The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

How I Met Your Mother

For nine seasons, Ted Mosby has tortured his kids with a winding, endless account of how he met the woman he married. In the series finale, he reaches the punch line. The show’s audience has already been introduced this season to the titular and still-unnamed “Mother,” played by actress Cristin Milioti, but it remains a mystery just how she and Ted (Josh Radnor) finally connected. Monday, March 31, at 8 p.m., CBS

Independent Lens: Medora

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Gene Hackman’s Hoosiers they aren’t. Meet the Medora High School Hornets, a boys’ varsity basketball team whose members endure blowout loss after blowout loss before retreating to broken homes in impoverished, drug-addled rural Indiana. Yet with prodding from a saintly coaching staff, the boys play on in this fine documentary, becoming symbols of a small-town-America spirit that appears to be on life support. Monday, March 31, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Death Beach

To the uneducated eye, South Africa’s Second Beach is a surfer’s paradise. But bull sharks patrol the beach’s waves and have mysteriously turned aggressive, killing eight people in just five years. In this hourlong special, biologists brave the waters off the world’s most deadly beach to learn what’s altering the sharks’ behavior. Wednesday, April 2, at 8 p.m., Smithsonian

Game of Thrones

The kingdom of Westeros is very much in play as HBO’s muscular fantasy series begins its fourth season. Though the Lannisters hold the Iron Throne, threats are gathering. At the kingdom’s north wall, Mance Rayder (Ciarán Hinds) is approaching with his army of wildlings, as are the dreaded White Walkers. Meanwhile, at Slaver’s Bay, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) continues to liberate slaves and draw them to her flag by the thousands. Will the Iron Throne be her next target? Sunday, April 6, at 9 p.m., HBO

Veep

If you think Joe Biden is quirky, you don’t know Selina Meyer. Fresh off an Emmy-winning season, Julia Louis-Dreyfus returns as the mistake-prone, acid-tongued Vice President Meyer—a woman ever on the verge of having a clue and quite possibly the funniest character on television. Season three finds Meyer launching “Operation Lady POTUS,” aka her bid for the presidency. Sunday, April 6, at 10:30 p.m., HBO

Other highlights

The Mindy Project

After a shaky start, this showcase for comedian Mindy Kaling (The Office) finally feels in sync with Kaling’s offbeat sense of humor. It returns this week after a brief second-season hiatus.Tuesday, April 1, at 9 p.m., Fox

Bruce Springsteen’s High Hopes

Enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at Springsteen’s creative process as the Boss, his band, and guest guitarist Tom Morello put together the album High Hopes. Friday, April 4, at 9:30 p.m., HBO

49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards

Performers at America’s longest-running music awards show will include George Strait, The Band Perry, and Lady Antebellum with Stevie Nicks. Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton return as co-hosts. Sunday, April 6, at 8 p.m., CBS