Daily Best Bets

1) “The Bachelorette” season-opener, 8-10 p.m., ABC; or football, 7 p.m. ET, CBS. Here’s a perfect night for some two-TV households; it offers two opposite shows – one romantic and one combative. ABC has a long-anticipated one – a “Bachelorette” (with Clare Crawley, shown here) that was set for summer, then delayed by COVID. CBS has an unanticipated one; a game making up for a COVID-postponement. It should be a good one, with two undefeated teams – Buffalo (4-0) at Tennessee (3-0). Read more…

1) “One Day at a Time” season-opener, 9 and 9:30 p.m., CBS. For nine years this was a typical CBS comedy– smart, funny and produced by Norman Lear. Rebooted with a Latina cast and with Lear (now 98) still producing, it ran three seasons on Netflix and six episodes (before a COVID shutdown) on Pop. Now the Pop six spend three Mondays on CBS. Tonight’s first episode (shown here), with Ray Romano as a census-taker, is clever; the second is OK, but suffers from broad jokes and brash supporting characters. Read more…

1) “Fear the Walking Dead” season-opener, 9 p.m., AMC. The fifth season ended 14 months ago, with Morgan wounded and alone. That’s the perfect set-up for a pandemic production, when smaller casts are ewelcome. Tonight, just two people are key to Morgan’s life – a skilled hitman, sent by Virginia, and a stranger (shown here) with an unstated mission. The result is fierce and gory, but thoroughly involving. Read more…

1) Football and “Saturday Night Live,” 7 p.m. ET and 11:29 p.m., NBC. This is the Saturday that NBC dreamed of when the shutdown began: Fifth-ranked Notre Dame hosts Florida State; then is the second of five straight new “SNL” episodes. When the show returned last week, viewers weren’t sure what to expect: Would it be muted because of President Trump’s illness? All worries were quickly doused by host Chris Rock and by the opening bit — a Trump-Biden “debate” (shown here) with Alec Baldwin and Jim Carrey. Now Bill Burr hosts, with Morgan Wallen as the music guest. Read more…

1) Basketball, 9 p.m. ET, ABC. For a while there, ABC feared the worst – a four-game sweep by LeBron James (shown here) and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers did win the first two games, but a Miami Heat victory Sunday extended the series. Then the Lakers won Tuesday, giving them a 3-1 lead and a chance to wrap it up tonight. With its scripted shows being delayed by COVID, ABC needs all the games it can get. It has a pre-game show at 8:30 ET and Jimmy Kimmel’s pre-pregame show at 8. Read more…

1) “Connecting” and “Closer Look Thursday” debuts, 8 and 8:30 p.m., NBC. First is a new effort – flawed, but fun – to make a socially distant show about social distance. Mismatched friends – ranging from the immensely lovable Annie (upper left) to a doofus named Rufus (upper middle) – chat online. It’s occasionally serious and often funny … but the biggest laughs will probably come from “Closer Look.” Seth Meyers offers a mock-newscast … something he has mastered on “Saturday Night Live” and his own latenight show. Read more…

1) Vice-presidential debate, 9 p.m. ET, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and news channels. There’s a fine chance this debate will be better than the presidential one last week. Mike Pence and Kamala Harris have worked within the rules of order in courtrooms and in Congress; neither one, we expect, will interrupt 100-plus times. And yes, there are plenty of alternatives, including a key CW night that includes “Devils” (shown here); see No. 3. Read more…

1) “NeXt” debut, 9 p.m., Fox. Science-fiction has long fretted about the day the robots – or cyborgs or computers – take over. Ken Jennings even borrowed a sci-fi line after losing “Jeopardy” to a machine: “I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords.” And in the start of this sharp, 10-week mini-series, that seems to be happening: A driverless car refuses to follow orders; an Alexa-type device whispers schemes to a little boy. The guy who created this chaos (John Slattery, shown here) scrambles to stop it. Read more…

1) “Soulmates” debut, 10 p.m., AMC. In the near future, it seems, computer-match dating will be obsolete. Instead, a machine simply look into our soul and then finds the perfect match. Now this anthology starts with a tough question: What about people who are already married and sort of happy? Sarah Snook (shown here), who was Shiv in “Succession,” stars in an hour that’s subtle and bittersweet. Read more…

1) “Masterpiece: Flesh and Blood” opener, 9 p.m., PBS. As her 70th birthday nears, a wealthy widow (Francesca Annis) has a new love (Stephen Rea; they’re sown here). Her three children are skeptical; then again, their own lives are riddled with problems. There are so many troubles that this four-week series keeps teetering toward soap-opera … then is saved (barely) by the classy British cast (especially Imelda Staunton as an enigmatic neighbor) and writing. There’s a mystery here, plus some harsh blows to every character. Read more…