‘Conners’ Hits 100, ‘Abbott’s Missing Student, ‘Chucky’s Back, Raptors Rule on ‘Nature’

The Conners

Life is never easy for the Conners, who’ve survived the loss of Roseanne and are now marking the sitcom’s 100^th episode with a frank and darkly funny conversation about death, a subject that threatens to cloud little Beverly Rose’s (Charlotte Sanchez) birthday. While her mom Becky (Lecy Goranson) and acerbic aunt Darlene (Sara Gilbert) sauare off over this mordant issue, Dan (John Goodman) and Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) are rocked when a smash-and-grab gang of thieves ransack the hardware store. They manage to restrain one of the robbers, a young girl who tells them the gang needed supplies “so we could break into the better stores.” Ouch. Few comedies reflect the struggles of working-class America with such heart and barbed humor.

Abbott Elementary

The Emmy-winning comedy also gets real when Gregory (Tyler James Williams) realizes a favorite former student, now in Janine’s (Quinta Brunson) 2^nd-grade class, has been skipping school and might soon be held back. He enlists Janine, at a career crossroads with her job at the school district, for help to get to the bottom of this problem. Elsewhere in the teachers’ lounge, Jacob (Chris Perfetti) is in a snit after realizing his colleagues have been responding to his tonnage of e-mails with AI bots—even formerly tech-averse Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph). Stay tuned afterward to watch cast members Lisa Ann Walter (a Celebrity Jeopardy! champ) and Janelle James play The $100,000 Pyramid (9:30/8:30c).

Chucky

Hail to the demon doll who’s made the White House a bloody abattoir. The possessed plaything returns to finish out Season 3 with four episodes, picking up in the wake of the Halloween mayhem, and things are only going to get worse for President Collins (Devon Sawa). He’s still in the dark that his son Henry (Callum Vinson) is the current keeper of Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif), who’s been making mincemeat of his staff. Chucky’s got his own problems, confronting mortality when he begins showing signs of rapid aging after a botched exorcism.

Nature

If Alfred Hitchcock’s classic The Birds freaked you out, imagine what he could have done if he’d employed the birds of prey featured in this two-part Nature series (concluding next Wednesday) titled Raptors: A Fistful of Daggers. The study of high-flying raptors features such familiar creatures as eagles, hawks, owls and falcons and more obscure species including snake-hunting Brazilian seriemas. The first episode introduces the wide variety of raptors, from African giant eagles to miniature falconets in Borneo, as they use their enhanced senses to hunt and survive harsh winters.

Time

The cathartic final chapter of the harrowing women’s-prison drama offers some hope of redemption for the inmates, but new mom and recovering addict Kelsey (Bella Ramsey) experiences a fearful setback when her dealer boyfriend pays an unwanted visit. Abi (Tamara Lawrence) finally opens up about the tragedy that landed her behind bars, and Orla (Jodie Whittaker) makes another effort to reconnect to her estranged children, with compassion for these broken women the unifying theme.

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• Jeopardy! (syndicated, check local listings): With the Invitational Tournament now history, new players will finally join the game for the first time this season.
• Survivor (8/7c, CBS): The camp reacts to a rogue vote at the last tribal council, with the players exercising balance at the immunity challenge, then balancing loyalty against strategy at another pivotal elimination. Followed by The Amazing Race (9:30/8:30c), with the teams on the lookout in Santiago, Chile, for Marilyn Monroe’s classic 1956 Ford Thunderbird, where their next clue awaits.
• Walker (8/7c, The CW): The great character actress Debra Mooney, who WB fans will remember from Everwood back in the day, guests as a cantankerous grandma who witnesses a crime and is put into protective custody under the care of Walker (Jared Padalecki), Cassie (Ashley Reyes) and Trey (Jeff Pierre).
• The Masked Singer (8/7c, Fox): Two performers will be unmasked in a night saluting the 40^th anniversary of The Transformers, with Optimus Prime and Bumblebee as special guests, delivering clues and acting as backup singers. Then panelist Ken Jeong guests on Animal Control (9/8c) as an expert dog trainer brought on to help with kennel canines but turning the office into a barking mess.
• Hot Ones (9/8c, AXS TV): Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence is the latest A-lister to go head-to-head with the spicy wings of doom in this overheated episode of the talk show. The infamous Da’Bomb hot sauce induces tears and, yes, snot galore. Yikes!

ON THE STREAM:

• Unlocked: A Jail Experiment (streaming on Netflix): An eight-part reality docuseries follows a fascinating social experiment within an Arkansas prison where a sheriff decides to let the inmates run the pod, unlocking the doors and stripping the deputies of authority, with six weeks to prove they can act “more like people and not criminals.”
• What Jennifer Did (streaming on Netflix): In a more classic true-crime vein, a documentary uses interrogation footage as part of the narrative in its depiction of an apparent home invasion targeting a Vietnamese immigrant family in Canada, with the daughter as the only witness—until she also becomes a suspect.
• Hapless (streaming on Peacock): If the end of Curb Your Enthusiasm has you pining for more cringe comedy, consider this British import about a, yes, hapless freelance journalist (Tim Downie) working for the U.K.’s “fourth biggest Jewish publication.”
• Tryouts (streaming on ESPN+): A seven-part series profiles people putting their skills on the line in hopes of making the cut in grueling auditions or competitions. The opener features candidates showing they have the physical and mental stamina, and the running and swimming prowess, to make it as one of the Long Beach, California Lifeguards.
• The Challenge: All Stars (streaming on Paramount+): The setting: Cape Town, South Africa, where 24 Challenge All-Stars reunite to play for $300,000.