Daily Best Bets

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. After starting the season with high-profile hosts (Pete Davidson and Bad Bunny), “SNL” goes the opposite way. Nate Bargatze (shown here), 44, is a good-natured comedian once described in an Atlantic article as “the nicest man in stand-up.” He hosts, with the Foo Fighters as music guests. The season’s first “SNL” was so-so (despite Davidson), but the second had sharp sketches, three of them mainly in Spanish. Read more…

1) World Series begins, 8:03 p.m. ET, Fox, with pre-game at 7. Baseball finally gets the spotlight, with the Texas Rangers (shown here) hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks. That repeats Saturday, moves to Arizona on Monday through Wednesday, then (if needed) returns to Texas on Nov. 3-4. Todayt, its competition includes college football (Florida Atlantic-Charlotte, 7:30 ET, ESPN2) and a terrific baseball movie (“A League of Their Own,” 1992, 1 and 10 p.m., E).
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1) “Transplant,” 9 p.m., NBC. Dr. Bashir Hamed is used to obstacles. After helping rebels in Syria, he reached Canada with his sister. Now his friends face steep trouble, both back home and at the hospital where he works. This hour is stuffed with physical and emotional pain. Bash finds frustration (his boss bars him from surgery) and joy: He finally has a love interest — Mags (they’re shown here), an intense doctor who is his opposite in many ways. Read more…

1) “Sullivan’s Crossing,” 8 p.m., CW. This drama is sometimes as gentle and peaceful as its Nova Scotia setting. Last week, however, ended with a jolt: Two college guys were with a teen girl, when one accidentally shot Frank; they grabbed the girl and ran. That story wraps up now, leaving more room for the main plot, which is fairly good: A big-city surgeon, facing legal troubles, has retreated to the campgrounds where her father and Cal (Chad Michael Murray) and others cling to secrets. Read more…

1) “Dancing With the Stars,” 8-10 p.m., ABC and Disney+. We can expect a night of strong emotion. As a tribute to Len Goodman, the long-time judge who died in April at 78, the pro dancers perform to “Moon River.” Then contestants choose songs from key years in their lives. That ranges from recent (songs by Billie Eilish and Ed Sheeran) to Barry Williams (shown here), 69, dancing to “Born to be Wild,” which came out in 1968, just before he joined the Brady Bunch. Read more…

1) “The Voice” and “Irrational,” 8 and 10 p.m., NBC. The four-hour-a-week pace has “Voice” moving quickly; it’s already into the “battle round,” with teammates facing each other. And stick around for “Irrational” (shown here) and a question: If these folks are so skilled at human behavior, wouldn’t they be good gamblers? Maybe. Camille, an ex-colleague, is a Las Vegas poker player who’s in danger. Read more…

1) “Fear the Walking Dead” return, 9-10:08 p.m., AMC, repeats at 11:23. When this show started, Madison (Kim Dickens, shown here) was an average (perhaps) school counselor. Then she battled zombies heroically, was apparently killed … and emerged three years later — collecting children for PADRE, then reversing her life and helping them escape. Now the final six episodes begin as she faces an old foe plus PADRE. It’s a tense, taut and well-crafted hour. Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live, 11:29 p.m., NBC. After a 23-week gap, “SNL” finally returned last week and … well, brought scattered laughs. There were some great early moments from host Pete Davidson, some good ones on “Weekend Update” and brief surprise visits from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce; there were also lots of so-so sketches. Now Bad Bunny (shown here), who’s had two No. 1 albums and 11 top-10 singles, will double as host and music guest. Read more…

1) “Checkin’ It Twice,” 8 p.m., Hallmark. The surge of new Christmas movies speeds up; the Hallmark channels have 40 in the next 66 days. There are 20 new ones on Great American Family (including one at 8 p.m. today), nine on UpTV, more on Lifetime and beyond. This one stars Kim Matula (Hope in “The Bold and the Beautiful”). Kevin McGarry (shown here, who is Nathan the Mountie in “When Calls the Heart”) is a newly traded hockey player who rents a cottage owned by her hockey-mad family. Read more…

PLEASE NOTE: President Biden plans to have a televised address tonight (8 p.m. ET, Oct. 19), to discuss the Ukraine and Israeli wars. That is expected to push back the regular schedules of some networks, in some time zone, by about 22 minutes. These are the Thursday highlights prior to that change.

1) “The Challenge: USA” finale (shown here), 10 p.m., CBS. “Survivor” alumni have thrived, with four of seven contestants reaching the finals – Chris Underwood, Desi Williams, Michaela Bradshaw and Chanelle Howell. By comparison, Faysal Shafaat is the lone finalist among nine from “Big Brother.” It’s two (Johnny “Bananas,” Cory Wharton) of four for “Real World,” zero of two for “Amazing Race,” one (Tori Deal) of two for “Are You the One?” Read more…