Daily Best Bets

1) State of the Union address, 9 p.m. ET, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and news networks. For the first time, we had to wait until March to learn what state the union is in. Since 1934, the speech has been in January or February; before that, it was November or December … except for George Washington, on Oct. 25, 1791. (Hey, he was new at this.) Now Joe Biden speaks and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds gives the Republican response. And yes, there are alternatives, including “Naomi” (shown here); see No. 4. Read more…

1) “Better Things,” 10 and 10:46 p.m., FX; repeating at 11:21 and 12:07 and 12:42 and 1:25. This is one of TV’s best shows – once you get used to it. It has subtle, scattered moments in the random life of Sam Fox (Pam Adlon, right, who also writes, directs and produces), her three daughters and mom (they’re shown here) and more. The openers bring a genealogy jolt, a black-out, a dreaded job and more. There’s a crisis coming later, but mostly this is about life’s better and lesser things. Read more…

1) “American Idol” season-opener, 8-10 p.m., ABC. Starting its 20th season (and its fifth on ABC), this is a piece of TV history. It hit No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for 2005-6, after two years at No. 2. Ryan Seacrest remains as hosts; the judges (shown here) are Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. This year’s tours reach Nashville, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. For three Olympic weekends, we’ve had laughless Saturdays. Now the drought is over and John Mulaney hosts a new episode. He was an “SNL” writer for four years, co-creating Bill Hader’s Stefon character. (They’re shown here.) This is his fifth time as host and his first since finishing drug-rehab a year ago. He’s also returned to do uncredited bits and to write for some hosts. The music guest is LCD Sound System, which won a Grammy for “Tonite.” Read more…

1) “The Blacklist” and “The Endgame,” 8 and 9 p.m., NBC. After filling in on Thursdays (and after a five-week break), “Blacklist” (shown here in a previous episode) returns to its Friday slot. Its task force is probing a network for untraceable cell-phone calls, when there are sharp consequences. That leads into a rerun of Monday’s “Endgame” debut … which is a lot like the “Blacklist” debut, nine years ago. Again, a master criminal is confined, but in control; the result is slickly crafted, but lacks believability. Read more…

1) “Law & Order” season-opener, 8 p.m., NBC. The 21st season begins, a dozen years after the 20th. The long rest, however, hasn’t done it much good; the opener has a fairly flat story about a Cosby-type star and the aftershocks. Sam Waterston (shown here), 81, is back briefly as the district attorney, but the courtroom work goes to Hugh Dancy. Anthony Anderson, currently in three series, is back as a cop, with Jeffrey Donovan as his sullen partner and Camryn Manheim as their boss. Read more…

1) “Chicago P.D.,” 10 p.m., NBC. This is easily the best of the three “Chicago” series, as shown tonight. After a bland “Chicago Fire” at 9 p.m., we get this taut hour. It starts with Haily Upton (Tracy Spiradakos, shown here) on a nighttime run. A crisis leads to a stunning opening; then the propulsive story streaks toward its emotional finish. There’s strong writing and visuals, plus great work from Spiradakos. Read more…

1) “This Is Us,” 9 p.m., NBC. After an Olympic break, broadcast-TV’s best drama is back with another emotional and well-crafted episode. This one steps outside the usual Pearson universe. There are nods to nice-guy types – Miguel (in a flashback, before he married Rebecca) and Elijah (who’s with Madison).  But the real focus is on Randall’s wife Beth (shown here). If you saw (in real life) a 15-year-old Olympian being berated for falling, you’ll be moved by Beth’s reaction here. Read more…

1) “Abraham Lincoln,” 8-10:33 p.m., History, rerunning at 12:04 a.m. Sunday’s opener (rerunning at 5:30 p.m. today) took Abe through a tough childhood, brightened when his new stepmother brought warmth and books. Now, on Presidents Day, we see him (shown here) waging war and pondering emancipation. Skillfully blending historians and re-enactments, this concludes at 8 p.m. Tuesday, with reruns at 3 and 5:30. Read more…

1) Olympic finale, 8-10:30 p.m., NBC. The Chinese have shown a mastery of spectacles – from inventing fireworks (1,00 years ago) to holding he Olympic opening ceremony (16 days ago). Now it’s time for the closing ceremony (the 2018 one is shown here), plus two reruns of the figure-skating gala. One (3:30-8 a.m.) is on the USA Network, which also reruns the men’s hockey championship during that stretch; the other (2-6 p.m.) is on NBC, which also has women’s cross-country skiing plus (at 7 p.m.) an Olympic wrap-up. Read more…