Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 18: “Dead Pixels,” live politics

1) “Dead Pixels” debut, 8 p.m., CW. For years, these folks have been obsessed with a videogame. We see their avatars in the game; we also see furtive forays into the outside world. In their cubicle jobs, they only switch to work when the boss walks by. Meg (Alexa Davies, shown here) can’t focus on dating … or Usman on child-care … or Nicky on having any kind of life. Then a hot guy at Meg’s work complicates things. This British import has witty scripts (sometimes complicated by the accents) and thoroughly likable people. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 17: The convention rush begins

1) Democratic convention. After a noisy year of struggle and surprise, the Democrats officially choose their presidential candidate. Joe Biden has to wait until Thursday; from 9-11 p.m. ET today, Michelle Obama (shown here) is expected to close tonight. Other speakers (subject to change) are Amy Klobuchar, Catherine Cortez Masto, Andrew Cuomo, Gretchen Whitmer, Jim Clyburn, Bennie Thompson, Gwen Moore, Doug Jones and Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama. PBS starts coverage at 8 p.m. ET; ABC, CBS and NBC arrive at 10. The news networks will be there all day. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug.16: One drama debuts; three near their finales

1) “Lovecraft Country” debut, 9 p.m., HBO. Some of science-fiction’s favorite names are linked here. J.J. Abrams (“Lost”) and Jordan Peele (the “Twilight Zone” reboot) are among the producers. Like Peele’s “Get Out,” this blends racism with other horror. On a road trip to find his father and his legacy, a black man confronts racists and the sort of monsters envisioned by long-ago author H.P. Lovecraft. Jonathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett-Bell (shown in this poster) star with Courtney Vance. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 15: “Godfather” leads a great movie night

1) “The Godfather” (1972), 5 p.m., AMC. It’s a slow night for TV series, but a great one for movies. Topping the list is Francis Coppola’s richly crafted mobster epic (shown here with Marlon Brando. It’s No. 2 on the American Film Institute’s all-time list, trailing only “Citizen Kane” … and “Godfather, Part II” (1974) – which follows at 9 p.m. – is No. 32, the only sequel on the 100-movie list. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 14: Fun at home; Shakespeare in the park

1) “Greatest #At Home Videos,” 8 p.m., CBS. As CBS tells it, this is the end – wrapping up a four-week run of videos people made at home, often while isolated. Still, we’ll be surprised if there aren’t more. So far, (a previous moment is shown here), there’s been an endless cascade of bits – sometimes funny, usually fun, occasionally warm – involving people and pets and sheer imagination. And host Cedric the Entertainer keeps asking viewers to send more; we hope this keeps going. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 13: A few laughs linger

1) Cake” (FXX) or “Tacoma FD” (truTV), both 10 p.m.. Thursday is supposed to be TV’s funniest night, but not this summer. NBC and Fox shelved their Thursday situation comedies; now CBS has cut its Thursday sitcoms in half (from four to two), to make room for “Big Brother.” At 10 p.m., however, there’s quirky fun: “Cake” has short bits, mostly animated and moslty funny. “Tacoma” is a standard sitcom, with occasional laughs. This week is the OK start of a two-parter, as two long-time friends (shown here) have a dispute that peaks at the Fireman’s Ball. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 12: “SHIELD” ends, “Dance” picks a winner

1) “Agents of SHIELD” series finale, 9 and 10 p.m., ABC. A hugely ambitious effort – seven seasons and 136 episodes, leaping across planets and across time – concludes. Sybil – who got inside the computer system – and Nathanial are close to eliminating SHIELD from ever existing. Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker, shown here in a previous episode), who was killed in one timeline, is back. So are Piper, Davis, Enoch and Flint, in battles to save the world. Read more…

Best bets for Aug. 11: Deep emotions in fiction and fact

1) “Greenleaf” series finale, 9 p.m., Oprah Winfrey Network. This passionate series ends with a cascade of emotion. That was triggered at the end of last week’s episode, which reruns at 8; then come the aftershocks, deep and far-reaching. Often, Lynn Whitfield (shown here, earlier in the series) has been bound by the stoic facade of her character (Mae, the matriarch); now she lets loose spectacularly. Problems are confronted, lives are transformed and Charity (Debrorah Joy Winans) sings twice; it’s a great way to end. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 9: leaping sharks, nasty people

1) Shark overlap, cable. This is the day “Sharkfest” slides from the National Geographic Channel to Nat Geo Wild, where it will linger for two more weeks. But it’s also when Discovery starts “Shark Week” – an idea it created 32 years ago. At 8 p.m., Discovery returns to the site off the high-leaping “Air Jaws” (shown here). At 9, it claims to have an underwater confrontation between sharks and Mike Tyson. And at 10, it’s in New Zealand, where giant great whites, some 20 feet long, thrive. Read more…