1) College basketball tournament. This starts at 3:30 and 6 p.m. PT Tuesday and Wednesday on TruTV, filling the last four spots. Then comes the cascade: On Thursday and Friday, CBS has games at 9 and 11:30 a.m. PT and 4 and 6:30 p.m. Then it’s 9 and 11:30 a.m. and 2 and 4:30 p.m. Saturday; 9, 11:30 and 2 Sunday. There’s more on TBS, TNT and TruTV.(Shown here is top-rated Duke.)
2) “The Bachelorette” opener, 8-10 p.m. Sunday, ABC. After last season, this was shelved for a makeover. Now it’s back (18 months later) with Taylor Frankie Paul at the core. In 2022, she revealed online that she and her husband did “soft-swinging.” Then came a Hulu show (“Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”), a divorce and this show.
3) “The Forsytes” opener, 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS. For the third time, PBS tackles the novels about Victorian-era wealth. It had a 26-parter in 1967, a 13-parter in 2002. Now it’s a six-episode first season, elegantly filmed, emphasizing wise women and feuding Forsytes. Jolyon (Jo) has an artistic soul, a business heritage, a gentle wife and a memory of past love..
4) “American Idol” (8-10 p.m., ABC) and “The Voice” (9-11 p.m., NBC), both today. Both shows are at key points. “Idol” has its top 20 and gives them a sweet backdrop; for two Mondays, they’ll sing at a Hawaiian resort. “Voice” has finished its auditions and is ready for two weeks of “battle rounds”; two teammates perform and the coach chooses one.
5) World Baseball Classic. The first semi-final game was Sunday and the second is at 5 p.m. PT today on Fox Sports1. Then the winners collide at 5 p.m. Tuesday, to determine the sixth champion. Japan won the first two championships, in 2006 and 2009. The Dominican Republic won in 2013 and the U.S. in 2017,; then Japan got its third win in 2023.
6) St. Patrick’s Day shows, Tuesday. “Finian’s Rainbow” (1968), at 5:30 p.m. ET on Turner Classic Movies, is a musical gem, beautifully directed by Francis Coppola. Also, Hallmark has two romances set in Ireland –“As Luck Would Have It” (2021) at 6 p.m. and “Love of the Irish” (2025) at 8. And Syfy has leprechaun horror films every two hours, to 2 a.m.
7) “America’s Culinary Cup,” 10 p.m. Wednesday, CBS. Here’s a sign that “Cup” chose its contestants well: In the final showdown, we deeply don’t want either chef to lose. One does, in an episode focusing on sustainability. In that showdown, both chefs work with the parts that most people throw away. Both seem to do well; one departs and tears are shed.
8) “Happy’s Place,” 8 p.m. Friday, NBC. For two seasons, we’ve heard Gabby (Melissa Peterman) tell stories of her bad mother. Now the mom (five-time Emmy-winner Jane Lynch) shows up. Towering women (5-10 and 6-foot, respectively) bring opposite personalities. In a fairly good episode, Bobbie (Reba McEntire) is stunned by shifts in her friend’s personality.
9) “The Faithful: Women of the Bible” opener, 8-10 p.m. Sunday, Fox. For the next three Sundays, this tells Biblical tales from women’s perspectives. That starts with Sarah (Minnie Driver), confronting bad men and the good Abraham (Jeffrey Donovan). It includes perilous journeys, a menacing pharaoh and history’s first surrogacy contract, etched in stone.
10) “Call the Midwife” season-opener and “The Count of Monte Cristo” opener, 8 and 10 p.m. Sunday, PBS. Surrounding the glitter of “The Forsytes” are two dark hours. “Midwife,” now in 1971, is brightened by the surge of women’s-rights, but has a grim tale of an abusive family. “Monte Cristo” is a brooding tale of cruelty and revenge; the opener sticks to cruelty.