. Can his team find a solution, without disrupting the trial and risking someone’s life? Yes, two late scenes defy credibility: Why is Voight going in alone? How did he (a trial witness) meet the juror in a restroom? Still, it’s tautly constructed and Sara Bues is subtly perfect as the prosecutor.

3) “Up Here” debut, Friday, Hulu. Three great talents combine for a gem. There’s Tommy Kail, who directed Broadway’s “Hamilton” and “In the Heights” … Robert Lopez, composer of “Book of Mormon” and “Avenue Q” … and Kristen Anderson Lopez, who linked with him for “Frozen” and “Coco.” Their eight-episode musical, released in one gulp, focuses on young lovers (Mae Whitman, Carlos Valdez) and lingering voices in their heads.

4) Basketball, all week. By Sunday night, the college tourney will have its final four. On Thursday and Friday, games are at 7 and 9:30 p.m. ET on CBS and at 6:15 and 8:45 on TBS. Then it’s Saturday on TBS (6 and 8:30 p.m.) and Sunday on CBS (2 and 4:55 p.m.). That means the CBS soaps – which lost two days last week – are back. But primetime shows on Thursday and Friday (from “Sheldon” to “Blue Bloods”) get another week off.

5) “The Bachelor,” 8-10 p.m. today, ABC. This started with lots of women from serious fields – four nurses, a nursing student, two other health-care people and a therapist. Now most have been ousted, but Kaity Biggar, 27, a Canadian travel nurse, remains. So do Ariel Frenkel, 28, and Gabi Elnicki, 25, who are marketing and account executives. Zach Shallcross, 26, a 6-foot-4 sales guy, will invite each to a night in the “fantasy suite.” A week later, he chooses one.

6) “American Masters: Dr. Tony Fauci,” 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. The previous 279 episodes focused on arts and entertainment, not immunologists. But here is a quietly involving look at Fauci, 82, the nation’s infectious-disease chief for 38 years. We see a gentle guy who laughs often – despite verbal assaults – and listens to his critics. In a great segment, he chats with the AIDS activists – now his friends – who fervently fought him 30 years ago.

7) “Accused,” 9 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. Like many anthologies, this has been erratic. Some hours are deeply depressing, some aren’t, all are beautifully crafted. Here’s one of the best: A good-guy teacher (Jason Ritter) is tugged into a no-win situation. Unlike many shows, this takes a layered view of religious people and of those on both sides of a thorny issue. There’s great work from Ritter and Wrenn Schmidt and Emma Nelson, as his fiancee and student,

8) “The Young and the Restless,” 12:30 p.m. Thursday, CBS. This began in 1973, giving soaps a new feel, more sexual and more cinematic. One of its events, a costume ball, had the entire cast, a giant chandelier and a villain crushed in a trash compactor. As the 50th anniversary nears (Sunday), a multi-day celebration begins with another costume ball and a key couple: Eric Braden, 82, and Melody Thomas Scott, 66, joined the show 40-plus years ago.

9) Figure skating, NBC and cable. The sports of 7-footers and 5-footers share the night. The big guys continue their basketball tournament, with smaller folks in the World Figure Skating Championships in Japan. Coverage (early-morning ET) starts Tuesday on Peacock and Wednesday on USA; then NBC has the tape-delayed finals, from 8-10 p.m. on Saturday. That’s a sports-stuffed day, with XFL football at 7 p.m. ET on FX and pro hockey at 8 on ABC.

10) ALSO: Two more major series arrive at the same time (9 p.m. Sunday) as “Succession.” Hallmark’s “Ride” debuts, with Nancy Travis heading a modern rodeo family. Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” starts its second season, again flashing between teens who spent 19 months in the wilderness (after a plane crash) and their lives now. This opener views at the deceptive violence of Shawna – back then and now, in the aftermath of her killing her lover, Adam.

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