Daily Best Bets

1) “Masterpiece: World on Fire” debut, 9 p.m., PBS. This seven-week epic (continuing next year) sweeps across Europe and across class lines, focusing on three likable young people as World War II looms. Harry is a translator, rich, romantic and terribly handsome. Lois is an English factory worker and singer, Kasia (shown here with Harry) is a Polish waitress; both women have a steely resolve that he (at first) lacks. Helen Hunt is so-so as a radio reporter, but Sean Bean is superb as Lois’ dad, a shell-shocked veteran. Read more…

1) “The Ten Commandments” (1956), 7-11:44 p.m., ABC. As Easter celebrations dwindle this year, we still have TV. “Ten Commandments” isn’t directly related – it’s Old Testament, after all – but it’s become a tradition for ABC, this time airing on the eve of Palm Sunday. In its time, this Charlton Heston (shown here) epic was steeply respected; it was nominated for seven Oscars (including best picture) and won for its special effects, including parting the Red Sea. By modern standards, it’s slow and stiff, but interesting Read more…

1) “Hawaii Five-0” series finale, 9 p.m., CBS. A 22-year TV tradition ends. The original “Five-0” ran 12 seasons and this reboot did 10 more. Now its finale includes flashbacks with three deceased people – Steve McGarrett’s father, the man who killed him (Victor Hesse) and the man who ordered it (Wo Fat). McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin, shown here) finally solves the case that his father left him. Also, Wo Fat’s widow kidnaps and wounds Danny, trying to get the coded message that was sent by McGarrett’s late mother. Read more…

1) “Broke” debut, 9:30 p.m., CBS. Even before the economic slowdown, TV planned shows about penniless relatives moving in. In NBC’s “Indebted,” it’s the parents; here, it’s an older sister and her husband. Oddly, both shows air at the same time. “Indebted” is loud and lame, but a sampling indicates “Broke” (shown here) could be quite good. Pauley Perrette (“NCIS”) plays a single mom and bar-owner whose sister (Natasha Leggero) arrives with her husband (Jaime Camil of “Jane the Virgin”) and his manservant. Read more…

1) “The Masked Singer” (shown here), 8-10 p.m., Fox. The semi-finals begin and things get serious. The early rounds dumped a skateboarder (Tony Hawk), a rapper (Lil Wayne), two TV hosts (Tom Bergeron, Drew Carey) and an almost-vice president (Sarah Palin). They also dumped two semi-singers (JoJo Siwa and Bella Thorne) and, oddly, music greats Dionne Warwick and Chaka Khan. That leaves the top nine, some quite talented, dressed as a kangaroo, banana, rhino and such. Read more…

1) “Miracle Workers: Dark Ages” finale, 10:30 p.m., TBS, rerunning at 11:30. As an enemy army approaches the village, King Cragnoor the Heartless springs into action: He loads up his gold and flees. His son, Prince Chauncely the Pretty Cool (Daniel Radcliffe, shown here), has a different approach. He wants to rescue the villagers in general and the woman he loves in particular. It’s a tough task, so this will take a clever scheme. The result is very funny … and a reminder that these weren’t the good old days. Read more…

1) “Homefest,” 10 p.m., CBS. Here’s an agreeable mini-trend – stars performing from their homes. Fox had a special Sunday; CBS wil have another (with country stars) this Sunday. First, it’s James Corden (shown here in his usual setting) from his garage, with performances from Korea (BTS), Italy (Andrea Bocelli), London (Dua Lipa, who was going to be on the “Saturday Night Live” that was postponed) and Los Angeles (Billie Eilish, who was also in Fox’s special) and John Legend. Read more…

1) “Gershwin Prize: Garth Brooks,” 9-11 p.m., PBS. The music greats, from Paul McCartney to Stevie Wonder, have won the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Now Brooks(shown here) is the 11th winner, the second country person (after Willie Nelson) and the youngest. At 58, he’s sold 148 million albums in the U.S., trailing only the Beatles. He performs here; so does his wife Trisha Yearwood, plus Keith Urban, Chris Stapleton, Ricky Skaggs, Keb’ Mo, Lee Brice and the Howard University Chorus; Jay Leno hosts. Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. For the first time, the coronavirus has forced “SNL” to switch to a rerun. Other latenight shows had adjusted, but “SNL” – with reruns already scheduled – wasn’t affected. But it had planned a new episode tonight, with John Krasinski hosting and Dua Lipa as music guest. Instead, this rerun has Scarlett Johansson (shown here) hosting and mocking her fiance, anchor and head writer Colin Jost; Niall Horan is music guest. Read more…

1) “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (2019), 8 p.m. Starz. This movie is sprawling and ambitious, eccentric and inconsistent. In short, it’s a QuentinTarantino film. There are whole scenes you could take out, without affecting the plot; many of those scenes, however, are wonderful. In the 1960s, we see (shown here) a fading star (Leonard DiCaprio, right) and his stunt double (Brad Pitt, who won a supporting-actor Oscar). They meet Bruce Lee, Charles Manson and others, in ways that slyly rewrite history. Read more…