1) White House Correspondents Dinner, 8-11 p.m. ET, CNN. This event has been cancelled for the past two years (due to Covid) and hasn’t had a president there in six years (due to, well, Trump). But Joe Biden plans to be there, barring an emergency, to take and deliver barbs. Trebor Noah (shown here) hosts; the best parts tend to come near the end. Read more…
1)“Magnum P.I.” return, 9 p.m., CBS. This used to be dependable on CBS, with three crime hours each Friday. Lately, that’s shrunk to two and (for the last couple weeks) just one, Now “Magnum” is back, with only its second new hour in six weeks. It borrows an idea that has worked for “X-files,” “The Godfather,” “Law & Order” and more: A guy wakes up, covered with blood and unable to remember if he’s committed a crime; Magnum and Higgins (shown here) try to find out. That’s followed by “Blue Bloods,” which this week was renewed for its 13th season. Read more…
1) NFL draft, 8-11:30 p.m., ABC and ESPN. Baseball season has started, basketball and hockey are peaking … but football grabs our attention. It’s the first round tonight, with edge-rusher Aidan Hutchinson (shown here about to make a sack) possibly going first; two more rounds are Friday, with the final four Saturday afternoon. Rece Davis anchors, joined by Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and lots of clips and commentary. ABC will focus a bit more on the people side, ESPN on stats and stuff. Read more…
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…
