1) “Ted Lasso” (shown heere) season-opener, Apple TV+. Ted’s success coaching English soccer has been surprising … especially for an American football guy who knew nothing about soccer. Now that leads to a new problem: The team has been promoted to the top league, where it’s predicted to finish last; the owner is furious about the prospect of losing to her ex-husband’s team. The result skillfully mixes humor and drama, adding warmth as Ted’s son ends his summer visit.
2) True Lies,” 10 p.m., CBS. Stepping into her husband’s world, Helen is quite good at it. She hasn’t mastered his spy skills yet, but she’s a good people person. That helps with this assignment: Befriend a couple at a casino and nudge the guy (an arms-buyer) into losing a fortune. As usual, this seems way too easy, but is entertaining along the way.
3) “Abbott Elementary,” 9 p.m., ABC. Last week’s fun episode ended with a jolt: The charter-school chain is making its move to take over Abbott. Now Ava plans a festival, to stir up parents’ opposition. The charter-chain head (Leslie Odom Jr.) returns, hoping to derail the event.
4) “Chicago P.D,,” 10 p,m., NBC. The team has been scrambling to build the case against Sean O’Neal, the sex trafficker whose late father was the Chicago police chief. Now new evidence surfaces. But as Hailey and others secretly work on it, they find that he’s more elusive and dangerous than expected.
5) ALSO: It’s the second-night of “play-in” games, filling the final spots in the college basketball tournament; that’s 6:30 and 9 p.m. on TruTV … The “Gotham Knights” opener – a good one – reruns at 9 p.m. on CW … And for sheer visual beauty, two movies stand out: “The Black Stallion” (1979) is 8 p.m. ET on Turner Classic Movies; “Don’t Worry Darling” (2022) is 8:50 p.m. on HBO.