Best-bets for Wednesday, May 31: New “Drew” leads a busy night

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…

Best-bets for May 30: America (well, the world) has talent

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.
Read more…

Best-bets for May 29: ninjas, Beach Boys and FDR

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…

“Yellowjackets”: Another gem on “Succession” night

In an all-or nothing world, this sort of fits:
Here we are in TV’s summer season, when viewers figure nothing worthy is available. Yet two important hours are at exactly the same time – 9 p.m. Sunday, May 28.
One is the series-finale of “Succession,” on HBO; the other is the season-finale of “Yellowjackets” (shown here in a previous episode) on Showtime. Both show the extremes people will reach for survival and dominance.
And yes, you can still see both of them, by: Read more…

A marvelous show has warm, witty finale

A marvelous TV show has its final episode today (Friday, May 26).
Like most great ones, it’s leaving too soon. Unlike some, it has an exceptionally good finale.
Amazon Prime’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (shown here) departs after five season, during a week overloaded with departures. On Sunday, HBO’s “Succession” ends after four; the following Wednesday (May 31), Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” ends after three.
These decisions were all apparently voluntary. But they don’t seem fair in a world that gave nine seasons to “Alice,” 12 to “My Three Sons” and 14 to “Ozzie & Harriet.” Read more…

Best-bets for May 28: Voices soar; “Succession” ends

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…

At last, a bit of good news: There will be a Tonycast

With TV mired in its summer-and-strike slump, viewers need a shred of good news.
Now they have one: There will be a Tony telecast, after all. It will be June 11, Ariana DeBose (shown here) will again host and – if the past is any indication – it will be great fun.
CBS had already been promoting the show, but others had doubts. If writers were picketing, performers might have stayed away in support. Read more…

Bet-bets for May 27: NBC’s night of laughs and music

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…

Week’s top-10 for May 29: Summer starts with reality, Roosevelt, “Riverdale”

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…

Best-bets for May 26: A marvelous finale; a sorta-great musical

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…