1) “Better Things,” 10 p.m., FX, rerunning at 11 and midnight. For this final season, Celia Imrie (left) — who plays the mother of Sam (Pamela Adlon, right) — couldn’t leave England during the pandemic. Adlon had a solution: She flew there to tape several two-person scenes for early episodes, pretending they were in California; then the entire cast arrived for this engaging hour. Amid pleasant moments in Liverpool and London, we get some humor and some life-changing decisions … setting up next week’s series finale.
2) “NCIS,” 9 p.m., CBS. Last week was a rarity, with “NCIS” (a ratings leader) pre-empted by country music. Now it’s back, with a fresh crisis: When an arms dealer is released from prison, some murders promptly follow. Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) faces repercussions for his past actions undercover.
3) “NCIS: Hawaii,” 10 p.m., CBS. Here’s another show that was bumped last week. Tonight, a shipwreck spills exotic animals – endangering the island’s native wildlife. Also, Kai asks Melanie for a date. And Jane’s son – recruited by a college baseball team – has a cruel injury.
4) “American Idol,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. It’s time to trim from the top-20 to the top-10 … and then to nudge it back up a few notches. The cut to 10 will be based on viewers’ votes after Sunday’s performances. Once that’s done, the judges can add four more. As usual, that puts “Idol” against another music show – “American Song Contest,” 8-10 p.m. on NBC.
5) ALSO: Two Irish crime shows – stark opposites – are on www.acorn.tv. Jane Seymour’s “Harry Wild” has self-contained episodes that are usually quite light … but “A Corpse in My Soup” (one of two new ones today) has a strong story on a heavy subject. “Hidden Assets” is a dead-serious, six-episode story, with the first two hours arriving today; the opener, sharply written and smartly played, has cops trying to link a drug-dealer in Ireland and a terrorist bombing in Belgium.