Daily Best Bets

1) “Nature” season-finale, 8 p.m., PBS. The 40th season – a good one – ends with some spectacular views of Portugal. Brutal wind and the world’s biggest waves (up to 100 feet) have left shipwrecks, where creatures make their homes. The coast also has one of the largest seahorse populations. One island has a shrinking number of monk seals (about 30) and expanding number of wolf spiders (maybe 5,000). On land, we see wildfires and wild horses; we also see cork trees – their bark harvested every eight years – holding giant stork nests (shown here). Read more…

1) “New Amsterdam,” 10 p.m., NBC. After returning last week from a six-week break, “New Amsterdam” threw lives into limbo. There was a heavy-drinking night and four people are missing – Wilder (who may have summoned an online date) … Trevor (who may have convinced Iggy to cheat on his husband) ,,, Mia (who seemed suicidal) … and Casey (who’s still mad at Bloom, as is Leyla). Helen did make it home, but now she’s collapsed. Max (they’re shown here in a previous episode) raced home to check on her; he had planned to propose to her that night, but she fell asleep. Read more…

1) “Better Things” series-finale, 10 p.m., FX, rerunning at 11. A great show ends in typical style – odd, disjointed and intermittently brilliant. If you haven’t been watching it, just relax and let the finale wash over you. It starts and ends with clever music videos; in between are bits of the fictional life of Sam Fox – a lot like the real life of writer-director-star Pamela Adlon (shown here in an earlier season, with the actresses playing her daughters). Two long toilet scenes could have been skipped, but the rest has warmth, humor and human quirks. Read more…

1) ”Masterpiece: Sanditon” season-finale, 9 p.m., PBS. The sisters are heading home with their love lives crumbling. Charlotte (shown here in a previous episode) is sorting out two angry guys; Alison was devastated by a lying soldier. Then there’s Miss Lambe” (seduced by an artist) and Esther (drugged by her step-brother); also, the soldiers are leaving without paying their bills. Some of this gets resolved, in a well-made hour that is slick and emotional, with a closing jolt. Read more…

1) Earth Day, continued. A deluge of earthly shows arrived on or before Friday; most are still available via Disney+ (including the ambitious “Polar Bear”), Netflix (including the gorgeous “Our Great National Parks”), Paramount+, Discovery+ and PBS.org. Also, BBC America wraps a two-day marathon of splendid nature reruns. “Planet Earth” (shown here) continues to 9 a.m., with “Blue Planet II” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and “Africa” from 3-8 p.m. Read more…

1) Earth Day films, Disney+. On most Earth Days, DisneyNature has a gorgeous film in movie theaters. Now, however, “Polar Bear” has gone straight to streaming; it’s one of three documentaries debuting today on Disney+.  “Explorer: The Last Tepui” has climber Alex Honnold (“Free Solo”) take a biologist to an untouched “island in the sky”; “The Biggest Little Farm: The Return” (shown here) follows the city folks who have made an 81-acre mini-farm into an eco-friendly success Read more…

1) “Young Sheldon,” 8 p.m., CBS. Sheldon and his sister are trying to figure out more about the family drama. It’s a big one: Their brother Georgie, 17, lied to an older woman, Mandy, about his age; now she’s pregnant. Georgie is played by Montana Jordan, 19, the lone Texas native in the main cast of a show set in Texas. Mandy (they’re shown here) is played by Emily Osment, 30, a former child star who has emerged as a skilled actress in Chuck Lorre shows – “Mom,” “The Kominsky Method” and now “Young Sheldon.” Read more…

(This is slightly out of order; for the April 20 beat-bets, scroll down one.)
1)“Black-isn: finale, 9 p.m., ABC. One of TV’s most important comedies concludes. In its first seven seasons, “Black-ish” received 25 Emmy nominations, including four for best comedy series. It has Peabody and American Film Institute awards, a Television Critics Association win for best comedy and a Golden Globe for Tracee Ellis Ross, who stars with Anthoy Anderson (they’re shown here). Tonight, with his parents leaving and his kids pondering college, he considers a change … and gets advice from gymnast Simone Biles. That’s followed at 9:31 by “Black-ish: A Celebration.” Read more…

1) ”Snowfall” season-finale, 10 p.m., FX, rerunning at 11:11, 12:22, 1:33. “There might be a problem,” one character says, late in this high-octane episode. You think? By that point, there are huge problems for everyone. For just a moment, things seemed fine: After splitting from Teddy, Franklin (shown here in a previous episode) was in love, in real estate and maybe leaving the drug world. Then came crescendos of deceit, rage and violence. Intense and powerfully acted, this sends the show in fresh directions next season. Read more…

1) “Better Things,” 10 p.m., FX, rerunning at 11 and midnight. For this final season, Celia Imrie (left) — who plays the mother of Sam (Pamela Adlon, right) — couldn’t leave England during the pandemic. Adlon had a solution: She flew there to tape several two-person scenes for early episodes, pretending they were in California; then the entire cast arrived for this engaging hour. Amid pleasant moments in Liverpool and London, we get some humor and some life-changing decisions … setting up next week’s series finale. Read more…