1) “Nature,” 8 p.m., PBS. This gentle gem flows with quiet joy. Injured or orphaned hummingbirds are taken to the massive Beverly Hills home of Terry Masear. She feeds and nurtures them, then nudges them back into the world. The photo here isn’t from the movie, but the hour is beautifully filmed. Read more…
1) “Night Court” season-finales, 8 and 8:30 p.m., NBC. These may be the final new episodes for a once-strong show has seemed headed to cancellation. Abby (shown here) has been the “fun judge,” as was her dad; now another judge gets the title. In the second episode, she’s in charge of two runaway teens. Read more…
1) “The Neighborhood” season-finale, 8 p.m., CBS. It’s graduation time for Malcolm and Grover, so their moms plan a double party (shown here). That’s in the first half-hour; in the second, Malcolm heads into a new world – but still in Los Angeles. This fall, “Neighborhood” returns for its eighth and final season. Read more…
1) “Miss Austen” opener, 9 p.m., PBS. Facts and fiction blend neatly in a four-parter. A decade after the death of novelist Jane Austen, another death forces her sister Cassandra (Keeley Hawes) into action, hoping to preserve Jane’s legacy. Her goals are iffy, but the terrific Hawes keeps us rooting for her, amid a sea of speculative flashbacks (shown here with the three Austen sisters.) Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. After a two-week pause, “SNL” starts its season’s final three episodes.. Tonight, Quina Brunson, the “Abbott Elementary” star, has her second turn as host (her first is shown here) and Benson Boone has his first as music guest. Next week has Walton Goggins and Arcade Fire; the May 17 season-finale has Scarlett Johansson and Bad Bunny. Read more…
1) “SWAT,” 9 p.m., CBS. We’re two weeks from the end of an eight-year run. Tonight (shown here), an hour earlier than usual), there’s an explosion at a fruit-packing facility staffed by prisoners; six of them escape. Hondo and the team try to find them before they pull off a high-stakes robbery. Read more…
1) “Elsbeth,” 9 and 10 p.m., CBS. Next week, this terrific show wraps its season by bringing Elsbeth face-to-face with many of her past suspects. First, here’s a new hour (Billy Magnussen, shown here with Elsbeth, as an entitled playboy) and then a rerun, with Laurie Metcalf as star of a long-running cop show. Read more…
1) “Wild Cards” season-finale,” 8 p.m,, CW. This show often has a bright, bouncy feel, but now it’s time to get serious: Ellis learns who was responsible for his brother’s death — and who is protecting the killer. Meanwhile, Max (shown here undercover in last week’s episode) sifts clues in the office of Ashford (Martin Sheen). Read more…
1) “Independent Lens,” 10-11:30 p.m., PBS. Here is a joyous journey through the world of libraries. We see grand temples in big cities … tiny oases in small towns (an example is shown here) … and a bookmobile roaming Baton Rouge. We hear of crises – tax revolts, segregation, book-banning – and heroes who brought books to everyone from inner-city kids to rural Wisconsinites. Read more…
1) “NCIS: Origins” season-finale, 10 p.m., CBS. The bad news for Gibbs (shown here) is that he’s being investigated for murder; the worse news is that he and others know he did it. That adds up to a tense hour that we see through Cecelia (known as Lala), his steely colleague. It’s a gripping hour with a closing jolt. Read more…
