Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 11: “Queens” concludes, “Bachelor” gets intimate

1) “Queens” conclusion, 8, 9 and 10:03 p.m., National Geographic. This splendid series views the females that dominate animal society. At 8 p.m. is a moving portrait of an elephant herd (shown here) as it trudges toward elusive water, while protecting a baby. from fierce predators. That’s followed by hours in Ethiopia (wolves and simians) and along the coast, with bears and orcas. Read more…

Best-bets for March 10: Oscar time, at last

1) Academy Awards, 7 p.m. ET, ABC. This one should actually be fun. There’s a clever host — Jimmy Kimmel (shown here), for the second straight year and fourth overall. There are movies – led by “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” – people have actually seen. And there’s music: Billie Eilish, Becky G, Jon Btatiste, Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson, Scott George and the Osage Singers. Read more…

Best-bets for March 9: Last night to prep for Oscars

1) Oscar prep. On Academy Awards eve, here are two best-piicture nominees. “Past Lives” (7:15 p.m., Showtime) is also up for best original script; it’s extremely slow and subtle, sort of the opposite of a soap opera. “American Fiction” (8 p.m. and midnght, MGM+) is up for adapted scriipt, music, actor (Jeffrey Wright, shown here) and supporting actor (Sterling K. Brown). It has a wonderfully clever plot Read more…

Best-bets for March 8: cops and a damsel in distress

1) “SWAT,” 8 and 9 p.m., CBS. For the second time in four weeks, this ambitious show (shown here in a previous episode) has a two-parter. This time, the parts air together: A Chilean arms dealer kidnaps a woman and her daughter in Los Angeles. Then bikers steal a cache of armor-piercing bullets; the team tries to catch them before they can pull off a heist. Also, there are personal crises for Tan, Nichelle and others. Read more…

Best-bets for March 7: It’s state-of-the-union time

1) State of the Union address, 9 p.m. ET, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and news channels. In an election year, this speech is crucial; so is the Republican response (by Katie Britt, a U.S. senator from Alabama), set for 10 p.m. If you insist on skipping these, we’ll list alternatives (one is shown here) for most time zones; then we’ll view the 8 p.m. hour. Read more…

Best-bets for March 6: Raccoons (and people) are funny

1) “Animal Control” season-opener, 9 p.m., Fox. The network’s only comedy (cartoons excluded) is a good one, skillfully mixing sight gags and verbal humor. It’s always fun to see raccoons misbehave in a bowling alley, but there’s also joy in the personal bits: Victoria (shown here) is in danger of being deported … leading her co-workers to a startling discovery: They’re not considered essential workers Read more…

Best-bets for March 5: Two seasons start, one show ends

1) “The Cleaning Lady” season-opener, 8 p.m.,, Fox. A month after the death of one of its stars, this adjusts nimbly. Adan Canto died at 42 of appendix cancer; he was terrific as Arman, a good-hearted drug boss who rescued Thony, the doctor-turned-cleaner. Now we’re told Arnan plans to use a drug plane to extricate her sister from the Philippines; a crisis forces a fragile pairing of Thony (shown here, center) and Arman’s wife-or-widow. Read more…

Best-bets for March 4: Double “Bob” and lots of dancing

1) “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” 8 and 8:30 p.m., CBS. One of TV’s best comedies gets two episodes, propelling some plot shifts for its final season. First, Bob’s sister (shown here, center) says she’ll have a baby on her own; that nudges Abishola and Bob to re -examine the notion of having a baby. Then Abishola’s ex-husband suddenly arrives from Nigeria; he charms most people … and makes others suspicious. Read more…

Best-bets for March 3: zombies, despot and Jackie

1) “I Am Jackie O,” 7-9 p.m., CW. “So many of my boyfriends are dumber,” the future Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis wrote in a letter. “It’s a curse for a woman to be bright.” Then came Jack Kennedy, who matched her in intellect and education. (They’re shown here, with Caroline.) She helped him get elected, campaigning in Spanish and Italian … then retreated behind an image of wispy-voiced blandness. Here’s a profile of an intriguing life. Read more…

Best-bets for March 2: “SNL” and lots of movies

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. At 26, Sydney Sweeney (shown here) already seems to be everywhere. Lately, she’s done movies, successful (“Anyone But You”) and not (“Madame Web”). Earlier, she had simultaneous Emmy nominations for “Euphoria” and “White Lotus.” Now she gets her first turn as “SNL” host; country singer Kacey Musgraves is the music guest. Read more…