1) “United States of Al” debut, 8:30 p.m., CBS. Chuck Lorre keeps preserving a fading art – comedies shot with multiple cameras, in front of an audience (when COVID allows). This one lacks the large laughs of his “Big Bang Theory” and “Mom,” but has lots of little ones, plus likable characters. Riley, a Marine, had Amalwir (“Al”) as his Afghan translator, friend and sometimes protector. Now Al reaches the U.S.; culture shocks begin for him and for Riley and his dad, sister and estranged wife (all shown here with Al).
2) More comedy, CBS. Now it’s an all-Lorre block (8-10 p.m.), which is a good thing. “Al” is between new episodes of “Young Sheldon” at 8 p.m. and “Mom” at 9. (In the latter, Jill is in a messy new relationship; Steve Valentine returns as Rod, a one-hit rock star, and Bob Odenkirk plays Hank.) “B Positive” moves to 9:30, where Gina (the delightful Annaleigh Ashford) has a challenge – just three days to teach a giant dog some tricks, before the owner returns from overseas.
3) “The Moodys” season-opener, 9 and 9:30 p.m., Fox. This arrived last December as an undernoticed gem, a six-part comedy mini-series with Sean and Ann (Denis Leary and Elizabeth Perkins) hosting their scattered kids at Christmastime. Now the kids have moved back home, at least temporarily; the result is a smart and subtle show about people we’ll enjoy knowing.
4) “Law & Order: Organized Crime” debut, 10 p.m., NBC. A decade ago, Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) abruptly left “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” after a dozen years. Now, suddenly, he’s back. He’s still a police detective, now in a unit that focuses on organized crime. In the “SVU” episode (9 p.m. Thursday), he comes across his old colleague Benson (Mariska Hargitay). They’re working the same case, which then sprawls into his show, taking up much of its first season.
5) ALSO: After a truncated season last year, baseball is back. Here’s opening day for everyone, including four games on ESPN – Bluejays-Yankees, 1:05 p.m. ET; Dodgers-Rockies, 4:10; Mets-Nationals, 7:09; and Astros-A’s, 10:07. Two other shows open their seasons: “Manifest” (8 p.m., NBC) has an intriguing, sci-fi concept, flatly written and acted. “Wipeout” (9 p.m., TBS, rerunning at 10 and 11:30) is the goofy competition show that used to be a summer success on ABC.