Daily Best Bets

1) “American Masters,” 9 p.m., PBS. Before Elvis, before other rock stars … even before the phrase “rock ‘n’ roll” was popularized, there was Little Richard (shown here). He dressed like a glam-rocker, screamed in full falsetto, dazzled. Ringo Starr and Keith Richards were teen fans; they’re in this fascinating film. So is Pat Boone, 88, who covered Richard’s “Tutti Frutti,” blissfully unaware of sexual connotations. We sees Richard survive deceit, drugs and bias, emerging with joy. Read more…

1) Basketball finals, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC (with pre-game at 8) and ESPN2. At first, this hinted at a classic rematch: The Lakers and Celtics – each with 17 championships – reached the conference finals. The Lakers, however, were swept by the Denver Nuggets; the Celtics were almost swept by the Miami Heat; they bounced back with three straight wins, but lost the seventh-and-final game. Now the Nuggets (shown here) face the Heat, in the start of a best-of-seven series. Read more…

1) “Nancy Drew” season-opener, 9 p.m., CW. A fun era is ending, but we can savor it this summer. For years, CW was stuffed with the heroes of comic books and youth novels. Now it has new owners and a new direction, but Wednesdays will be strong through August. Kennedy McMahon (shown here) has been excellent as Nancy, fresh from high school and facing young love and old haunts. Now bodies are missing. Were they dug up, or did they rise from the dead? Read more…

1) “America’s Got Talent” opener, 8-10 p.m., NBC. The annual summertime ratings champion is back, again with (from keft) Howie Mandell, Heidi Klum, host Terry Crew, Sofia Vergara and Simon Cowell. They’ll see lots of acts that prove the show’s title half-correct: There’s lots of talent, but it’s not necessarily American. Last summer, only four of the 11 finalists were from the U.S. For that matter, the judges are from England, German, Canada and Colombia.
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1) “FDR,” 8-10 p.m., History; rerunning at 12:03. At the end of this three-night series (on Wednesday), historian Jon Meacham sums it up: Americans got lucky; when they needed it the most, they got Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt. Now historian Doris Kearns Goodwin has deftly profiled each of them. This is her best one yet, tracing a man (shown here) whose optimism overrode mountains of personal and national agony. This opener concludes with a New Deal surge. Read more…

1) “National Memorial Day Concert,” 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 9:30. Each year, on the eve of the holiday, this offers a passionate mixture of stories and music, done live on the Capitol lawn. This time, the music includes gospel great Yolanda Adams (shown here), country’s Trace Adkins and Jo Dee Messina and former “American Idol” winner Phillip Phillips, plus The War and Treaty, a duo that brings gospel-sized power to Americana music. Read more…

1) “Comedy and Music Superfest,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. Byron Allen’s first NBC jobs were milder: He did a stand-up routine on Johnny Carson’s show at 18, then was a “Real People” reporter. He had ups and downs, then scored in business; Allen (shown here) now has a company that owns stations, digital networks and the Weather Channel. Here’s a rerun of his special, with Toni Braxton, John Legend, Gladys Knight, Boys II Men, Roy Wood Jr., Tiffany Haddish, Keenan Thompson, Loni Love and more. Read more…

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. Read more…

1) “Great Performances: Anything Goes,” 9 p.m., PBS. Mix three immense talents – Sutton Foster, director Kathleen Marshall, songwriter Cole Porter – and you get … well, a fairly entertaining show. What’s missing is a good story; this one just has lots silly twists. Still, Foster and Marshall turn Porter’s clever songs into zestful blurs of song, dance (shown here) and general good cheer. Read more…

1) “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021), 8-11 p.m., ABC. Not long ago, Asians were scarce onscreen. Now? On Wednesday, Disney+ debuted “American Born Chinese,” which is both a teen comedy and an action drama; today adds “Shang-Chi” (shown here0, a Marvel adventure about a trained assassin trying to simply be Shaun. Both were directed by Destin Cretton; both have Chinese mythology and Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh. Read more…