Week’s top-10 for April 17: Two shows end; Earth Day blooms

1) “Sanditon” series-finale, 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS. This began as a fragment of a story by Jane Austen. Two centuries after her death, filming began – then was delayed for two years via Covid and more. Still, it all works out. The finale has greats visuals, likable characters and a knack for resolving soap-type problems intelligently. There are plenty of those woes as this begins. Charlotte (shown here with her secret love Colbourne), Georgiana and others head toward doomed romances. Read more…

1) “Sanditon” series-finale, 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS. This began as a fragment of a story by Jane Austen. Two centuries after her death, filming began – then was delayed for two years via Covid and more. Still, it all works out. The finale has greats visuals, likable characters and a knack for resolving soap-type problems intelligently. There are plenty of those woes as this begins. Charlotte (shown here with her secret love Colbourne), Georgiana and others head toward doomed romances.

2) “Snowfall” series-finale, 10 p.m. Wednesday, FX. Now for the opposite of Austen’s elegant world. Set in the 1980s crack epidemic, this has been both brilliant and brutal. Franklin’s hopes of retrieving his money vanished last week, when his mother shot Teddy. To revive your spirits, stick with FX: At 10 and 11:30 p.m. Friday, it starts “Dear Mama,” a superb, five-part documentary about Tupac Shakur and his mother, a Black Panther activist.

3) Earth Day films, Saturday. The National Geographic Channel and BBC America will spend the day showing gorgeous nature films. Most are reruns, but BBC has a new “Chasing the Rains” at 8; then Geographic concludes “Secrets of the Elephants,” a global epic that runs from 9-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. More films from National Geographic and Disney are on Disney+; also, Apple TV+ has “Jane” (a kids’ eco-adventure) and “Extrapolations.”

4) Musical Monday. This was already the day when two music shows collide. From 8-10 p.m., ABC has “American Idol” (tonight wrapping up its Hawaiian visit) and NBC has “The Voice” (now starting the “knock-out round”). Adding to that, NBC has moved the music-oriented “That’s My Jam” to 10 p.m. Mondays. Tonight, the Bailey sisters face each other; Halle is teamed with actor Simu Liu; Chloe is with Adam Lambert, the former “Idol” runner-up.

5) “Gotham Knights” and “Riverdale,” 9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, CW. This mini-network has done intriguing work lately, re-imagining comic-book classics. Now “Knights” pauses to rerun a big episode: A gang raids the Founder’s Gala, holding the city’s elite hostage; young rogues (including the late Batman’s adopted son and the late Joker’s daughter) must fight back. On “Riverdale,” Archie and the gang have been transported back to 1955 dilemmas.

6) “Nature” and “Changing Planet,” 8 p.m. and 9-11 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. Every second, we’re told, 3,000 tons of water pour down Niagara Falls. A terrific “Nature” hour views the Falls itself, plus things along the way. We see people nurture a tree that’s been there for 13 centuries and a snapping turtle whose ancestors go back 90 million years. Think of this and “Changing Planet” as an Earth Week preview; you’ll find much more at pbs.org.

7) “Animal Control,” 9 p.m. Thursday, Fox. This has become a first-rate comedy, with the rare ability to mix big sight gags and clever dialog. Last week, Patel received a one-week suspension for something that was really the fault of Frank and Victoria. Now that shuffles the teams: Shred is with Victoria; Rick, returning to the field, joins Frank. Also, Patel returns to the office anyway. That’s followed by a “Welcome to Flatch” rerun, set on Barb’s birthday.

8) Pro playoffs. Two sports gobble TV time. Basketball? That’s 7:30 and 10 p.m. ET today through Thursday on TNT; three games Friday (7:30 and 10 p.m., ESPN; 8:30, ABC); four Saturday (2 and 4:30 p.m., TNT, 7:30 and 10, ESPN); and four Sunday (1 and 3:30 p.m., ABC, 7 and 10:30 , TNT). Hockey? That’s 7 and 9:30 p.m. today through Thursday, ESPN; 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday, TNT; 8 p.m. Saturday, ABC; 1 and 3:30 p.m. Sunday, TNT.

9) “Lucky Hank,” 9 p.m. Sunday, AMC, rerunning at 10. This past Sunday’s episode was amazingly good, as Hank’s personal woes spilled into a faculty dinner party. (You can catch a rerun on AMC+ or late Wednesday night, technically 2:42 a.m. Thursday, on AMC.) Now he wants to avoid the father he hasn’t spoken to in 25 years; instead, he tries an academic conference that he mocks. It’s a morose hour, but stick around; the final minutes are quietly moving.

10) “Magnum PI” mid-season finale, 9 p.m. Sunday, NBC. The new “Magnum” episodes are split into two 10-hour bunches. Now the first bunch wraps with a violent attack on Robin’s estate; the show will be back, but NBC isn’t saying when. Also Sunday, “Somebody Somewhere” starts its second season at 10:35 p.m., on an HBO super-night that has “100-Foot Wave” (8 p.m.), “Succession” (9 and 11:42 p.m.), “Barry” (10) and John Oliver (11:07).

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