Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for May 24: Hilty brings Broadway zest

1) “Live From Lincoln Center,” 9 p.m., PBS. A three-week spree of personal concerts concludes with the terrific Megan Hilty touring her far-flung career. She does songs from NBC’s “Smash” (“Don’t Forget Me,” “Let Me Be Your Star”) and from Broadway’s Wicked (“For Good,” with Shoshana Bean, her friend from their standby days; they’re shown here) and “9 to 5.” She’ll also do pop and more. At 10, PBS reruns last year’s hour with another top talent, two-time Tony-winner Sutton Foster. Read more…

Best-bets for May 23: It’s Red Nose Day

1) “Red Nose Day,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. Screenwriter Richard Curtis started this in England, as an annual fundraiser for kids’ causes, then nudged it to the U.S. For this one, he’s written a mini-sequel to his “Four Weddings and a Funeral” movie, with Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell (shown here) and more. There’s music by Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton; comedy with Kate McKinnon, Rob Gronkowski and more; plus a serious film with Milo Ventimiglia (“This Is Us”) seeing overseas projects. Read more…

Best bets for May 22: New/old Bunkers and Jeffersons

1) “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” 8-9:30 p.m., ABC. TV’s first golden age of comedy was propelled by these Norman Lear shows, in 1971 and ’75. Lear, 96, co-produces and co-hosts these live shows, using old scripts. Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei play Archie and Edith Bunker, with Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz as their daughter and son-in-law. (The original series, shown here, reruns from 7-10 p.m. ET on digital channel GetTV.) Then Jamie Foxx and Wanda Sykes are George and Louise Jefferson. Read more…

Best-bets for May 21: “Voice” chooses a champ

1) “The Voice” finale, 9-11 p.m., NBC. Blake Shelton’s dominance finally seemed to be slipping. In the first 13 editions, he had six champions and seven runners-up; but then Kelly Clarkson had the winner in her first season … and again in her second. Now, however, Shelton is back on top, with three people in the final four. The lone exception is Maelyn Jarmon, on John Legend’s team; she’s shown here with Shelton’s guys — from left: Andrew Sevener, Gythy Rigdon and Dexter Roberts. Read more…

Best-bets for May 20: “Big Bang” finale (again)

1) “The Big Bang Theory” finale rerun, 8 and 8:30 p.m., CBS. TV’s best current comedy departed with one of the best finales ever. It did it all – big laughs, key plot developments and surprising bursts of sentiment … none of it false or forced. Everything was built on a deep understanding of the characters – via the writers and the actors. These characters have learned to love each other, flaws and all; viewers feel the same way, so we’re glad to have this rerun belatedly added. Read more…

Best-bets for May 18: Ant-Man hosts “SNL”

1) “Saturday Night Live” season-finale, 11:29 p.m., NBC. For a time, “Avengers: Endgame” seemed to be the only movie in existence. In its first weekend, its U.S. box office was eight times as big as EVERY other movie – all 111 of them – combined. After the third weekend, it had totaled $734 million in the U.S. and $2.5 billion worldwide. Wisely, “SNL” has an “Endgame” star (Paul Rudd, shown here, who plays Ant-Man) host; he’s done it three previous times. DJ Khaled is the music guest. Read more…

Best bets for May 17: Clooney in Catch-22 classic

1) “Catch-22,” any time, Hulu. After being a bombardier in World War II, Joseph Heller began his great war novel. Fortunately, he wrote it slowly; when it finally came out in 1961, it fit the emerging ’60s, Vietnam-influenced era. The first hour of this six-part series captures the book’s mix of horror and humor. Alongside the gore, there are hilarious diatribes by officers (George Clooney, shown here, who produced this, and Kyle Chandler). And the scene explaining the title ranks with the classic “Who’s on first?” Read more…

Best bets for May 16: By-bye “Big Bang”

1) “The Big Bang Theory” finale, 8 and 8:30 p.m., CBS. Television’s best comedy is finally ending after 12 seasons — a record for situation comedies done in front of an audience. The show has drawn huge laughs, but it’s also made us care deeply about its weird-but-good-hearted characters. As the end nears, we’ll see how their lives turn out. Will Sheldon and Amy (shown here) win the Nobel Prize? Will Penny change her mind about not having kids? Will Raj’s fiance return? We’ll root for them. Read more…

Best bets for May 15: “Survivor” finale

1) “Survivor” finale, 8-11 p.m., CBS. The show has its final five now – with one more emerging from the “Edge of Extinction.” And newcomers have prevailed. Four people (including Kelley Wentworth, shown here) had each done two previous editions; all were sent to the Edge. The finalists are: Lauren O’Connell, 21, a Baylor student; Victoria Baamonde, 23, a Bronx waitress; Gavin Whitson, 23, a YMCA program director in Erwin, Tenn; Rick Devens, 33, a morning TV anchor in Macon; and Julie Rosenberg, 46, a New York City toymaker. Read more…