Spring sports rituals and difficult documentaries
Weather is fickle and snow may still molest the crocuses, but incontrovertible evidence of spring’s arrival appears tonight. A bracket of 68 teams has dwindled down to the final two as the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament concludes (9 p.m., CBS), live from University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Meanwhile, our national pastime is in full swing. Prime-time Major League Baseball action (7 p.m., ESPN) includes the Texas Rangers hosting the Cleveland Indians in their home opener, as 30 teams embark on their 162game trek to the fall classic.
And if you really want to see spring foliage in all its glory, don’t miss “Live From the Masters” (7 p.m., Golf), from Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
DIFFICULT SUBJECTS
Those who prefer documentaries about difficult subjects are in luck. The “Independent Lens” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-PG) presentation “Newtown” includes harrowing first-person interviews with the families, friends and colleagues of the 20 children and six educators slaughtered in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December 2012.
“Abortion: Stories Women Tell” (8 p.m., HBO) looks at the state of Missouri, where anti-abortion activists have applied political pressure to close all but one abortion provider in the state and require a 72-hour waiting period before getting an abortion.
“Stories” offers very personal accounts from both sides. We meet a no-nonsense security guard who negotiates between clients, staff and protesters on a daily, if not hourly, basis. Also profiled are religiously inspired anti-abortion activists who include one woman who had three abortions before convincing herself that she had to protect other women from her path of “guilt and shame.”
Commercial-sponsored network television used to avoid hot-button issues like abortion. Much has been made of a “Maude” episode from November 1972 that tackled the subject. It aired months before the Supreme Court’s 1973 “Roe” decision, which hoped to “settle” the issue but instead galvanized widespread political resistance and some degree of timidity among TV writers and sponsors.
I recall an episode of “That ’70s Show” when Jackie (Mila Kunis) thought she might be pregnant. This inspired a lot of chatter, but discussion of the “A” word, pro or con, never came up. That struck me as strange for a series set in the mid-1970s, but Jackie’s silence better reflected the realities of late-1990s television than the Ford-Carter era.
Lately, as series attract smaller and more niche audiences, writers seem more willing to handle the topic. Over the past few years, shows including “You’re the Worst,” “Jane the Virgin,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice,” “Scandal,” “Girls,” “The Fosters” and “Sex and the City” have featured story lines involving abortion.
The rise of noncommercial streaming services like Netflix have also provided a home for those seeking movies and documentaries about subjects some may find incendiary. Just last week Netflix debuted “The Most Hated Woman in America,” a profile of atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair that stars Melissa Leo.
And plain, old-fashioned DVDs continue to offer a platform for arguments from all sides. In 2016 producer Stephen Bannon released “Torchbearer,” a religious jeremiad starring “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson. Bannon has since taken a job in the White House.
TONIGHT’S HIGHLIGHTS
› The knockout rounds begin on “The Voice” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
› Rebecca’s fateful choice on “24: Legacy” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
› A joint operation includes the FBI on “APB” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
› Magnolia malarkey continues as “Southern Charm” (9 p.m., Bravo, TV-14) enters a fourth season.
› A Russian agent defects on “Taken” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
› Personal chemistry fizzles on “Quantico” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
› Two can live as cheaply as one on “The Big Bang Theory” (8 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-PG).
› New moves on “Dancing With the Stars” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
› Mr. Mxyzptlk (Peter Gadiot) woos Kara on “Supergirl” (8 p.m., CW, repeat, TV-14).