TV's Best Bets

Mike Hughes
·2 min read

Tuesday, Jan. 18

“Great Performances: The Broadway Revival,” 9 p.m., PBS. Right now, Adrienne Warren is starring as Emmett Till’s mother in an ABC mini-series that concludes Thursday, Before that, she drew raves in a Tina Turner musical … until COV ID closed Broadway, “It crushed me,” she says here. After a 19-month break, the show returned … and she had to relearn everything. “It was hilarious,” she says, “and also terrifying.” She’s one of many people in an involving (but repetitive) look at Broadway’s comeback.

"Naomi,” 8 p.m., CW. At 16, Naomi is smart and popular, with good friends and loving adoptive parents. She was also cheerful ... until she got hints she may be tied to supernatural events. Now comes a strong follow-up to last week’s excellent opener. Naomi insists her friends help probe mysterious events that happened on her adoption day; also, she goes back to the tattoo-parlor guy, for more information. He’s parceling it out slowly … as does the show, but it’s a fascinating journey..

“Abbott Elementary,” 9 p.m., ABC. Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) is the one teacher who seems totally in control. Then a new computer system arrives and Janine (Quinta Brunson) can help her … if she’ll accept help. Then “Black-ish” has trouble for Dre (a radio call-in show) and Bow (young colleagues).

“How I Met Your Father,” any time, Hulu. At 13, Hilary Duff was instantly likable in “Lizzie McGuire.” Now, at 34, she portrays a different phase — struggling with the dating world, with the help of quirky friends. This has different characters, but follows the format of “How I Met Your Mother”: Now it’s a mom (Kim Cattrall) using flashbacks to tell her kids a rambling story about how their parents met.

ALSO: This is a night to savor Oscar-winning performances. Showtime has two — Russell Crowe in “Gladiator” (2000) at 5:25 p.m. and Tom Hanks in “Philadelphia” (1993) at 8; Turner Classic Movies has Sally Field in “Places in the Heart” (1984) at 8. Bonuses: TCM precedes that at 5:20 p.m. with Alfred Hitchcock’s thoroughly entertaining “North by Northwest” (1959); at 10:05 p.m., Showtime reruns the busy season-finale of “Yellowjackets.”

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Tuesday's TV's Best Bets