1) “NCIS: Sidney” season-finale, 8 p.m., CBS. This Aussie/American blend (shown here) has done a fairly solid job of wielding cop-show cliches. Now it amps up the odds, with mixed results. It starts with one of the strangest kidnapping in TV history and ends cleverly. In between, it requires people to behave out-of-character, in the way TV fiction prefers.
2) “Only Murders in the Builidng,” 9-10 p.m., ABC. This is the finale of the terrific first season, which debuted on Hulu. After lonely times, Charles (Steve Martin) is in love with a bassoonist (Amy Ryan). Life is good – except his colleagues (Martin Short and Selena Gomez) suspect she’s a killer. The result bubbles with humor and twists, then sets up the next season. There have been three, with a fourth planned.
3) “Finding Your Roots,” 8 p.m., PBS. Sammy Hagar is a rock star, Ed O’Neill is a TV star, but they have key things in common. Both are the sons of steelworkers; both knew little about the pain of their ancestors. For Hagar, the back-story is huge – including three murders on one side and a paternity surprise on the other.
4) “Extended Family,” 8:30 p.m., NBC. At one point, Jim (Jon Cryer) expresses to his ex-wife Julia (Abigail Spencer) his “astonishment at the absurdity of what you have done.” We kind of agree; it’s never good when a smart character must do something steeply stupid, to advance the plot. Still, Cryer and Spencer are so skilled at this that they make the episode moderately enjoyable.
5) “La Brea,” 9 p.m., NBC. Now for some real problems. Imagine sinking into a tar pit as a mammoth rushes toward you. Or running through a mine field as another mammoth (there are a lot of them, apparently) chases. Or … Well, this show is down to its final four episodes, still trying to juggle drama and action in two time periods.