1) “American Masters.” 9 p.m., PBS. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (shown here) filled every room. Tall (6-5) and bombastic, he kept talking and writing. He said things that resonated or backfired. A Harvard professor with a hard-scrabble past, he advised Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson. This fascinating portrait has comments ranging from Joe Biden to Henry Kissinger. Read more…
1) Baseball. It’s opening day everywhere. Most of that will be on regional networks, but at 7:35 p.m. ET, ESPN has the Texas Rangers hosting the Chicago Cubs, with two all-stars on the mound. The Cubs’ Justin Steele (shown here) had a 16-5 won-loss record last year, with a 3.06 earned run average; the Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi was 12-5, 3.63. Read more…
1) “Resident Alien,” 10 p.m., Syfy. This show is known for its sharp humor, as an outer-space alien tries to adjust to our world, inside the body of Harry, a small-town doctor. But it also has solid sci-fi adventure and human drama – which dominates this excellent hour. The subject is parenthood – D’arcy and her dad (shown here), Asta and her mom and daughter, even Harry and his shape-shifting offspring. Read more…
1) “Alert: Missing Persons Unit,” 9 p.m., ABC. After some fairly good episodes, “MPU” has a terrific one, mixing intense urgency and quiet warmth. The story gives depth to a teen runaway and the cops seeking her. Scott Caan is again excellent as Jason, but the bonus is Adeola Role (shown here, right) as Kemi. Once just a past-lives oddity, she now brings deep passion. Read more…
1) “The Bachelor” finale, 8 p.m.,, ABC,with follow-up at 10. Joey Graziadei, 28, is down to two choices, both 25: Kelsey Anderson (shown here wth hm) is from Louisiana; Daisy Kent grew up in Minnesota, but went to college in San Diego and works there. She wrote a children’s book; based loosely on her experience as a hearing-impaired kid who received a cochlear implant. Read more…
1) “Tracker,” 8 p.m., CBS. In a one-time switch, CBS moves this up an hour., for an episode that teams Colter (Jason Hartley) with his nemesis, a fellow tracker. She’s played by Hartley’s wife, Sofia Pernas (shown heere). A Morrocan natiive, she was Marisa on “The Young and the Restless” (where they met), Cataliina in “Jane the Virgin” and starred in CBS’ summer action show, “Blood & Treasure.” Read more…
1) Figure Skating, 3 p.m., USA Network, and 8 p.m., NBC. It’s the last competition day for the world championship. That has the pairs in the afternoon, men at night … and a clear change. NBC has always highlighted the women, but this time the top American contender is a guy, Ilia Malinin (shown here). The women’s finals were Friday, on cable. Read more…
1) Figure Skating, 8 p.m., USA Network. Approximately forever, women have been top-billed in American coverage of figure-skating. (Shown here is an Olympics skater.) Not this time. The best spot in the World Figure Skating Championships — Saturday night on NBC — goes to the men; women are relegated to tonight on cable. Peacock will start coverage of the women at 6 p.m.; earlier, it has rhythm dance at 11:20 a.m. Read more…
1) Basketball. The college tournament begin with perhaps the day’s best match-up – MSU vs. MSU. Michigan State (shown here) annd Mississippi State, seeded No. 9 and 8 in a 16-team quadrant, collide at 12:15 p.m. on CBS– which also has games at 2:45, 7:10 and 9:40. Other games are on TruTV (12:40, 3:10, 7:25 and 9:55); TNT (1:30, 4, 6:50 and 9:20); and TBS (2, 4:30, 7:25 and 9:55). Read more…
1) “Wild Cards” season-finale, 8 p.m,, CW. For the new, low-budget version of CW, this has been a bright spot, wth likable people in clever plots. But there are only 10 episodes in the first season and talks have dragged on about a second. Giacomo Gianniotti (shown here) plays a cop, working with a semi-reformed scam artist (the delightful Vanessa Morgan). Now he’s drawn into a case from her shaky past. Read more…
