‘Shrinking’ Returns, Travis Kelce Hosts ‘Celebrity,’ An ‘Elementary’ Outbreak, Team Players

Shrinking

With an expert blend of humor and poignant emotion, the comedy about therapists in need of therapy themselves returns for a strong second season. The sad widower Jimmy Laird (a heart-on-his-sleeve Jason Segel) has a crisis of professional conscience after one of his clients (Saturday Night Live’s Heidi Gardner) goes to jail, and his curmudgeonly boss Paul (the hilarious Harrison Ford) isn’t much help. As he reflects: “If my patients don’t wind up OK, I’ll still be fine. You? Not so much.” Paul is also critical of Jimmy opening his home to Sean (Luke Tennie), a patient with combat-related PTSD issues who’s operating a food truck with snarky neighbor Liz (Christa Miller). Emmy-nominated Jessica Williams is a delight as Gaby, Jimmy’s co-worker and current bedmate, with Ted McGinley bringing the quirky warmth as Liz’s extremely indulgent husband, Derek. Shrinking is one of the year’s finest comedies, created by Ted Lasso’s Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, the latter appearing in a significant cameo role. The season opens with two episodes, the rest dropping weekly.

Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?

When he’s not on the gridiron or squiring superstar Taylor Swift, NFL Super Bowl champ Travis Kelce is quickly becoming the sport’s most ubiquitous entertainment figure since the Manning brothers. Currently appearing in Ryan Murphy’s Grotesquerie, Kelce next tackles the role of game-show host in a whimsical twist on the Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? format. The questions are still on an elementary-school level, but instead of whiz kids helping out the contestants, celebrities (many of the stand-up comedy variety) sit behind desks to offer some jokey help. Kelce is effortlessly charismatic, but even he can’t enliven a sluggish game that plays like a stupider version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (with a potential $100,000 payout for anyone who dares to answer a 6th-grade level question).

Abbott Elementary

It’s “an elementary school’s worst enemy,” says Janine (Quinta Brunson) when a student presents signs of ringworm, triggering a school-wide panic. Veteran kindergarten teacher Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph), who’s been exposed to everything over the years, believes she’s immune, but everyone else is agitated, especially neat freak Gregory (Tyler James Williams). “I guess it’s every man, woman and flawless principal for themselves,” announces Ava (Janelle James), who characteristically is styling her version of a Hazmat suit.

Taking One for the Team

NBA veteran Iman Shumpert, Season 30 winner of Dancing With the Stars, hosts a light-hearted seven-part docuseries from Andscape that encourages sports stars and other celebrities (including Power Book III: Raising Kanan’s Mekai Curtis) to share stories about the sacrifices they make and the craziness they endure on and off the job as team players. “NFL is not for the faint of heart,” admits Atlanta Falcons linebacker Matthew Judon. The series uses animation to illustrate antics including rookie-year hazing and mortifying fumbles of all sorts.

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• The Golden Bachelorette (8/7c, ABC): With only seven suitors remaining, and hometown visits looming, Joan narrows the field after a helicopter ride and a yacht date.
• The Masked Singer (8/7c, Fox): Group B joins the goofy competition on “Sports Night,” with former contestants Joel McHale and Nikki Glaser appearing as guest announcers.
• Chicago Fire (9/8c, NBC): Paramedic Violet (Hanako Greensmith) puts her job on the line during a risky emergency childbirth delivery. (It will have to go pretty far to top the stalled-elevator delivery on this week’s 9-1-1: Lone Star.) Preceded by Chicago Med (8/7c), where a familiar face shows up at the E.D., and followed by Chicago P.D. (10/9c), with Voight (Jason Beghe) confronting demons of the past when Assistant State Attorney Chapman (Sara Bues) helps investigate a case linked to unsolved rapes the detective worked on 15 years ago.
• Racers Roundtable (10/9c, MAVTV): Championship drivers Danny Sullivan and Tony Stewart host a weekly conversation with fellow racers. First guests: NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kyle Busch and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr., dishing about growing up in racing families.
• Ancient Apocalypse: The Americas (streaming on Netflix): Keanu Reeves joins Graham Hancock in his search for lost civilizations in the docuseries’ second season.
• Agatha All Along (streaming on Disney+): Now that Teen’s (Joe Locke) true identity has been revealed, it’s time for some backstory.