Week’s top-10 for Oct. 19: big laughs and country divas

1) “Newlyweds” debut, 8:30 p.m. Friday, NBC. Two gifted actors (shown here) cover turf they know. Tim Daly and Tea Leoni, 70 and 60, married last year, after a decade together; now they play people who marry quickly. She’s bold and instinctive; he’s not. Their fun world is spiced by his ex-wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) and his assistant (Bill O’Neill, a hilarious newcomer).

2) Dolly Parton tribute, 9-11 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. There have been lots of tributes to the late Parton, including ones at the Emmys and the Video Music Awards. The Country Music Association won’t wait for its show (Nov. 18); it packs this with stars — Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Ella Langley, Brad Paisley, Lainey Wilson, Kelsea Ballerini and more

3) World Series, 8 p.m. ET Friday and Saturday, Fox, with pre-game at 7. Baseball finally gets to its big moment, with the the best-of-seven series. It will skip Sunday, avoiding a clash with pro football, then return on Oct. 26 and 27 and, if needed Oct. 28 and Oct. 30 and 31 — which would be a Halloween-night finish to terrify or delight.

4) Basketball opener, 3, 7 and 9:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, NBC. We’re at the point where all the sports tangle together. Football is in its prime; and just before baseball’s Series starts, pro basketball begins its season with a triple-header. It will be the Celtics and Pistons, then the 76ers and champion Knicks and then the Thunder and Spurs.

5) “NCIS: Origins,” 10 p.m. Tuesday, CBS. For the second straight week, this prequel nods to the original “NCIS.” Last week it had old Gibbs, via flash-forward; this time, it’s young Ducky. Adam Campbell showed up twice last season as “Ducky” Mallard, who was the “NCIS” medical examiner in early seasons. Now he’s back, to probe a Marine’s death.

6) “Secrets of the Dead,” 10 p.m. Wednesday, PBS. Frederic Bartholdi had reached a crisis: He’d spent a decade creating a 150-foot colossus. Now it waited in 20 crates in a French warehouse; Americans hadn’t built a pedestal. Then a newspaper’s fundraiser rescued the project. It’s a fascinating story, told a week before the Statue of Liberty turns 140.

7) “9-1-1,” 8 p.m. Thursday, ABC. It’s tough to shrug off a sinkhole and volcano that destroyed neighborhoods. That story, which started last week, continues. And at 10 p.m., “Grey’s Anatomy” has partly become a college show: Bailey (Chandra Wilson, 57) is in school to study public health; she soon finds a crisis, involving fraternity hazing.

8) “Happy’s Place” season-opener, 8 p.m. Friday, NBC. A lot of likable actors and pleasant characters push through some surprisingly weak jokes. The episode finally clicks in the last five minutes, with sight gags and some solid moments between Reba McEntire and her real-life fiance, Rex Linn. That sets us up for the much better comedy, “Newlyweds.”

9) “Great Performances,” 9 p.m. Friday, PBS. In Nashville, 22 acts offer a musical tribute to Tammy Wynette. It’s all-female (except for guys in duets or a quartet) and mostly country, with detours for “How Great Thou Art” or “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” There are powerhouse moments from Wynonna, Mandy Barnett, Debby Boone and more.

10) “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror,” 8 p.m. Sunday, Fox. Maybe this should be our big fear — eternally trapped in driver’s-ed films, That’s where Homer is, for crash after crash. It’s a funny finale to the annual trilogy Also,. there’s a Bart-dog soul mix-up and a shed with rotating husbands, including Jeff Probst and deluge of “Survivor” puns.