Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 8: Gaga, Raquel and Octomom

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. For Lady Gaga (shown here), appearances on “SNL have been rare, but spectacular. She’s been the music guest four times in the past 15 years (not counting Peacock’s “SNL” mega-concert), often with visually ambitious numbers. Only once, however, did she double as host; now comes her second time doing both. Read more…

Best-bets for March 7: old movies, new adventures

1) “North by Northwest” (1959), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. Post-Oscars, there are still good movies to try. This zesty Hitchcock adventure (shown here with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint) is surrounded by the Marx Brothers’ “A Day at the Races” (1937) at 6 and “Lover Come Back” (1961) — an amiable Rock Hudson/Doris Day film with an Oscar-nominated script — at 10:30. Read more…

Best-bets for March 4: Trent, Trump and Tom

1) Presidential address, 9 p.m. ET, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and news channels. Technically, it’s not a “State of the Union” speech until a year into the term. But the last seven presidents also delivered a talk their first year, so here it is. The follow-up (including Democratic response by new Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan) continues to at least 11 ET. Alternatives, listed next, include “Will Trent” (shown here), Tom Hanks and more. Read more…

Best-bets for March 2: Oscars lead a busy night

1) Academy Awards, 7-10:30 p.m. ET, ABC. The movies are obscure (except “Wicked,” shown here) and two Timothee Chalamet films), but the show will try to hold our attention. It has Conan O’Brien as host, Nick Offerman as announcer and top singers — Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Queen Latifah, Doja Cat, Raye, Lisa (of Blackpink) and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Excerpts are optional hand-crafted summaries of your content that can be used in your theme. Learn more about manual excerpts. Read more…

Best-bets for March 1: new ‘SNL,’ old Luke memories

1) “I Am Luke Perry,” 8-10 p.m., CW. Perry’s roles ranged from bull-rider to vampire-hunter, but his biggest stretch (shown here) was as a rich kid in “Beverly Hills, 90210.” He was the opposite, a steelworker’s son who grew up in an Ohio town of 2,600. Before his death at 52, following strokes, he neatly fit into “Riverdale,” playing a decent dad who did construction. Read more…

Best-bets for Feb. 28: magic, music and cops

1) “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place” season-finale, 8 p.m., Disney Channel. Billie, the teen witch, always seems to have trouble, but this is a big one: She has disappeared; so has the son of Justin, her wizardry instructor. (Justin is shown here, with the kids, in a previous episode.) And one more complication: A villain might take over the world. Read more…