If you can imagine “The Big Lebowski” remade as tragedy, you’re getting close to the spirit of “Lodge 49” (10:05 p.m., AMC, TV-14). This hard-to-categorize series combines off-beat and downbeat humor with a long meditation on the evaporation of the American dream in blue-collar Long Beach, California.
Wyatt Russell stars as “Dud,” an aptly named 30-something beach bum whose career as a surfer ended with a snakebite in Central America, resulting in a wound that will not heal. Just as his name is one letter short of Jeff Bridge’s legendary Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski, he lacks Lebowski’s stoner audacity.
As “Lodge 49” begins, Dud appears licked by a life that has just barely begun. He and his twin sister, Liz (Sonya Cassidy), saw their relatively comfortable existence vanish after the sudden death of their father and the discovery that their family home had been mortgaged to the hilt. Dud is frequently seen haunting his old neighborhood, much to the outrage of the current owners, who bought the place in a foreclosure sale.
This distinction alone points to how far we’ve come, or sunk, since the 1998 premiere of “The Big Lebowski.” It was never entirely clear how the Dude supported himself, but you knew he didn’t depend on his parents for either income or self-esteem.
The show’s title refers to a secret society or fraternal organization that Dud stumbles upon after finding a member’s ring on the beach. He’s inducted into the lodge by Ernie (Brent Jennings), a plumbing supply salesman with gambling debts and loan shark problems, not to mention the hots for another lodge member’s main squeeze (Jocelyn Towne).
The lodge’s atmosphere of fraternity and half-baked mysticism awakens Dud’s curiosity. And its older members seem charmed by the young man’s affirmation of their fading hangout and its arcane lore.
Created by author Jim Gavin and produced by Paul Giamatti, “Lodge 49” touches on any number of contemporary themes, from the decline of the middle class to the disappearance of social organizations and places where people can gather unrelated to family, work or consumerism.
Too much of the series’ message and metaphor is baked into the dialogue. The characters seem too aware and ready to discuss their place on the economic food chain.
Despite his newfound zeal for the lodge, Dud is a less-than-inspiring central character, a man too willing to sleep on his sister’s couch and hang out at donut shop to be entirely interesting. The lodge members add color to this bleak picture but not enough to make “Lodge 49” appointment viewing.
“Lodge 49” follows the fourth season premiere of “Better Call Saul” (9 p.m., AMC, TV-14). Stefan Kapicic joins the cast.
— The documentary “Sugar Town” (8 p.m., ID, TV-14) explores the death of a young black man, shot to death while handcuffed inside a police car in New Iberia, Louisiana.
— Acorn begins streaming the police drama “No Offence,” featuring three strident and opinionated female detectives. Set in Manchester, it is produced by the creators of the original British version of “Shameless.”
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— The top 10 perform on a two-hour helping of “So You Think You Can Dance” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).
— Thorns and petals mix on the live three-hour season finale of “The Bachelorette” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— Darius challenges ReSyst on “Salvation” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
— Bioterror strikes on “Elementary” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
— The “POV” documentary “Still Tomorrow” (10 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) profiles a rural Chinese poet’s rise to sudden fame after her book becomes a best seller.
CULT CHOICE
A therapist (Audrey Totter) aids a troubled veteran (Robert Taylor) found next to his dead wife’s body in the 1947 thriller “High Wall” (10 p.m., TCM).
SERIES NOTES
Cord cutters on “Mom” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … New obstacles arise on “American Ninja Warrior (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … Illusionists audition on “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG) … Holiday vignettes on “Life in Pieces” (8:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG).
On two helpings of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” (CW, TV-14), Jeff Davis (9 p.m.) Charles Esten (9:30 p.m., r) … “Dateline” (10 p.m., NBC).
LATE NIGHT
Stacey Abrams sits down on “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” (11 p.m., Comedy Central) … Amanda Peet, Daniel Cormier, Steve Cropper and Benjamin Booker appear on “Conan” (11 p.m., TBS, r) … Chris Hayes, Rob Corddry and Regina Spektor visit “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Glenn Close, Finn Wolfhard and Lauv on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC).
Lester Holt, Alicia Silverstone, Bryce Vine and Joey Castillo visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Keanu Reeves, Peter Stormare and LANY appear on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
(Kevin McDonough can be reached at [email protected].)
