New Season of ‘The Lowdown,’ Sesame Street on Safari, Marvel’s ‘VisionQuest,’ ‘Brothers’ Valentine Mayhem

The Lowdown

Even when he’s winning, the ramshackle citizen journalist and self-described “truthstorian” Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke, endearing and exasperating) comes off like a bit of a loser. Season 2 of the rollicking Tulsa-set noir opens with Lee accepting a journalism award in his usual combative fashion and (no surprise) altered state. His crusader antenna begins to tingle when he makes the acquaintance of Ginger (the terrific Betty Gilpin), a fetching public defender who lets slip that she thinks she’s being followed. Before she (and he) knows it, Lee is pursuing a conspiracy within the prison system that has led to the disappearance of one of her clients. Complicating Lee’s life further: the unwelcome surprise reappearance after 17 years of his huckster dad, Lee Senior. The old codger is played by Tommy Lee Jones, and that enough is reason to tune in as the series returns with back-to-back episodes.

Nature

The “awws” are deafening when PBS’ signature nature series kicks off its milestone 45th season by leaning into the adorable in a crossover with public TV’s most enduring children’s program, Sesame Street. Breakout Muppet star Elmo and the flighty Abby Cadabby travel to Africa, with human pal Nina (Suki Lopez) in tow, to visit the orphaned elephant they adopted online in the animal’s natural habitat at Kenya’s Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Along the way, they’ll learn about regional customs and the bounty of wildlife, including lions, zebras, hippos, and Big Bird’s favorite, the giraffe.

VisionQuest

Having dropped its first two episodes a day ahead of its original schedule, Marvel fans can now dig into the latest brain-teasing chapter in the tangled AI history of fan-favorite superhero Vision (Paul Bettany). In a continuation of a trilogy that began with the fabulous WandaVision, the existentially challenged Vision is now on his own, hiding in his elaborate mind space with several AI helpmates and the nagging mockery of Ultron (James Spader, seen in the almost-flesh), as the sensitive synthezoid seeks to understand how to be human again while trying to find new purpose and reclaim his soul. It’s all very trippy and becomes even more so when Vision is forced back out into the real world after learning a bounty hunter (scene-stealing Todd Stashwick) is tracking him, using his speedster son Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica), who’s also having quite the identity crisis, as bait.

Brothers

It’s a situation as old as farce itself: husbands chagrined to realize it’s Valentine’s Day and they didn’t provide for their beloved spouses. Blinded by their bromance, Matthew (McConaughey) and Woody (Harrelson) scramble to make amends to their respective (fictional) wives, Val (Natalie Martinez) and Joy (Brittany Ishibashi), only making matters worse. When the women decide it’s time for payback, things really spiral out of control. One saving Valentine’s grace: Matthew’s sweet son Wyatt (Nolan Almeida) decides it’s time to act on his crush for Woody’s daughter Kai (Oona Yaffe), though not without some complications of their own.

Abbott Elementary

As Abbott’s newly promoted assistant principal, Gregory (Tyler James Williams) has his hands full, juggling his administrative and classroom duties. (Turns out he mistakenly hired a deepfake AI as his teaching replacement, but he insists he can do it all.) While Ava (Janelle James) stands by and waits for the meltdown, Gregory tries to keep his students in line while fielding complaints from an unruly staff during contentious “check-in” meetings. Naturally, his friend group, including girlfriend Janine (Quinta Brunson), expects special treatment. When they’re not too busy glued to General Hospital in the teachers’ lounge.

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• Chicago Med (8/7c, NBC): The emergency doctors treat seriously injured subway surfers. Followed by new episodes of Chicago Fire (9/8c) and Chicago P.D. (10/9c), which says goodbye to original cast member LaRoyce Hawkins when Atwater reaches a major personal turning point.
• Scrubs (8/7c, ABC): J.D. (Zach Braff) needs to look past his bromance with Turk (Donald Faison) to deliver a reality check to the overworked surgeon after he makes a costly mistake.
• Survivor (8/7c, CBS): As often happens, one tribe is hurting while the other is living large — until Jeff Probst shows up to shake things up with a surprise summoning. Followed by The Amazing Race (9:30/8:30c), where teams get lost in the labyrinth of Marrakesh’s Old Town Medina.
• Nova (9/8c, PBS): A five-part series on Evolution opens with a study of “Brain Power,” focusing on how the dolphin became wired for complex thought over billions of years.
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (9/8c, ABC): Broadway’s Tony-winning Billy Porter (Kinky Boots) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton) sit in the hot seat, followed by Nobody Wants This co-stars Timothy Simons and Jackie Tohn. On Shark Tank (10/9c), multi-hyphenate Mindy Kaling makes her debut as a guest Shark.
• Untold Stories of the E.R. (9/8c, TLC): The new season of the first-person medical docuseries opens with an account of a flight physician and injured boy stranded during a storm at a small hospital where only a retired surgeon is on hand to help.
• The Ark (10/9c, Syfy): The sci-fi drama’s third season ends with Capt. Sharon Garnet (Christie Burke) off on a rescue mission while Homebase deals with an existential threat.
• South Park (10/9c, Comedy Central): The rebranded South America stages an aura battle, with Kyle helping coach his little brother.
• Ghost Adventures (10/9c, Discovery Channel): Zak Bagans and his paranormal crew explore a California estate haunted by spectral nuns.
• Secrets of the Dead (10/9c, PBS): The history series opens a new season by exploring the excavation of an ancient city in Zimbabwe.
• Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head (10:30/9:30c, Comedy Central): The rebooted comedy returns for a fourth season with back-to-back episodes in which the middle-aged version of the non-dynamic duo gets hired as TSA agents, and in their younger days use a bulletproof vest as a way to impress the girls. Not.

ON THE STREAM:

• Slow Horses (streaming on Apple TV): The spy drama’s suspenseful penultimate episode is a race against time as River (Jack Lowden) goes in pursuit to save Sid (Olivia Cooke) from her assassin kidnappers, despite his boss Jackson Lamb’s (Gary Oldman) reminder: “She died the last time she was with you, didn’t she?” Oh yeah, that. Also on Apple TV: a new episode of the fantastical British comedy Small Prophets.
• Love Is Blind (streaming on Netflix): The sight-unseen dating series moves to Boston for Season 11, opening with five episodes and continuing weekly through Nov. 4.
• Helluva Boss (streaming on Prime Video): The adult animated comedy about an assassination squad that’s based Way Down Under returns for a third season.
• Houdini: Back from the Dead (streaming on Fox Nation): AI imagery brings the famed escape artist and illusionist Harry Houdini back to life on the 100th anniversary of his death on Oct. 31, 1926.