Week’s top-10 for Nov. 9: cops, soldiers & astronauts

1) “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 9 p.m. Thursday, NBC. Last week, “Chicago Fire” had its 300th episode; now “SVU” (same producer and network) doubles that. This is the 600th, trailing only “The Simpsons” (815) and “Gunsmoke” (635). Mariska Hargitay (shown here) has been there the entire time; for this episode, Christopher Meloni — who did the first 12 seasons, left for a decade and now appears occasionally — returns as Stabler.

2) “We Chose to Go to the Moon,” 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. This Carnegie Hall epic views the space race through personal glimpses, plus strong music from Broadway stars. After a slow start, it has a moving “Sounds of Silence” and a soaring “Aquarius,” later closing with a rousing “Rocket Man” and a ballad Mark Armstrong wrote about his dad, the lunar pioneer.

3) “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” Wednesday, Amazon Prime. This is the month for sci-fi epics. “Percy Jackson” (Nov. 20, Disney+) and “Blade Runner 2099” (Nov. 25, Prime) are on the way; first, it’s the third season of this mega-budgeted prequel. The first four episodes arrive now, with the others (two per week) Nov. 18 and 25.

4) “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,” 8:30 p.m. today, NBC. Bobby Moynihan has been everywhere lately. He did a recent “Saturday Night Live” and is a regular on “NCIS: Origins” (including a recent episode with Mark Harmon) and here: He plays Reggie’s ex-teammate, seemingly a freeloader. Now come funny twists as people ponder his value.

5) “NCIS” shows, 8-11 p.m. Tuesday, CBS. Last week, networks obsessed on the elections. Now the regular Tuesday shows return — NBC’s basketball (8-11 p.m.), ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” (8 p.m., after moving to Monday last week) and all three “NCIS” shows. That starts with an 8-year-old hiding in her apartment, with her Marine mom missing.

6) “Band of Brothers,” 11:30 a.m. Wednesday to 1:49 a.m., AMC. On Veterans Day, this superb mini-series reruns, with the true story of a World War II unit. There’s much more, including Steven Spielberg’s masterful “Saving Private Ryan,” at noon and 8:05 p.m. on Showtime. Military marathons are on FMC, Movies and Turner Classic Movies.

7) Veterans Day documentaries, Wednesday. At 8 p.m., HBO reruns its “Band of Brothers” follow-up. At 10, PBS’ “Secrets of the Dead” visits a Revolutionary War site. Also, History reruns “World War II with Tom Hanks” from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. That’s followed by new docs — one on the SEALS (8 p.m.), the other “A 250th Salute to American Veterans” (10).

8) Comedy or tragedy, Friday. You could start with NBC’s “Happy’s Place” (Reba McEntire re-unites with her old “Reba” co-star, James Denton) and “Newlyweds,” at 8 and 8:30. At 9, try PBS’ semi-modern “Romeo & Juliet.” Occasionally in Spanish (for no clear reason), it has a talented cast, including Tony-winner Deirdre O’Connell’s broad (and fun) work as Nurse.

9) “Kids’ Choice Awards,” 8-9:30 p.m., CBS and Nickelodeon. After an 18-month gap, the show returns. It’s the 39th overall … and the first shared by Nickelodeon (which reruns it at 9:30) and CBS. Alex Warren, a singer-songwriter and YouTuber, hosts. Taylor Swift leads nominations, followed by Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter.

10) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m. Saturday, NBC. John Mulaney, an “SNL” favorite, returns. He was a writer on the show, co-creating Bill Hader’s Stefon character. Since then, he’s hosted six previous times, often offering a stand-up comedy routine instead of the uusual host bits. Phoebe
Bridgers has her second turn as music guest.