‘Abbott’s Halloween Party, ‘Brothers’ Makes News, Martha Plimpton on ‘The Lowdown,’ ‘Fire’ Meets FBI

Abbott Elementary

This is a Halloween party fans won’t want to miss. Ava (Janelle James) is none too pleased when the staff of her elementary school shows up at her “exclusive” Halloween warehouse bash, thanks to boyfriend O’Shon’s (Matthew Law) loose lips. “Where’s the sexy? Where’s the intrigue?” she laments as she watches her dorky costumed co-workers at play. But maybe she should be paying a little more attention to who’s not there — which would be Gregory (Tyler James Williams), who’s on a secret personal mission. Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones) makes a memorable guest appearance during a night no one’s likely to forget soon.

Brothers

“I live for drama,” crows TV newsman Brian Williams while being driven through Austin to interview Matthew McConaughey, who’s planning to announce his candidacy for Texas governor in this wacky meta-sitcom. What Brian doesn’t realize is that he’s been waylaid by Matthew and Woody Harrelson‘s kids, a delay tactic concocted by Woody after Matthew is accidentally infected with pinkeye. (It’s Woody’s fault, as usual.) The farce doesn’t stop there, but the damage to their bromance could be significant. Dax Shepard (as himself) and the great character actress Caroline Aaron (Ghosts, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) guest-star in the penultimate episode.

The Lowdown

Martha Plimpton, coming off a memorable supporting role in Netflix‘s East of Eden, struts into this whimsical noir caper as a rural Oklahoma county’s formidable Sheriff Thorne. She’s prickly indeed when confronted with “busybody” citizen journalist Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke), who crashes a 4H fair to get answers, though maybe he should have avoided swigging a jar of raw milk first. In a busy episode, Lee’s public-defender partner, Ginger (Betty Gilpin), follows another lead, while his chameleon dad, Frog (Tommy Lee Jones), attends an auction of rare artifacts among the state’s elite.

Chicago Fire

Heroic Capt. Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) has come to many a rescue over the years. This makes him the logical choice for the FBI to recruit for a special mission, helping investigate an arson that was staged to mask the kidnapping of a judge’s daughter. This escapade is flanked by new episodes of Chicago Med (8/7c) and Chicago P.D. (10/9c).

Ali G: Who Iz I?

After an extremely limited release in theaters last weekend, Sacha Baron Cohen‘s polarizing resurrection of his faux rapper character Ali G makes its streaming debut. A satirical sequel of sorts to his 2002 Ali G Indahouse film, Cohen’s directorial debut finds a broke Ali G trying to make it again in L.A. with his pregnant girlfriend Julie (now played by Morgana Robinson) and running afoul of political extremism. Cohen also appears in deep disguise as a pompous professor, Dr. Nira Cain-N’Degeocello, and as Mossad Col. Erran Morad.

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• World Series (8 pm/ET, Fox): The Tampa Bay Rays keep their hopes alive in Game 5 against the Milwaukee Brewers, one win away from the championship.
• Scrubs (8/7c, ABC): It’s Halloween at Sacred Heart, and J.D. (Zach Braff) helps a former co-worker with a difficult patient while Elliot (Sarah Chalke) drums up support for her clinic.
• Survivor (8/7c, CBS): The fallout from the last tribal council creates division within the Dina Tribe. Followed by The Amazing Race (9:30/8:30c), with more challenges facing the teams as they race through Albania.
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (9/8c, ABC): Reality-star sisters Sarah Jane Nader and Brooks Nader occupy the hot seat, followed by Saturday Night Live‘s “Weekend Update” tag team Colin Jost and Michael Che. Followed by a new episode of Shark Tank (10/9c).
• Ghost Adventures (10/9c, Discovery Channel): Ahead of the spookiest night of the year, the paranormal investigators visit Cedar City, Utah, the site of a frontier massacre that may be fueling unnatural events today.
• South Park (10/9c, Comedy Central): Where’s the beef? In South America (the show’s current rebranding), of course. Followed by Mike Judge’s Beavis & Butt-head (10:30/9:30c), where the idiots get lost in the woods and create their own civilization.

ON THE STREAM:

• Hanging by a Wire (streaming on Paramount+): A real-life cliffhanger depicts the nail-biting ordeal when eight passengers, including six children, are trapped nearly 1000 feet above a Himalayan ravine when their cable car is left dangling after two of the three cables snapped.
• Minions & Monsters (streaming on Peacock): The latest film in the blockbuster animated franchise makes its streaming debut.
• Make Me a Match (streaming on epis): Reality stars appear alongside actors in a 60-episode romantic dramedy for the mobile-first vertical streaming app. The series stars Hayley Sheen as an elite matchmaker who develops feelings for the widowed husband of her late best friend, whom she’s promised to help find love again.