1) “Abbott Elementary,” 9 p.m., ABC. “Abbott” is off to a strong start this season, with Janine working in a school-district job. Now she tries – reluctantly – to train a substitute for her classroom work; also at Abbott (shown here), the staff tries to update the drug policy, after a student is caught smoking. That’s in a mostly comedy night, from “Conners” (Bev and Jackie in Chicago) to “Judge Steve Harvey (a clown goes rogue).
2) “Wild Cards,” 8 p.m., CW. This mini-network used to be overrun with sci-fi and supernatural tales. That changed with the new owners, but now this clever show visits the genre: Someone is stalking a vampire TV series; our duo – a cop, assigned to work with a gorgeous scam artist – visits the show’ s set.
3) “Dolly’s Pet Gala,” 9-11 p.m., CBS. A week before “Survivor” returns, CBS has an offbeat special. It includes dogs, Dolly Parton songs (performed by Lainey Wilson, Chris Jansen, Carly Pearce, Parton and KC, of the Sunshine Band), doggy fashions (with Kelly Osbourne and Rachel Smith on the runway), and the pets of Drew Barrymore, Kristen Bell, Jim Nantz, Neil Patrick Harris and more.
4) “Nova,” 9 p.m., PBS. For 20 years, Danish biologist Eske Willersley has insisted we can use DNA to trace deep into the Earth’s past. Others have disputed that, saying DNA is too fragile. But in frozen Greenland, he found what this intriguing hour says are genetic traces of a lush forest system, more than two million years ago.
5) “Constellation” opener, Apple TV+. For the second straight Wednesday, Apple debuts the first three episodes of an ambitious series. Last week it was in 1940s France for “The New Look”; now it jumps between action in outer space and horror at home.
— Mike Hughes, TV America