Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 19: Networks link with laughs and songs

1) “Stand Up to Cancer,” 8 p.m., ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and more. Every two years, people combine for comedy sketches and talks, raising millions for cancer research. This show, the eighth, comes during the writers’ and actors’ strikes, so it will rerun sketches with Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Melissa McCarthy Bill Hader and more. It also reruns music by The Who, Brittany Howard (shown here) and the widow of Chadwick Boseman, who died of cancer at 43. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 18: memories of music and Essence

1) “CMT Summer Sessions,” 9 p.m., CMT, On most Fridays in July and August, CMT has a concert by one country star. This time, it brings most of the previous people togethet for a “90s Country” half-hour. “Strawberry Wine,” “Maybe It Was Memphis,” “A Little Too Late” and more are performed by Lee Brice (shown here, who hosts), Tanyya Tucker, Chris Janson, Breland and Ashley McBryde. A week later, McBryde’s solo show will close the season. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 17: comedies, gentle or not

1) “Young Sheldon,” 8 p.m., CBS. Elsewhere, reality shows seem to take over the summer schedules and the strike-torn fall line-ups. Still, “Sheldon” reruns remain in the top-10 in the weekly Nielsen ratings. Now the show is back near the start of this season, with some sharp twists. Sheldon’s mom lost her church job because of ill-feelings involving Georgie being an unwed father-to-be. With finances shaky, Sheldon and Missy (shown here) try to help. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 16: finales for “Wonder Years,” “Food Stars”

1) “The Wonder Years” finale, 9 and 9:30 p.m., ABC. It’s been a so-so season for this comedy-drama (which, alas, often forgets about the comedy), but it ends surprisingly well. Both episodes have large stories, solid drama and adequate comedy. First (shown here), Dean’s dad (Dule Hill) fumes when his brother (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) makes a splash at their father’s birthday. Then this 1969 Alabama family plans a whirlwind week — a Texas college visit and Disneyland. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 15: taut crime or light reality

1) “Justified: City Primeval,” 10 p.m., FX. A dangerous book, with notes about bribes, is in the hands of menacing Mansell (shown here, right) and sweet-spirited Sweetie (left). Mansell has already used it to steal a painting; now things get intense. Raylan – a U.S. marshal, transported to Detroit – is sleeping with Mansell’s lawyer; he’s also pursuing her client and a tangled case. This episode, the sixth of eight, is sometimes talky, sometimes lethal, always interesting. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 14: Reality rules, including food finale

1) “Crime Scene Kitchen” finale, 9 p.m., Fox. For two summers, Fadi Odeh and T Lawrence-Simon (shown here) have brightened cooking showa. Last year, they were opponents in “The Great Chocolate Showdown”; T tied for runner-up, with Fadi finishing sixth. Now they’re together, in a season that started with 12 duos, half of them classically trained. Fadi and T are the only self-taught cooks in the final three. In fact, T also performs and teaches circus aerial acts. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 13: “Billions” starts, “1883” ends

1) “Billions” season-opener, 8 p.m., Showtime. When Damian Lewis (shown here) left, “Billions” scrambled for an entire season. His character — Bobby “Axe” Axelrod – had fled overseas to escape prosecution. Mike Prince – just as ruthless, but way less charming – took over. Now Prince plans to run for president and others are desperate to get Axe back; so are we. Stick with this hour, through some strong dialog and then a big finish. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 12: We can marvel at a new hero

1) “Ms. Marvel” conclusion, 8-11 p.m., ABC. Fresh from its Television Critics Association award for best family show, this mini-series – originally on Disney+ — wraps its two-week rerun. Last week, we met Kamala Khan, a teen who played videogames and wrote fan fiction, especially about Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel). Then a bangle from her grandmother unlocked her own powers. Now (shown here) she’s traveling the world to learn family secrets. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 11: Happy birthday, hip hop

1) Hip hop birthday, Showtime. Hip hop – with its surge of DJs, rappers, break-dancers and more – began on Aug. 11, 1973, historians say, with a West Bronx party. Now Showtime celebrates with a marathon. That includes highlights of “Video Music Box” at 10 a.m., followed by a film about Cypress Hill (11:30), mini-series about Supreme Team at 1 p.m. and Wu-Tang Clan (shown here) at 4 p.m. and then a film about rapper Biz Markie at 8. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 10: Tough reality shows arrive

1) “The Challenge: USA” opener, 10 p.m., CBS. This is the final piece in CBS’ August surge. Spun off of a long-running MTV show, it takes 24 reality-show alumni to Croatia (shown here). Nine started on “Big Brother” and seven on “Survivor, including winners Michele Fitzgerald and Chris Underwood.” The show follows “Big Brother” on Thursdays and (for the next three weeks) on Sundays. Read more…