Daily Best Bets

Best bets for May 14: A string of drama finales

1) ‘New Amsterdam” season-finale, 10 p.m., NBC. You can spend all night with drama finales. It’s CW’s “The Flash” at 8 p.m., CBS’ “FBI” at 9 and a choice at 10 – CBS’ “CSI: New Orleans” or this hour, which “New Amsterdam” has led to all season. Max (Ryan Eggold) tried to be everywhere and do everything at the hospital. Now cancer puts his life in danger; as he fades, Dr. Sharpe (Freema Agyeman, shown here with Eggold) tries a creative approach. Also, Dr. Kapoor gets surprising news and Dr. Reynolds takes a big step. Read more…

Best bets for May 13: “Bachelorette” begins

1) “The Bachelorette” opener, 8-10 p.m., ABC. After finishing seventh on “The Bachelor,” Hannah Brown gets a quick promotion: She’s in charge, with 30 guys to choose from. Brown is 24, a former Miss Alabama USA; the men range from 23 to 33. Some have serious jobs (two are pilots); others include a singer, a surfer, a pro golfer and a guy who plays pro basketball overseas. There’s also a political consultant, an unemployed guy and “Chicago’s Box King.” Read more…

Best bets for May 12: The end for “Veep” and (almost) “Thrones”

1) All night, HB0. It’s a time of departing greatness at HBO. “Game of Thrones” has its finale next week; tonight, we get a new episode at 9 p.m. and a rerun of the previous one at 7:30. Then (after a 10:20 “Barry”), “Veep” has is finale at 10:50. “Veep” has won the best-comedy-series Emmy for three straight years … and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (shown here) has won the comedy-actress Emmy in each of the show’s six seasons. Tonight, we see if Selina (Louis-Dreyfus) gets her party’s nomination for president. Read more…

Best bets for May 11: Yes, Emma can be funny

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Americans have this prim image of Emma Thompson. She’s played doctors, queens, a professor, a prime minister and more. She adapted and starred in “Sense and Sensibility”; we think of her as being … well, sensible. But Thompson was the first woman in Cambridge’s Footlights comedy troupe; she did lots of comedy on British TV, even hosting her own sketch show. Now she has her first time hosting “SNL”; the Jonas Brothers are music guests. Read more…

Best bets for May 10: “SHIELD” returns amid chaos in the universe

1) “Agents of SHIELD” season-opener, 8 p.m., ABC. Now that Marvel rules the movies, shouldn’t it be big on TV? It keeps trying, with shows ranging from pretty good (“Cloak & Dagger) to quite awful (“Inhumans”). This ambitious effort has drawn so-so ratings; ABC originally said it wouldn’t return until summer. Now the good news: Summer starts early and another season has already been ordered. As the team re-assembles (including Elizabeth Henstridge and Chloe Bennetm shown here), Coulson is dead, but Clark Gregg returns as a new character, Sarge. Read more…

Best bets for May 9: A season-end for “Mom,” a series-end (almost) for “Big Bang”

1) “Mom” season finale (9 p.m.) and “The Big Bang Theory” (8 p.m.), CBS. Most of the attention goes to next week’s series finale for “Big Bang,” TV’s best comedy. (Tonight, Leonard’s mom arrives with deceptive sweetness and Stuart and his girlfriend overstay their welcome.) But let’s not overlook “Mom,” another terrific comedy. CBS hints that Bonnie and Adam might elope. Read more…

Best bets for May 8: A finale-filled night

1) “Modern Family” season finale, 9 p.m., ABC. This is the sort of episode “Modern Family” savors, bouncing through several small stories. It’s almost time for Haley and Dylan to have their twins; that causes others to recall the birthdays that came during this hectic year. It wraps up the 10th season; only one more remains, for a top series (shown here with last week’s graduation episode) that once won five straight Emmys for best comedy series. Read more…

Best-bets for May 7: wet weekend for Fosse and Verdon

1) “Fosse/Verdon,” 10 p.m., FX. On a rainy weekend, some remarkable people gather at a beach house. There’s Bob Fosse, who recently was briefly in a mental institution … his wife, Gwen Verdon … his girlfriend, Ann Reinking … Verdon’s boyfriend … and two gifted writers, Neil Simon and Paddy Chayefsky. The idea is to comfort the widowed Simon, but other agendas surface. People want Fosse to do a movie or do a musical or just rest. Beautifully directed by Tommy Kail, this ends with a jolt. Read more…

Best-bets for May 6: A 10-minute gem

1) “State of the Union” debut, 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT), Sundance. “This is a ridiculous conversation,” Louise (Rosamund Pike) says. It is, but it’s also quite wonderful. She and Tom (Chris O’Dowd) are in a pub, waiting for their first marital-therapy session. She’s a doctor; he wrote about music until that market vanished. They skirt around subjects, in a ridiculous/sublime way. This is a series of ten 10-minute shows, one per weekday, for two weeks. Cleverly written by Nick Hornby, it’s perfectly played. Read more…

Best bets for May 5: Dance gets a world champion

1) “World of Dance” finale, 8-10 p.m., NBC. Last week, the show picked its four divisional winners. Now they compete for the million-dollar top prize, alongside one wildcard pick. In the first two seasons, that prize went to hip hoppers; this time, both of the team winners are hip hop – Vpeepz, from the Philippines, in junior (17 and younger), the Kings, from India, in upper. For small groups (1-4 people), both winners are contemporary – Ellie & Ava (shown here), junior; and Briar Nolet, upper. Read more…