Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 1: The streaming war heats up

1) “The Morning Show,” any time, Apple TV+. A new streaming service is born – with an even newer (and bigger) one looming. Unlike other streamers, Apple doesn’t have a backlog of classic shows. What it has, however, is starpower. “Morning Show” has Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. Another series — “For All Mankind,” imagining an accelerated NASA – is from Ronald Moore, the “Outlander” and “Battlestar: Galactica” producer. And Disney’s streamer will follow on Nov. 12. Read more…

Best-bets for Oct. 31: Laughs or gore on Halloween

1) “The Good Place,” 9 p.m., NBC. Ratings go down a tad on Halloween, so CBS’ comedies have reruns tonight. Not so with the NBC ones, which are new. “Superstore” and “Perfect Harmony” (8 and 8:30 p.m.) have Halloween episodes, big and busy and intermittently funny. Avoiding the holiday are “Will & Grace” (9:30) and this show, which has lunk-headed Brent writing an awful novel. It’s a clever episode, punctuated by wonderfully stylized moments in which Michael (Ted Danson, shown here) tells the story to Bad Janet. Read more…

Best-bets for Oct. 29: Halloween, sitcom-style

1) “The Conners,” 8 p.m., ABC. Back when “Roseanne” was in its prime, the sisters (Roseanne and Jackie) opened the Lunch Box diner. A lot has changed since then – the Roseanne character died, the show changed its name – but now Jackie wants to re-open the diner. Also, Darlene (Sara Gilbert, shown here in a previous episode with John Goodman) tries to straighten out her own life: After secretly dating both David and Ben, she now has neither. Read more…

Best-bets for Oct. 28: Judge Lola rises from the norm

1) “All Rise,” 9 p.m., CBS. At its best, this show does it all: It has a serious case-of-the-week, but has time for humor or human drama involving Judge Lola and her colleagues. That’s complicated, though: After rising to its best in its pilot film, it sagged for a couple weeks; now it’s back: A TV star is dead and her assistant is tried for murder. That draws a high-profile lawyer (Jere Burns, right in the photo here) and press coverage that calls Lola “fierce and fabulous.” She is, but this hour also has great moments for the show’s five co-stars. Read more…

Best-bets for Oct. 27: The dead and the Durrells

1) “The Walking Dead,” 9 p.m., AMC, rerunning at 11:04 p.m. and 1:08 a.m. “Our real enemy is outside,” someone argues. That’s an understatement. Outside Alexandria’s make-shift walls, there are zombies and “Whisperers,” pretending to be zombies. But inside, more hatred builds. It’s aimed at young Lydia, who was once (shown  here a Whisperer with her parents; and it’s aimed at her friend Negan, former head of the evil Saviors. It’s a strong, tense hour, spiced with moments of high-octane action. Read more…

Best-bets for Oct. 26: It’s a strange world (series)

1) World Series, 8:07 p.m. ET, Fox; pre-game at 7:30. The fourth game of the best-of-seven series has the Houston Astros in Washington, D.C. (shown here) — a place that’s not used to this. Teams were based in Washington during 85 previous seasons, but they only reached the Series three times … most recently in 1933. Until this year, only 10 Series games had been played in Washington – four in 1924 (when the Senators won their only championship) and three each in ’25 and ’33. Now the Nationals are having their turn. Read more…

Best-bets for Oct. 25: Halloween — dark and light — takes over

1) “Charmed,” 8 p.m., CW. As the final seven days of October begin, Halloween themes fill our TV sets. Few shows fit as perfectly as this smart-but-weird tale of three witches and their mentor. Chased by demons, they reached an alternate world, where only Macy still has her powers. Tonight, she ends up imprisoned alongside an intriguing new character (shown here). Also, Mel and Harry visit exotic dimensions. And Macy must find a new way to get a key card, after the one she swiped becomes useless. Read more…

Best-bets for Oct. 24: comic and creepy

1) “Evil,” 10 p.m., CBS. A week before the holiday, here are four Halloween-night plotlines, including two compelling ones for Kristen and her kids (shown here). She’s at an exorcism gone bad; they’re at a party with a scary newcomer … and Ben is trying to debunk a ghost-hunter show. Mixed in are some scenes that are brilliantly played by two gifted Emmy-winners — Michael Emerson as the creepy/crafty Leland and Christine Lahti as Kristen’s mom. Blend these together and you have a great hour. Read more…

Best-bets for Oct. 23: From sweet Moana to nasty Annie

1) “Moana” (2016) and “The Simpsons,” 5:30 p.m. and 8-11 p.m., Freeform. Here are the opposite extremes of animation: “Moana” (shown here) is light, bright and family-friendly, with appealing songs (co-written by Lin-Manuel Miranda) sung by Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson and others. Then comes dark – and sometimes gory – wit from Bart Simpson and family in six “Treehouse of Horror” reruns. Read more…