Year: 2021

1) “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” season-finale, 9 p.m., NBC. The longest-running primetime drama in TV history wraps its 22nd season with a surprising touch. At first, the “Law & Order” shows stridently avoided anything personal. Now, however, “SVU” goes the opposite way: Barring a late mishap, Fin (Ice-T, a regular since the second season) will marry Phoebe (Jennifer Esposito); they’re shown here in an earlier episode. Read more…

(Here are the five TV best-bets for Wednesday, June 2; feel free to use in any form – all or some, print and/or web)

1) “MasterChef” opener, 8 p.m., Fox. On Monday, Gordon Ramsay opened “Hell’s Kitchen,” which has professional chefs and lots of yelling. Now here’s his “MasterChef,” with home chefs, a feel-good mood and even some kitchen heroes: Emeril Lagasse (shown here with Ramsay and one of the contestants, a construction worker) is the guest judge tonight; Paula Deen and others are coming up. Tonight starts the try-out phase. It’s a bumpy road, because acceptances come one at a time, arbitrarily stopping at 15. Still, these are appealing chefs we’re soon rooting for. Read more…

1) “America’s Got Talent” opener, 8-10 p.m., NBC. Each summer, this has ruled the ratings, while viewing a wide and weird range of talent. At first, the results were mainstream; five of the first six champions were singers, alongside one ventriloquist. Since then, winners have included only two singers, plus two more ventriloquists, a magician, a dancer, a dog act and, last year, spoken-word poet Brandon Leake (shown here). Last year, ratings dropped a bit when COVID forced remote performances; now, however, auditioners are back on the main stage. Read more…

1) “Housebroken” debut, 9 p.m., Fox. When the humans are gone, it seems, the pets have group therapy sessions (shown here). They range from a pokey turtle to a prideful pig, from feral cats to Honey (voiced by Lisa Kudrow), the wise poodle in charge. Honey’s housemate is a St. Bernard whose enthusiasm far exceeds his wisdom; others include a fat cat (literally) and a turtle whose love life has been on a 15-year pause. This animated show gets a bit too adult for some kids, but grown-ups will find it thoroughly clever Read more…

1) “National Memorial Day Concert” (shown here in a previous year), 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 9:30. Last year forced a change for this TV tradition: Live events were banned; the music and tributes were shot in advance, sometimes using reruns. The result was beautifully crafted; this year has the same approach, but with no reruns. In key settings, we’ll hear the greats of country (Alan Jackson, Vince Gill and, singing the National Anthem, Mickey Guyton), pop (Gladys Knight, Sara Bareilles, the Four Tops) and opera (Denyce Graves). Read more…

1) “China: Nature’s Ancient Kingdom” (shown here) finale, 8 p.m., BBC America. A beautifully filmed, three-week series concludes in four parks in China’s heavily populated East. One exists not far from the 25 million people in Shanghai; another is along the border, where tigers casually stroll between Russia and China. Footage ranges from a thieving chipmunk raiding a cache, to a rare gibbon swinging along treetops. That’s surrounded by other gorgeous nature scenes: “Frozen Planet” reruns are from 1 p.m. to 6 a.m. Read more…

1) “The Dick Van Dyke Show – Now in Living Color,” 8 p.m., CBS. For the second straight Friday, CBS has two episodes of this great series, with color added by computer. This pair – which also aired in 2018 – has one of the show’s flashback delights (shown here): Richie asks his parents where he came from; he soon gets a long account of the misadventures leading up to his birth. Then there’s a vacation that goes bizarrely wrong: Among other things, Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) has her toe stuck in the bathtub. Read more…