Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Dec. 16: Finales for “Masked” and “Race”

1) “The Masked Singer” finale, 8-10 p.m., Fox. Only three singers remain, neatly hidden under the masks of Sun, Mushroom (shown here) and Crocodile. They’ve already outlasted some talented pros – old (Paul Anka), young (Tori Kelly, Taylor Dane), in-between (Clint Black) and multi-faceted (Dr. Elvis Francois, the Mayo Clinic’s “singing surgeon”). Then again, snowboarder Chloe Kim and basketball’s Lonzo Ball also came close. Tonight, they’ll be unmasked and the judges will choose the champion. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 15: “Big Sky,” big voices

1) “Big Sky” mid-season finale, 10 p.m., ABC. This has been a mixed blessing so far. Yes, it has great dialog and skilled actors; we expect that from David E. Kelley shows, from “L.A. Law” to “Big Little Lies.” But the story has an overload of truly wretched people, including (shown here) a cop and a trucker who have abducted two teen sisters and a trans prostitute .Kelley has promised that a part of the story will conclude this week; when the show returns Jan. 26, it will have at least 11 more episodes. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 14: A surge of music

1) “The Voice” finale, 8-10 p.m. NBC. This is a big music night, with performers — see below — including Billie Eilish (shown here), Kelli O’Hara … and the final five for “Voice.” Blake Shelton has two singers – Jim Ranger and Ian Flanigan – in the running, with one apiece for Gwen Stefani (Carter Rubin), John Legend (John Holiday) amd Kelly Clarkson (DeSz). Tonight’s performances rerun at 8 p.m. Tuesday, with the two-hour finale at 9. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 13: Two cartoon classics

1) “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” 7:30 p.m., PBS (check local listings) and PBS Kids; “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” 8 p.m., TBS. By coincidence, two of TV’s all-time greatest half-hours run back-to-back. The Charlie Brown cartoons had gone to Apple TV+, causing fears that a classic (shown here) would be out-of-reach for many people. Then came a compromise: Non-subscribers can find it this weekemd (through tonight) on Apple online; it’s at 7:30 p.m. nationally on PBS Kids and most PBS stations. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 11: Musical, Mac & Magnum

1) “The Prom” (shown here), any time, Netflix. This reached Broadway two years ago, drawing seven Tony nominations, including best musical. It tells of a bunch of stars who head to a small town to create a party for a teen who wasn’t allowed to take her girlfriend to the prom. Now Ryan Murphy (“Glee”) has turned it into a movie with, appropriately, a bunch of stars – Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Tracey Ullman, Kerry Washington and Andrew Rannells. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 10: Silent Night, silenced Broadway

1) “One Night Only: The Best of Broadway,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. For Broadway, this is the lost year. Shows have been closed since March; they won’t re-open until at least June. Two key openings have been pushed back to September and December. Now Tina Fey hosts a concert from the streets of New York. That includes her “Mean Girls” cast (shown here onstage) and the casts of “Ain’t Too Proud,” “Rent,” “Jersey Boys,” “Jagged Little Pill” and “Diana,” plus Kelly Clarkson, Brett Eldredge and Patti LaBelle. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 9: Bright lights, grim Grinch

1) “The Grinch Musical,” 8 p.m., NBC. This has lingered on the fringe of the theater world. It was on Broadway (2006, 2007) and on tour (four times), but always confined to two-month, holiday spurts. Now it’s been done in London for NBC, with Matthew Morrison (shown here) starring, amid a “Grinch” overload. FX has the animated movie (2018) at 8 and 10 today and Saturday, then 9 and 11 p.m. Sunday. Freeform has the Jim Carrey film, at 8:20 p.m. Thursday; TBS has the cartoon classic at 8 p.m. Sunday. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 8: Strong ending(s) for “Transplant”

1) “Transplant” season-finale, 9 and 10 p.m., NBC. This series started with Bashir Hamed (shown here)  – once a battlefront doctor for Syrian rebels – working at a Toronto restaurant. Tragedy struck and he saved a customer (Dr. Bishop) by drilling into his skull; Bishop soon hired him. Now come belated aftershocks. This is a taut and emotional two-parter with about five endings – four powerful and one confusing. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 7: “Nurses” starts, football grows

1) “Nurses” opener (shown here), 10 p.m., NBC. The five nurses arrive for their first day of work. They’re young, bright, diverse and (of course) telegenic. They have almost a minute to acclimate; then the world falls apart. A driver has crashed into students, killing and injuring; soon, the show is racing at “ER” speed. It sometimes slows, however, for personal glimpses of the patients and staff. Some of that feels contrived – especially an argument about helping a villain – but this is still a solid-enough drama. Read more…