1) Basketball, TBS, TNT and TruTV. It’s final-four time in the college tournament. Connecticut (shown here) and Illinois collide at 6:09 p.m. ET, with Michigan and Arizona at about 8:49. All three channels carry pre-game shows (starting at 2:30 p.m.) and a post-game show. Read more…
1) “Sheriff Country” and “Fire Country” return, 8 and 9 p.m., CBS. Back from a two-week basketball break, these have a big-deal crossover: A mysterious school-bus explosion (shown here) leaves nine students missing; the sheriff and the firefighters investigate. In the second hour, Bode and Nathan try a desperate rescue. Read more…
1) “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” return, 8 p.m., CBS. After a two-week basketball break, broadcast-TV’s best comedy returns. And it’s back with its best kind of episode, mixing the families: Mandy tries to give Georgie’s sister dating advice; Georgie’s mom (shown here) is not pleased. Read more…
1) “Chicago Med,” 8 p.m., NBC. In a remarkable change-of-pace, “Med” starts a two-week story focusing almost entirely on Dr. Charles (shown here). A soft-spoken psychiatrist, he has soothed other people, amid painful family burdens in his past and present. Now life crashes down, in an ordeal played with subtle skill by Oliver Platt, a five-time Emmy-nominee. Read more…
1) “Secrets of the Bees,” 8-10 p.m., National Geographic. The superb “Secrets” films, produced by James Cameron, have shown mega-creatures — whales and elephants and such. Now it goes micro, with great footage inside hives. Bertie Gregory shows us a fascinating web of duties, including scouts, workers and queens-in-waiting. Read more…
1) “Henry David Thoreau,” 9-11 p.m., PBS, concluding 9 p.m. Tuesday. Yes, Thoreau spent two years in a cabin (re-created here), writing eloquently about man and nature, But Ken Burns’ splendid film finds he’s much more interesting than that: Thoreau was a social guy who loved to mingle. He was a teacher, philosopher and pencil-maker, an abolitionist and a strong believer in personal freedom.
Read more…
In the TV world, Earth Day has become Earth Month.
Or, actually, Earth Month-plus-a-day-or-two.
That will be clear when James Cameron’s “Secrets of” series (shown here in a previous year) — usually the centerpiece of Earth Day — debuts Tuesday (March 31) on National Geographic. This time, it’s a fascinating look at bees … and it coincides with the conclusion of Ken Burns’ compelling portrait of Henry David Thoreau.
The next day, “Earth Month” begins. Highlights from the month-plus are: Read more…
1) CBS blitz. This should be a powerhouse day for CBS. First, it has basketball, filling the final spots in the college tournament’s final four. That’s at 2 and 4:30 p.m. ET, leaping (in Eastern and Central zones) into a strong night — “60 Minutes,” “Marshals” — Kayce (shown here, right) goes rogue to rescue a kidnapped girl) and “Tracker” (a boy vanishes during a field trip). Read more…
1) “Henry David Thoreau” 9-11 p.m., today, 9 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. We might think of Thoreau as a hermit in a cabin, but Ken Burns’ splendid film finds someone much more interesting: Thoreau was a social man who loved to talk, write and think. He was a teacher, philosopher and pencil-maker; in his two years in the cabin (shown here), he wrote memorably about man and nature. Read more…
“Saturday Night Live” will soon have black-and-white Jacks.
Jack Black (shown here in a previous episode) will host the April 4 episode, with Jack White as the music guest.
That comes as the show returns from two weeks of reruns, during the busiest time of the college basketball tournament. Newly announced are: Read more…
Best-bets for April 4: final-four, “SNL” and Moses 
Best-bets for April 3: Dramas make an explosive return 
Best-bets for April 2: Georgy & such are back 
