Week’s top-10 for Oct. 12: It’s a great time for dramas, new and returning

1) “The Lowdown” season-openers, 9 p,m, and 10:11-11:21 p.m. Wednesday, FX. Can Lee (Ethan Hawke, shown here) handle success? Mostly, no. He makes a mess of his award-acceptance speech; we also meet a new character (Tommy Lee Jones), capable of disrupting his world. Two great actors collide, in a show that’s sometimes overwrought, but mostly compelling.

2) “Grey’s Anatomy” season-opener,” 10 p.m. Thursday, ABC. Last season ended with a bridge collapse and a flurry: Owen and Teddy decided to move to London together … Blue was fired … and Meredith proposed to Nick. Now comes another disaster (at the airport) and new people, led by James Wolk, a gifted actor from “Mad Men,” “Ordinary Joe” and more.

3) “Cupertino,” 10 p.m. Thursday, CBS. Last week’s debut was terrific, but this episode adds the show’s best (and most enigmatic) character. His name is Bo and the less you know about him in advance, the better. He’ll pop up a lot in future episodes, which also have other stories to tell. This one is a dandy: Vik, a tech guy, faces a scowling suitcoat row.

4) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” season-finale, 9 p.m. today, FX. There may be a slasher in Dee’s neighborhood; the guys refuse to help, but have their own sleepover. Then things build wildly — and hilariously — on both fronts. That launches FX’s big week, with “The Drop” (9 p.m. Tuesday), “The Lowdown” and “American Horror Story” (9 Thursday).

5) Baseball. It’s time to see who will be in the World Series, starting Oct. 23. Today has both a National League game (Fox or Fox Sports 1) and American League game (TBS, TruTV and HBO Max). Then the National is Wednesday, Thursday and (if needed) Friday, Sunday and Oct. 19; American is Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and, if needed, Saturday and Oct. 19-20.

6) “NCIS: Origins,” 10 p.m. Tuesday, CBS. Fans have been waiting for Gibbs (Mark Harmon) to return to civilization. Now he does, to ask a favor of Woody (Bobby Moynihan). Then we’re back to the “Origins” era, 34 years ago, as people try to save Woody from a murder rap. Playing Casey Bloom is Sean Harmon, who has played younger versions of his dad.

7) “Crystal Lake,” Thursday, Peacock. Amid the old, Halloween-type movies, here’s something new — a prequel to “Friday the 13th,” with great work from Linda Cardellini. All eight episodes arrive Thursday — the same day as the new season of Netflix’s “The Diplomat.” A day earlier, “VisionQuest” begins, wrapping a Disney+ trilogy that began with “WandaVision.”

8) “9-1-1” season-opener, 8 p.m. Thursday, ABC. It’s sinkhole season on TV. Last Friday, one swallowed people and cars on CBS’ “Fire Country”; now a bigger one takes Los Angeles neighborhoods and triggers a volcano. That’s followed by the “9-1-1: Nashville” opener: “Murder hornets” are believed to be eradicated in the U.S., but here they overwhelm a museum.

9) “Maigret” season-opener, 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS. One of TV’s best mystery shows starts the first of three two-parters. It’s a smart, intense hour that ends with a jolt. That’s followed by the strong start of a follow-up to last year’s true-crime tale, “The Gold.” Tom Cullen, who was great in a heroic role in “Trespasses,” is even better here as a scheming villain.

10) ALSO: At 10 p.m. today, PBS has a profile of jazz great Paquito D’Rivera. Rippling with great music, it tells of a compelling life, turned sideways by his defection from Cuba to the U.S. And at 10 Friday, the USA Network starts the second “Rainmaker” season. The law firm is still a ragged underdog, but Rudy has become a star.