1) Basketball, 9 p.m. ET, ABC. This is just what a shut-down nation needs – a fresh burst of sports. On the same day that baseball begins its National League play-offs, basketball starts its best-of-seven finals, with LeBron James (shown here) and the Los Angeles Lakers) facing one of his old teams (the Miami Heat). Other games will be Friday, Sunday, Oct. 6 and (if necessary) beyond. Today has a pre-game show at 8:30 p.m. and a pre-pre-game show – “Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night” – at 8 … or after the game, on the West Coast.
2) “The 100” finale, 8 p.m., CW. The story began seven years ago, with an experiment – 100 teens were dumped onto Earth, to see if it was habitable again. It was, but new problems loomed. Clarke became the leader; now she takes her people into the final battle.
3) “Islands of Wonder” finale, 8 p.m., PBS. The first two weeks visited spots that you and I are unlikely to visit – Borneo and Madagascar. Now this gorgeous little series moves a bit closer, to Hawaii. It ranges from the human side – a 42-mile longboat race, following a tradition for native women – to sea creatures. One has the harrowing task of going up (yes, UP) a giant waterfall.
4) “Archer,” 10 p.m., FXX. A lot happened during Archer’s three-year coma, but this bothers him the most: Barry – once a good guy, converted to a Russian-spy cyborg – is now a good-guy cyborg. Archer fumes, especially when they face a swarm of bad-guy Barrys. It’s a funny story – a second plot, hiring a new valet, is lame – that reruns at 11:06, with previous episodes at 10:35 and 11:46.
5) Also: Shepard Smith takes over as anchor of MSNBC’s newscast at 7 p.m. ET, rerunning at midnight and 4 a.m.; Smith spent 23 years at Fox News, before leaving last year. And at 8 p.m., it’s the second week of Fox’s “The Masked Singer.” For two straight years, the first person unmasked has been a rapper – Lil Wayne last year, Busta Rhymes last week.