Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 28: Zoey and Jackie return

1) “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” return, 9 p.m., NBC. After a seven-week pause, this odd delight steps into a new night, with Zoey(shown here in a previous episode) in a funk. She worries about a brother she likes, a co-worker she dislikes and friends who are opening a restaurant. She worries a lot; that happens when you can hear people’s thoughts via pop songs. She also clings to a sweet memory of her late father. But for all the gloom, this hour also has a large and joyous song-and-dance number and a great ending. Read more…

Best-bets for March 27: Awards have Murphy, Misty, Maxwell, more

1) NAACP Image Awards, 8 p.m., CBS, BET, MTV, VH1 and more. After a decade of being on only one cable network, this returns to broadcast and beyond. Viola Davis is up for best actress in a movie (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and TV (“How to Get Away With Murder”) and for entertainer of the year, alongside Regina King, Tyler Perry, D-Nice and Trevor Noah. Maxwell performs, Eddie Murphy (shown here in “Coming 2 America”) and Misty Copeland get special awards and presenters include Leslie Jones and JB Smoove. Read more…

Best-bets for March 26: Streamers have Ducks, Falcon

1) Streaming. This is a busy day for the streamers. At the same time that Disney starts “Mighty Ducks” (see next paragraph) and continues Marvel’s “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (shown here), others have series. Amazon Prime has animation for grown-ups, launching “Invincible”; Hulu has horror, with the season-finale of “Into the Dark.” Others have non-fiction – “Cocktails and Tall Tales with Ina Garten and Melissa McCarthy” debuts on Discovery+; “Nailed It” starts a new Netflix season, now with duos doing the baking. Read more…

Best-bets for March 25: Comedy night has sorta-super finale

1) “Superstore” series finale, 8-9 p.m., NBC. For six seasons, this has been a likable (if inconsistent) view of the rag-tag workers at a big-box store. Now the chain plans to close most of its stores; at corporate headquarters, Amy (America Ferrera, shown here in a previous episode) tries to help her former colleagues. They want to make this a “perfect store” – not easy when random body parts are found (again). There are some fairly funny moments (as usual) … and then “Superstore” has a terrific finish, giving viewers just what they’ve wanted. Read more…

Best-bets for March 23: young writer, young Rock, more

1) “American Masters: Flannery,” 8-9:30 p.m., PBS. For a brief spurt, Flannery O’Conner (shown here) strayed far from her rural-Georgia roots. She went to the Iowa Writers Workshop and tp a writers colony in New York, getting praise and friendship from literary masters. Then she was diagnosed with lupus, which her father had died of; she retreated at 27, spending her final 12 years with her mom. Her two novels and 37 short stories kept a Southern Gothic tone, becoming classics. Here’s an excellent profile. Read more…

Best-bets for March 22: Music giants collide

1) Music overload. For the first time this season, the new ratings giant (NBC’s “The Voice”) faces the original one (ABC’s “American Idol,” now on Sundays and Mondays). Both are 8-10 p.,m.; tonight, “Voice” closes its auditions and looks back at highlights; “Idol” is in Hollywood Week, with Ryan Seacrest (shown here) introducing duets. But for truly great singing, catch Cynthia Erivo as Aretha Franklin, in National Geographic’s “Genius.” Sunday’s openers reruns at 6:56 and 8:03, with new hours at 9 and 10; it continues through Wednesday. Read more…

Best-bets for March 21: Aretha soars, Q-Anon storms

1) “Genius: Aretha” opener, 9 and 10:08 p.m., National Geographic; rerunning at 11:05 p.m. and 12:12 a.m. Over the next four nights, an epic life will unfold, spiced by great music. Aretha Franklin was plagued by overbearing men, including her dad, a famous preacher (played by Courney Vance, shown here) and her first husband. Still, she soared. This opens with her one trip to record in Muscle Shoals, Ala.; then it flashes between her childhood and early career. Cynthia Erivo’s portrayal is quite stoic, but her singing is magnifcent and Aretha-esque. Read more…

Best-bets for March 20: bayou drama, basketball dreams

1) “Ruby” (shown here), 8 p.m., Lifetime, rerunning at midnight. Ever since a “Flowers in the Attic” remake drew a big audience, Lifetime has savored V.C. Andrews’ novels. Today, it reruns four of them, at noon and 2, 4, and 6 p.m. (They’re sequels to “Heaven,” which, oddly, reruns at 10:02 p.m. and 2:04 a.m.) Then it starts a new series about Ruby Landry, growing up in the Louisiana bayou with her grandmother (Naomi Judd). That will rerun at 6 p.m. Sunday, leading into its sequel, “Pearl in the Mist.” Two more Ruby movies will air next weekend. Read more…

Best-bets for March 19: Basketball tourney hits full-speed

1) Basketball, CBS. The first full day of the NCAA tournament wipes out CBS’ soap operas and cop shows, plus various talk and game shows. The best games should be the ones with similar seeds: On CBS, that’s 12:15 p.m. ET (Florida, No. 7 seed in a 16-team region, and Virginia Tech, No. 10) and 7:10 (North Carolina, No. 8, and Wisconsin, shown here, No. 9). The others are at 3 p.m. ET (Ohio State, No. 2), and Oral Roberts, No. 15) and 9:40 (San Diego State, No. 6, and Syracuse, No. 11). Read more…