Daily Best Bets

1) “American Ninja Warrior” season-opener, 8-10 p.m., NBC. Here’s half of the one-two punch that gives NBC strong summer ratings. “America’s Got Talent” has already started its season on Tuesdays; now “Ninja Warrior” (shown here) takes over on Mondays. Adapted from a Japanese competition, it has people tackle obstacle courses, with a chance for $1 million if they fully conquer the finals. (Only three people have done it, in 13 editions.) The season starts with try-outs in San Antonio and Los Angeles. Read more…

1) MTV Movie & TV Awards, 8 p.m., MTV, plus CW, BET, VH1, Comedy Central, Pop, TV Land, more. As the summer movie scene heats up (and the “Top Gun” sequel makes a kajillion dollars), we honor recent hits. “Spiderman: No Way Home” (shown here) leads with seven nominations, including best movie, facing “”Dune,” “Scream,” “The Batman,” “The Adam Project” and “Shang-Chi.” “Euphoria” has six, including best TV show, facing “Loki,” “Squid Game,” “Ted Lasso,” “Yellowstone” and “Inventing Anna.” Vanessa Hudgens hosts; MTV has a follow-up at 10 . Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. It was a hectic stretch for John Mulaney: He went into a drug-rehab program in September of 2020 … hosted “SNL” on Halloween (shown here) …then relapsed. Friends – many from “SNL” – had an intervention and he returned to rehab in December. Here’s a rerun of the show he hosted 14 months later, with LCD Soundsystem as music guest. And yes, Mulaney managed to turn that intervention into a long and funny monolog. Read more…

1) “American Masters: Joe Papp in Five Acts,” 9 p.m., PBS. Papp had an audacious plan, bringing free Shakespeare to New York’s parks. He fought the city’s parks chief, won and built a permanent Central Park theater. (He’s shown here during construction.). Then he added indoor shows, launching “Hair,” “A Chorus Line,” “A Normal Heart,” “For Colored Girls (etc.)” and more. This “new” film (which reached film festivals a decade ago) offers a fascinating view of a strong public figure who kept much of his life – including four marriages and a hard-scrabble childhood – semi-hidden. Read more…

1) Basketball finals, 9 p.m. ET, ABC. For the next couple weeks, the pros will dominate ABC and beyond. That starts with the Golden State Warriors (shown here) hosting the Boston Celtics. It happens again Sunday, then moves to Boston on June 8 and 10. The other games, if necessary, are June 13, 16 and 19. Games are at 9 p.m. ET (except 8 p.m. Sundays). The preceding hour (today, that’s 8 and 8:30 pm.) has a Jimmy Kimmel special and a pre-game show. Read more…

1) “Abbott Elementary,” 9 p.m., ABC. At a time when most new shows stumble, this has been an exception. It arrived at mid-season, with just 13 episodes and a little-known star; praise (and solid ratings) followed. Now “Abbott” has been promoted to the central spot in the comedy line-up (nudging “Conners” to 8 p.m.) this summer and next fall. Here’s the pilot film, written by Quinta Brunson (shown here); she plays a new elementary teacher, with earnest colleagues and a clueless principal. Read more…

1) “America’s Got Talent” season-opener, 8-10:01 p.m., NBC. For good or bad, the summer season is here. ABC already has “Holey Moley” and “The Chase” at 8 and 9 p.m. Tuesdays; now the summer ratings-leader returns. Auditions begin, with Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara as judges and Terry Crews hosting; they’re shown here. Read more…

1) “Julia,” 8 p.m., CNN; rerunning at 10. Julia Child (shown here) grew up comfortably, going to prep school and Smith. She did office work during wartime, moved to Paris with her husband … and discovered French cuisine. That changed her life; then she changed cooking, publishing and public TV. Child spent a dozen years co-writing “The French Chef,” sort of invented the book tour and, at 50, created breezy, no-script TV. Here’s a delightful documentary, from the people who profiled Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Read more…

1) “National Memorial Day Concert,” 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 9:30. For the first time in three years, this is back to what it does brilliantly – a live event on the Capitol lawn (shown here), on the eve of Memorial Day. Some of Broadway’s greatest voices – Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lea Salonga and Norm Lewis – will be there, plus country star Craig Morgan, old-time/blues master Rhiannon Gibbons and Pia Toscano, once a powerhouse “American Idol” singer. There will also be tributes, including one to the late Colin Powell. Read more…

1) “Yellowstone,” 10 a.m. to midnight, Paramount Network. This modern-day cowboy series with Kevin Costner (shown here) has become a ratings hit. You can catch up with it on Paramount+ or on TV. Today starts with the debut episode and ends early in the second season;; Sunday (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.) will reach midway into the third of four season; the fifth doesn’t arrive until November. Read more…