What’s Worth Watching: Audra McDonald in ‘Lady Day’ on HBO, the ‘2016 Kids Choice Awards’, ‘Bosch’ on Amazon and more for Friday, March 11 & Saturday, March 12

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Audra McDonald
HBO
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Audra McDonald

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Saturday, 9/8c, HBO): “Singing is living for me,” says vulnerable songbird Billie Holiday, and in a mesmerizing performance that won her a record sixth Tony Award, Audra McDonald makes you believe it. She’s such a gifted actor-singer that she can convince you, despite her obviously robust physique, that Billie could break at any moment as she drunkenly stumbles through a club act that begins to feel like a long night’s journey into oblivion. The musical play is a 90-minute soliloquy of hazy, bawdy memory, recalling the ups and mostly downs of a life scarred by racism and addiction. But oh, that haunted, ravishing voice.

Breaking Point: Heroin in America (Friday, 10/9c, ABC): News anchor David Muir reports a special hour of 20/20 that profiles families wracked by addiction in the resurgent drug epidemic and explores the rising tide of mothers and newborns hooked on heroin. This may not be easy viewing, but it’s so much more important and relevant than the typical true-crime focus of so many of today’s network newsmagazines.

2016 Kids Choice Awards (Saturday, 8/7c, Nickelodeon): Blake Shelton faces torrents of slime—but will he doff his cowboy hat?—as host of the kid-friendly slapsticky awards show, joined by the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr., Meghan Trainor, Josh Gad and Fifth Harmony. Tune in early for a new episode of SpongeBob SquarePants (7:30/6:30) in which Betty White adds to her legendary resume as a guest-star voice. After the awards, a new sitcom version of the feature film School of Rock premieres (9:30/8:30c), with Tony Cavalero starring as Dewey Finn, substitute teacher turned rock god/mentor to a group of elementary school students.

Inside Weekend TV: Streaming alert: Amazon presents a second season of the excellent Bosch (available Friday), starring Titus Welliver as Michael Connelly’s great literary creation, uncompromising L.A. detective Harry Bosch. … Netflix doubles down on original comedy, with Will Arnett (Bojack Horseman) headlining the forgettable Flaked (available Friday) as an overripe slacker in Venice, California, who vies with his best bud (David Sullivan) over the affections of a beautiful stranger (Ruth Kearney). More promising is The Characters (also available Friday), a series of eight 30-minute vignettes created by up-and-coming comedians. … With Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and his Lonely Island troupe behind the scenes, Fox re-enters Saturday’s late-night arena with the half-hour sketch comedy series Party Over Here (11/10c), featuring three discoveries: Nicole Byer, Jessica McKenna and Alison Rich. … NBC’s Saturday Night Live (11:30/10:30c) welcomes back Ariana Grande, this time doubling as host and musical guest.