Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 10: weird humor and teen trauma

1) “Miracle Workers” season-openers, 10 and 10:30 p.m., TBS, rerunning at 11. This arrives in spurts – a 15-month delay after the second season, a 22-month one after the third. Still, it’s worth the wait – fresh, funny and weird. The first three seasons took Daniel Radcliffe and Geraldine Viswanathan to Heaven (literally), a medieval village and a wagon train. Now they’re post-apocalyptic warriors (shown here), settling into suburbia. The result is erratic, but sometimes hilarious.
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Best-bets for July 9: American games, British mysteries

1) Game night opener, ABC. Here’s the final piece of ABC’s summer, which has no-rerun blocks from 8-11 p.m. Sundays and Mondays, 8-9:30 p.m. Wednesdays and 8-10 Thursdays. At 8 today, “Prank Panel” makes an overprotective dad think his daughter has the world’s worst boyfriend. At 9, “Celebrity Family Feud” has Gayle King, Sophia Bush Hughes and the “Yellowjackets” (shown here) cast. At 10, “$100,000 Pyramid” includes RuPaul and Loni Love. Read more…

Best-bets for July 8: grim drama, geek fun

1) “Dawn,” 8 p.m. Lifetime, rerunning at 10. The grim tales of V.C. Andrews (the “Flowers in the Attic” author) are big on Lifetime. On consecutive Saturdays, four movies will tell of a sweet teen, encased in wealth and cruelty. Brec Bassinger (shown here with Jesse Metcalfe) is subtly excellent (as she was in “Stargirl”), but many characters are overwritten and/or overacted; Donna Mills is especially inept as a venomous matriarch. Read more…

Best-bets for July 7: Fridays add light dramas, music, more

1) “Family Law” season-opener, 8 p.m., CW. Abby’s life was derailed by alcoholism and a cheating husband. Almost disbarred, she had to work in her dad’s law office, with two half-siblings. Now things are worse: Her half-sister had a break-up and their father (Victor Garber, shown here with Jewel Staite as Abby) is dating an abrasive TV commentator. Also, there’s a strange new court case. Despite flaws (likable characters are scarce), this Canadian show works fairly well as a light drama. Read more…

Best-bets for July 6: Missy, murder, mermaid, more

1) “Young Sheldon,” 8 p.m., CBS. For most of these first six seasons, Missy has been unnoticed and underappreciated. She’s not as smart as one brother (Sheldon) or as troublesome as the other (Georgie), but has ample people skills. With the focus on Mandy’s baby, she anew. Then – at the end of an episode that reran Wednesday – she stole her dad’s truck. Tonight (shown here) she finds her friend Paige (a young genius who’s a college drop-out) and tries a joy ride. Read more…

Best-bets for July 5: Wonder-ful singer and angry teen

1) “The Wonder Years,” 9 p.m., ABC. Most weeks, Saycon Sengbloh (shown here with Dule Hll) is in the background, as Dean’s mom. Now she gets a terrific showcase, complete with great songs. Sengbloh was in seven Broadway musicals, usually in the chorus or understudying a star; then a play brought her fame and a Tony award. Here, her mother-in-law (R&B/gospel great Patti LaBelle) taps her for the church choir. The story is fairly good; the music is glorious. Read more…

Best-bets for July 4: soaring songs, flashy fireworks

1) “A Capitol Fourth,” 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 9:30. Each year, this offers a rich variety of music from the Capitol lawn, capped by fireworks (shown here). This year has a Tina Turner tribute from Adrienne Warren (who played her on Broadway), a musical tribute to soldiers and their families by Renee Fleming and Charles Esten singing “Let Freedom Ring” as the fireworks flow. Also Chicago, Babyface, Boyz II Men, Belinda Carlisle, Maddie & Tae and more. Read more…

Best-bets for July 3: a cruel, shark-filled summer

1) “SharkFest,” National Geographic Channel. It’s been almost a half-century since “Jaws” had a great white shark invading an upscale resort area. Now a 9 p.m. film tells us there’s a growing number of great whites feeding near Cape Cod. That’s one of three new hours about sharks (shown here), surrounded by reruns. One, at 8 p.m., asks if attacks are affected by sound; another, at 10, eyes bull sharks attacking a hammerhead. Read more…

Best-bets for July 2: “Tough” show starts, dour one ends

1) “Tough as Nails” opener, 8-10 p.m., CBS. After pushing its summer shows back to August, CBS relented: After tonight, “Tough” (shown here) will have a new hour each Friday and Sunday. This season was filmed in Canada, with four Canadians among the 12 contestants. The field ranges from a 31-year-old ironworker to a 58-year-old toolmaker; it includes two firefighters and a motorcycle-builder. Phil Keoghan (shown here) hosts the show, which he co-created. Tonight, each person must cut, grind and torch 500 pounds of scrap metal. Read more…

Best-bets for July 1: Football season finally ends

1) Football, 8 p.m. ET, NBC. It’s the final game of the season – just three weeks before NFL training camps begin for a new year. This is the USFL, in its second season since being revived. The defending champion, Birmingham (8-2 in the regular season), behind quareterback Alex McGough (shown here), rolled to a 47-22 win over New Orleans (7-3) in the South division semi-finals. Now it faces Pittsburgh, which had an overtime win over Michigan, in a North battle of teams with 4-6 records. Read more…