One of the funniest and most endearingly neurotic families to arrive on TV in a long while is the creation of BoJack Horseman‘s Raphael Bob-Waksberg, with a visual assist from longtime collaborator Lisa Hanawalt (Tuca & Bertie). The animated series follows the Schwooper siblings—their surname is a mashup of parental units Elliott Cooper (a nebbishy Paul Reiser) and Naomi Schwartz (tart Lisa Edelstein)—from fractious childhood to messy adulthood and parenthood, with vignettes bouncing from the early 1990s to the early 2020s. Get to know Avi (Ben Feldman), Shira (Abbi Jacobson) and Yoshi (Max Greenfield) at any age, and you’ll relate to their hopes, fears and constant annoyances. I needed a good laugh this week, and Long Story Short supplied them in warm, biting abundance. Best news: The series has already been renewed for a second season.

The sprawling sci-fi drama takes a two-year time jump (much like the series itself, last seen in 2023) for its third season, reestablishing a planet shattered but in the process of recovering from a global alien invasion. What the world didn’t see coming was the return from the mothership of war hero Travante Cole (Shamier Anderson), who was presumed dead after he made direct contact with the aliens, now widely considered vanquished. Travante faces two challenges: convincing authorities that he’s who he says he is, despite having little memory of what he witnessed, and shaking them out of their complacency that the war is over, because he senses something bad is coming. More sci-fi drama awaits on the Apple TV+ adaptation of Foundation, where New Terminus faces chaos and destruction.

If car chases and automotive mayhem are your thing, this seriocomic caper is for you. Samara Weaving (Nine Perfect Strangers) is a force behind the wheel as Edie (nicknamed “Eenie Meanie”), a former getaway driver who’s trying to reform. But when her no-good yet adorably bumbling ex-boyfriend John (Karl Glusman) screws up again, putting him $3 million in hock to her former boss (a sly Andy Garcia), she agrees to pull off one last job at a Toledo casino. The stunts make up for the familiarity of the storytelling.

Separated by distance if not by time in this star-crossed romantic fantasy, Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) continues his desperate search for Julia (Hermione Corfield), unaware of her servitude to the craven Lord Lovat (Tony Curran) of Clan Fraser. At the MacKenzie household, Ellen (Harriet Slater) learns the economic stakes of her unwanted betrothal to Malcolm Grant (Jhon Lumsden), while her secret lover Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy) uses Julia as a go-between.

Search for the Truth: The Amanda Knox Story (8/7c, ABC): Amanda Knox is back in the spotlight as an executive producer of a Hulu docudrama (The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox) that began earlier this week, depicting her ordeal after being accused and wrongly convicted in an Italian court of the 2007 murder of her roommate while a college student abroad. She spent years trying to clear her name amid the media circus and online misinformation that followed, and in an exclusive interview, tells her story in her own words. Also interviewed: fellow executive producer Monica Lewinsky, a kindred spirit who has her own horror stories about being at the center of a media firestorm.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• Not So Fast, My Friend: A Lee Corso Special (9/8c, ESPN): In advance of the colorful coach-turned-broadcaster Lee Corso‘s final College GameDay appearance on Aug. 30, an hourlong profile examines his impact on college football as player, coach—including at Indiana during my time as an undergrad—and commentator.
• Islam’s Greatest Stories of Love (9/8c, PBS): Muslim scholar Ariella Gayotto-Hohl embarks on a personal journey to explore the nature of love as reflected in the Muslim cultures of art, architecture, poetry and history in a two-hour special.
• Deb’s House (9:30/8:30c, We TV, streaming on ALLBLK and AMC+): The musical competition returns for a second season, with music mogul Deb Antney inviting 10 vocalists into her house for a vocal boot camp in search of the next R&B superstar.
• The Rainmaker (10/9c, USA Network): Rudy (Milo Callaghan) speaks up in court when his powerful opponent, Leo Drummond (John Slattery), asks for a summary judgment in Dot Black’s (Karen Bryson) wrongful death case. Leo later grills Rudy’s girlfriend, Sarah (Madison Iseman), to get dirt on the upstart: “What we do here is a blood sport.”

ON THE STREAM:

• Dexter: Resurrection (streaming on Paramount+ With Showtime): Who will Dexter’s (Michael C. Hall) “dark passenger” go after next: hale and hearty Al (Eric Stonestreet), the last of Prater’s (Peter Dinklage) serial-killer entourage, or the slumlord (The Sopranos and Blue Bloods’ Steven Schirripa) causing his son Harrison (Jack Alcott) such grief? Wherever he turns, he’d better watch out, because former cop Angel Batista (David Zayas) is tracking his every move.
• The Truth About Jussie Smollett? (streaming on Netflix): A documentary revisits the controversy when Empire actor Jussie Smollett claimed to be the victim of a hate crime in Chicago in 2019 that was later alleged to have been a staged hoax. Smollett and some investigators beg to differ.
• Chief of War (streaming on Apple TV+): After years away, Ka’iana (Jason Momoa) returns to a Hawaii in disarray because of the rift between vengeful new king Keōua (Cliff Curtis) and God of War Kamehameha (Kaina Makua). To earn his way back into the inner circle, Ka’iana participates in a harrowing sledding competition that will have you on the edge of your seat.
• 007: Road to a Million (streaming on Prime Video): Succession‘s Brian Cox is “The Controller,” manipulating the fate of eight pairs of contestants tapping into their inner James Bond in a global reality adventure with a £1 million payday at stake.
• Hope in High Water (streaming on Peacock): Journalist Trymaine Lee reports on New Orleans’ ongoing recovery from Hurricane Katrina, 20 years after the devastating flooding.