‘Abbott’ Finale, Orangutan, Indian Tigers and More Earth Day TV, ‘Criminal Record’ on Apple TV

Abbott Elementary

“No such thing as privacy in a public school,” Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) helpfully reminds the staff in the first of two season-ending episodes airing back-to-back. Currently estranged lovebirds Janine (Quinta Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) are all too aware of this truism as their teaching colleagues get in their personal business while they sort out their future with this year’s Ava Fest in the background. In the Season 5 finale at 8:30/7:30c, the teachers and Principal Ava (Janelle James) head to Miami for a conference, but it’s not all fun in the sun when rumors begin to swirl about a new superintendent planning to shut down multiple schools in the Philadelphia district. And they thought relocating to a mall was bad!

Orangutan

The Disneynature unit expects you will fall in love with Indah, an expressive young orangutan from the rainforests of Southeast Asia who stars in a nature documentary airing on Earth Day. The film, directed by Mark Linfield and narrated by Frozen‘s Josh Gad, follows Indah as she leaves the next and experiences the dangers and wonders of life on her own.

More Earth Day TV highlights include the Season 44 finale of Nature (8/7c, PBS), which features the “Legendary Tigers of India,” as captured over 50 years in the archive of the late photographer/filmmaker Valmik Thapar, who devoted his life to the magnificent animals protected in Ranthambore National Park. Another PBS special, Wilding (10/9c), depicts the efforts of a British couple to overhaul their chemically polluted farmland and return it and its wildlife to its glorious natural state.

Streaming highlights include the premiere of Zach Galifianakis‘ whimsical yet earnest This Is a Gardening Show (streaming on Netflix) and the award-winning documentary We Are Guardians (streaming on Tubi), about Indigenous nature warriors risking their lives to protect the Brazilian Amazon from deforestation and other environmental threats.

Criminal Record

Former Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi and The Good Wife‘s Cush Jumbo return as uneasy allies with serious trust issues in a second season of the gritty British crime drama. Jumbo is DS June Lenker, reintroduced while overseeing a tense political protest that spins out of control, leaving a young man dead, deliberately stabbed. Her investigation draws her back into the murky web of the ethically shady DCI Daniel Hegarty (Capaldi), now in the Intelligence department, who takes a special interest in one of June’s prime suspects. It only gets more complicated from there.

Lainey Wilson: Keepin’ Country Cool

A colorfully unfiltered documentary charts the rise of country music star Lainey Wilson, the two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year who spent more than a decade working for her so-called overnight success. “I’m the one you didn’t see coming,” she says, as the film follows her on and offstage in what has become a whirlwind career.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles

Single mom Margo (Elle Fanning) has found her calling as an OnlyFans provocateur — hey, it’s almost a living — in this heartfelt comedy series. The next step: collaborating with more established influencers and convincing her skeptical dad, retired pro wrestler Jinx (Nick Offerman), that this life isn’t beneath her. It takes a trip to a fan convention, where Jinx assumes his old persona and reunites with his former partner, Lace (a winning Nicole Kidman) — who’s also a lawyer — to remind him that “We’re all just putting on a show.” And it’s a really good show.

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• Survivor (8/7c, CBS): An alliance resets after losing two key members at Tribal Council, and a surprise challenger appears during the competition for immunity.
• Chicago Med (8/7c, NBC): The hospital rallies around a family rushed in after a devastating car accident. Followed by Chicago Fire (9/8c), with paramedics Novak (Jocelyn Hudon) and Violet (Hanako Greensmith) trapped with a pregnant patient by a gunman; and Chicago P.D. (10/9c), where the Intelligence Unit crashes a deadly house party.
• MasterChef: Global Gauntlet (8/7c, Fox): The auditions continue with home chefs showing their prowess with Asia-Pacific cuisine.
• The Greatest Average American (9/8c, ABC): Host Nate Bargatze wrangles shopping carts during the game show’s season finale. Followed by the season finale of Shark Tank (10/9c), which provides an update on Pete Davidson‘s sock company.
• Nova (9/8c, PBS): Scientists explore the dangerous weather phenomenon known as “rain bombs,” killer thunderstorms that seemingly appear out of nowhere.
• America’s Culinary Cup (9:30/8:30c, CBS): Consistency is the challenge for the remaining chefs in a team effort to create 30 identical fish dishes.

ON THE STREAM:

• Killing Grounds: The Gilgo Beach Murders (streaming on Prime Video): A four-part true-crime docuseries provides context and updates to the murders of women in Gilgo Beach, New York, a case that took a turn when prime suspect Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty earlier this month to multiple killings.
• Hulk Hogan: Real American (streaming on Netflix): A four-part docuseries profiles the colorful pro wrestler—real name Terry Bollea—who passed away last July at 71.
• SisterS (streaming on Acorn TV and AMC+): The Irish Canadian dramedy, starring Barry‘s Sarah Goldberg and Susan Stanley as estranged siblings, returns for a second season, available for binge-watching with episodes airing weekly (11/10c) on IFC TV.