1) “America’s Got Talent” opener, 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. The summertime ratings champion (shown here is last year’s Mayyans victory) starts its annual auditions. Unlike CBS – which is delaying its summer reality shows until August – NBC hopes to start fast. Today (8-10 p.m. May 29), it has its third “American Ninja Warrior” women’s championship … on Tuesday is “AGT” … on Sunday, both rerun (7-9 and 9-11 p.m.) … and next Monday, the new “Ninja Warrior” season begins.
2) “Nancy Drew” season-opener, 9 p.m. Wednesday, CW. In a summer of reruns and reality, CW offers alternatives. Wednesdays have the final seasons of “Riverdale” (8 p.m.) and “Nancy Drew.” Kennedy McMahon has been excellent as Nancy, fresh from high school and finding young love and old specters. Will she get back with Ace or link with the new guy? And what about the missing bodies? Were they dug up, or did they rise from the dead?
3) “FDR,” 8-10 p.m., today through Wednesday, History. Doris Kearns Goodwin has produced another terrific documentary mini-series, even better than her Washington and Lincoln ones. Today’s opener (rerunning at 6 p.m. Tuesday and 4 p.m. Wednesday) ends with the 100-day surge of New Deal programs, The second chapter (rerunning at 6 p.m. Wednesday) descends into wartime despair. The third concludes with bursts of triumph and idealism.
4) Pro basketball finals, 8:30 p.m. Thursday and Sunday, with pre-game at 8, ABC. For the next three weeks, sports will gobble TV time. The Denver Nuggets – who have never been in the finals before – got there by sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers … who have been there 32 times. They face the Heat or Celtics, continuing June 7, 9 and (if needed), 12, 15 and 18. The hockey finals start June 8 on TNT; baseball continues, including Saturdays on Fox.
5) “Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys,” 9-11 p.m. today, CBS. The best way to start a summer is with Beach Boys music. This rerun (followed by a Paul Simon one at 9 p.m. Wednesday) has sunny songs from Beck, Weezer, Charliue Puth, My Morning Jacket and more. It also has emotional ballads (LeAnn Rimes, John Legend, Brandi Carlile) and key comments. When “In My Room” came out, Bruce Springsteen, 13, played it over and over, in his room.
6) “Hot Wheels Ultimate Challenge” debut, 10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. The toys all get their own TV shows or movies these days – Legos, Barbie, GI Joe, Mario Brothers, more. But Hot Wheels? This show mentions them a lot, but they have almost nothing to do with the competition. Instead, two likable souls start with cars similar to their childhood favorites, then give them hot-rod makeovers. The result is bright and fun in its own (non-Hot Wheels) way.
7) “The Blacklist,” 8 and 9 p.m. Thursday, NBC. After starting the season late, this cleverly crafted series has eight new episodes left in its 10th and final season. Now it moves to Thursdays, and starts by airing two of them: First, Red gives the task force three cases that are deeper than they first appear. Then he probes a corrupt lawyer and her work on corporate cover-ups. Wrapping through both hours is a congressman’s effort to shut down the task force.
8) “American Masters,” 9 p.m. Friday, PBS. As a teen, Ringo Starr listened to Luxembourg radio, hoping for a Little Richard song; Keith Richards was impatient for the next Richard record. This fascinating film includes Starr, Richards and even Pat Boone, 88, who did a cover version of “Tutti Frutti,” blissfully unaware of any sexual connotations. We sees Richard as a vibrant guy who survived deceit, drugs, bias and loneliness, emerging with joy.
9) Sci-fi shows. Some fantasy tales are riveting at first, then keep being extended. That’s the case with “Manifest,” which NBC dumped after three seasons, without explaining its mysteries. Netflix rescued it; the first half of the 20-episode final season arrived in November and the second half comes Friday. Then (9 p.m. Sunday, rerunning at 10:04), TNT debuts “The Lazarus Project.” The concept (we won’t spoil it here) is compelling, but may or may not work as a series.
10) ALSO: Two scripted shows debut today on CW. The British “The Rising” (8 p.m.), has a young woman in the afterlife, trying to solve her murder; the Australian “Barons” (9) is the true story of the fight for surfer supremacy. ABC’s “The 1619 Project” (8-11 p.m. Wednesday) looks at Blacks’ long struggle for justice. And at 9 p.m Sunday, HBO debuts “The Idol”; Lily-Rose Depp plays a pop star, seeking a comeback after a nervous breakdown.