Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 3: A great season ends, a bad one begins

1) “Only Murders in the Building” finale, Hulu. A great season concludes with Oliver (Martin Short, tighty) frantically trying to stop Loretta (Meryl Streep) from confessing. She’s just trying to protect the son she gave up at birth, but Oliver is convinced that neither is the killer. Also, he loves her AND needs her to co-star in his musical, alongside Charles (Steve Martin, center, alongside Selena Gomez) and others. Now we should learn who the real killer is … and, maybe, how the musical does. Read more…

Best-bets for Oct. 2: new game, old game and latenighters’ return

1) “Loteria Loca” debut, 9 p.m., CBS. As Jaime Camil tells it, every home in Mexico has a loteria set. It’s sort of like bingo, but with bright pictures. The game has been in Mexico for 250 years and now reaches TV, with Camil (the “Jane the Virgin” co-star) hosting and producing. This version (shown here) starts with the cards, then moves on to interactive challenges. Read more…

Best-bets for Oct. 1: The eternal Homer leads cartoon surge

1) “The Simpsons” season-opener, 8 p.m., Fox. At a time when most scripted shows were detoured by strikes, this is an exception: Animated shows are done far in advance; starting tonight, Fox has four new ones on Sundays. It’s the 35th season for “The Simpsons,” which seems as sharp as ever. Homer gets a wisp of crossing-guard glory (shown here); then, of course, he takes it to excess. Read more…

Best-bets for Sept. 30: This was Kelce, pre-Swift

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m, NBC. Before he became a pop-culture figure (by dating Taylor Swift), Travis Kelce (shown here0 was merely a football star. Three weeks after his Kansas City Chiefs beat his brother Jason’s Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, he hosted the episode that reruns today. It also includes Jason and the music guest, Kelsea Ballerini. Read more…

Best-bets for Sept. 29: Cesar’s songs; pageant’s woes

1) “A Song for Cesar,” 10-11:30 p.m., PBS. Cesar Chavez (shown here), friends says, loved to dance. He savored jazz and comedy; he was “this guy with an urban soul.” So his farmworkers’ movement rippled with music – from the back of flat-bed trucks, then in arenas. This vibrant film offers brief bursts of music. Much of it is way too brief; still, it’s fascinating to see the show bounce between a white-haired musician and his young self, almost 60 years ago. Read more…

Best-bets for Sept. 28: Hell, love and country music

1) “Hell’s Kitchen” opener, 8 p.m., Fox. After lots of flash and hype about the American dream, we meet the contestants – an appealing bunch of dreamers. At one extreme is a young Texan (shown here, left), now a chef in Chicago, who’s also a professional quidditch player. At another is a Mississippi chef, a single mom raising her six children and her sister’s three. They make their specialties and Gordon Ramsay seems genial enough. Next week, he’ll start screaming. Read more…

Best-bets for Sept. 27: Reality-show giants begin and end

1) “Survivor” opener, 8-9:30 p.m., CBS. This is the 45th edition, filled with people who obsess on the show. Indeed, there are three lawyers … and two of them lie about their profession, so they won’t be considered schemers. Returning is Bruce Perreault, who was seriously injured in the previous opener; now there’s another rough challenge (shown here) and another person needing medical attention. It’s a fun start, right up to the closing surprise. Read more…

Best-bets for Sept. 26: “Talent” leaves; “Stars” returns

1) “America’s Got Talent,” 9-11 p.m., NBC. After a summer of spectacle, the show has its 11 finalists. There are singers from Massachusetts and Indonesia, choirs from South Africa and North Carolina. There are two dance groups from Japan (including Avantgardey, the judges’ wild-card pick, shown here) and one from France, plus an Italian dog act, a Canadian comedian, a New Jersey magician and an acrobat duo from Tanzania. Now they perform and viewers vote; Wednesday has a recap at 8 and finale at 9. Read more…

Best-bets for Sept. 25: NBC scores with “Voice” and new drama

1) “The Irrational” debut, 10 p.m., NBC. After surviving a tragedy, Alec (Jesse L. Martin, shown here) began studying the criminal mind. Now he’s a behavioral science professor, working with the police, including his ex-wife. Tonight’s opening scene is a gem and the story that follows is quite good. After that, there are no guarantees; the second hour is so-so, the third bounces back. As one of the few new, scripted shows this season, this is worth trying. Read more…

Best-bets for Sept. 24: Costner vs. Krapopolis

1) “Krapopolis” debut (shown here), after football (about 8 p.m. ET), Fox. Tyrannis has this theory that people can live peacefully in cities. That’s viewed skeptically by his mom (a self-obsessed shapeshifter), dad (half-human) and sister (really macho). In tonight’s second episode, Olympic-type games implode. This is a broad comedy from the “Community” and “Rick and Morty” producer. It’s inconsistent, but a fun piece of the cartoon line-up that starts next Sunday. Read more…