What’s Worth Watching: ‘American Crime’, ‘American Idol’, ‘Law & Order: SVU’ and more for Wednesday, February 10

Felicity Huffman and Timothy Hutton in American Crime
Ryan Green/ABC
AMERICAN CRIME - "Season Two: Episode Eight" - In an episode that features interviews with real-life Columbine teachers, along with parents and victims of LGBT bullying, Leyland High School mourns the loss of one of their own, while Leslie finds her job on the line in the aftermath of the tragedy; Curt tries to file a missing person's report with the police when he suspects his estranged wife, Lilah, has run off with their son, Peter, after she blames him for son Eric's sexuality; Becca makes a startling confession to Dan; and Sebastian reaches out to Anne in an attempt to help her bring retribution to those who caused her son Taylor's downfall, on "American Crime," WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EST) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Ryan Green) FELICITY HUFFMAN, TIMOTHY HUTTON

American Crime (10/9c, ABC): The exceptional second season continues in typically provocative fashion, confronting issues of homophobia, race and justice. Leyland’s headmaster Leslie (Felicity Huffman) ignores legal advice as she orchestrates troubled student Eric’s (Joey Pollari) return to school, although his teammates aren’t quite as welcoming now that they know he’s gay. At public Marshall High, principal Chris (Elvis Nolasco) faces more vocal student protest over his suspension of three Hispanic students. And against her son’s wishes, Anne (Lily Taylor) presses her lawsuit against Leyland, unwilling to settle.

American Idol (8/7c, Fox): Another threshold to be crossed on the way to selecting the 10 finalists for the last time, as 12 of the Top 24 take the stage to sing for their lives. Among the early standouts in this first group: cowgirl Jeneve Rose Mitchell, second-generation Gianna Isabella, quirky MacKenzie Bourg, funky Thomas Stringfellow and dynamic La’Porsha Renae. At this point, it’s anyone’s game, and there’s still time for another breakout future star to emerge.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9/8c, NBC): After the escape of two of the series’ most notorious murderers (Dallas Roberts as Greg Yates and Jefferson Mays as former medical examiner Carl Rudnick), Chicago PD‘s Lindsay (Sophia Bush) and Dawson (Jon Seda) help the SVU team join the hunt. The action continues on Chicago PD (10/9c) in another of Dick Wolf’s popular crossovers.

Inside Wednesday TV: Not sure how he got his nose out of a book long enough to obsess on a favorite show from my own TV past—the great CBS soap Knots Landing—but Brick (Atticus Shaffer) becomes a tyrant when he directs his pals Cindy and Troy to reenact scenes from the classic soap for a school project on ABC’s The Middle (8/7c), in what could be my favorite sitcom subplot ever. … Syfy’s Face Off (9/8c) delivers one of its most fabulously disgusting challenges yet, as teams of two create parasitic aliens bursting out of hosts’ (models’) bodies. Still not as creepy as PuppyMonkeyBaby. … Another stereotype is confronted on ABC’s black-ish (9:30/8:30c), as Dre (Anthony Anderson) suspects a neighbor hasn’t invited them to her pool parties because of the assumption that an African-American family couldn’t possibly know how to swim. Although to be honest, Dre doesn’t. … Pro football player Odell Beckham Jr. guests as himself on CBS’s Code Black(10/9c), to cheerlead a former high-school coach (Beau Bridges) who’s debating necessary surgery. Meagan Good, most recently of Fox’s short-lived Minority Report, begins a recurring role as Dr. Grace Adams, Neal’s (Raza Jaffrey) ex-girlfriend, newly back from a year in Haiti.