Money changes everything. And can ruin a lot as well — lives, whole industries and art forms among them. “Loot” returns for a second season on Apple TV+, a streaming service underwritten by a tech company that made news some years back when it became the first business valued at more than a trillion dollars. It was less of a big deal when it reached the $2 trillion mark, and it’s now well on its way to three.
Sums of that magnitude can distort reality. And that’s the point of “Loot,” a social satire starring Maya Rudolph as Molly Novak, the ex-wife of a tech tycoon (Adam Scott) caught sleeping with a subordinate half his age.
Molly decides to give away her fortune to help a world she barely understands and ends up looking ridiculous in the process. Over and over again. That’s the basic point of the show.
Before we lived in a world of infinite wealth and a TV industry where nobody seems to know or care how many people are actually watching, a show like “Loot,” without enough story for as much as a second episode, would not get a second season.
In an earlier age, it also might have occurred to the writers and creators that a character as dim as Molly might not be able to carry the load as a comic lead and might be better used as a secondary character or a less pivotal figure trotted out for occasional laughs. Call me old-fashioned, but nobody would have watched “Gilligan’s Island” if it was all about “the millionaire and his wife.”
Look for Michaela Jae Rodriguez from “Pose” as Molly’s assistant, Sofia, a woman who appears to be the only one on the ball and the only one invested in her philosophy of bettering the world.
Rudolph has a great talent for absurdist humor, but she is also capable of creating three-dimensional characters, as she did with some poignance in the under-appreciated Prime Video fantasy “Forever” some years back.
Rudolph was recently on the receiving end of an elaborate joke. A faked poster for a “Golden Girls” reboot starring Rudolph, Tina Fey, Lisa Kudrow and Amy Poehler made the rounds on social media and became the subject of real dread and anticipation.
This may have been a mere practical joke, but it touched contemporary fears of deepfakes and played into television fans’ weariness of reboots and corporate unoriginality. People bought into the “Golden Girls” sendup precisely because it seemed ridiculous enough to be likely.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Cult members require treatment on “Chicago Med” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— “NOVA” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) anticipates next week’s big penumbra on “Great American Eclipse” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings).
— A woman worries about being the last of her friends to walk down the aisle in the 2022 romance “The Wedding Veil Legacy” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— A recording studio catches fire on “Chicago Fire” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— A futurist showcases various visions for a better and more sustainable tomorrow on “A Brief History of the Future” (9 p.m., PBS, check local listings).
— “The Amazing Race” (9:30 p.m., CBS, TV-14) paraglides into Medellin.
— Blown cover on “Chicago P.D.” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— “American Horror Story: Delicate” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA) returns for the second half of its season.
— “Take My Tumor” (10 p.m., TLC) showcases a woman suffering from neurofibromatosis, an affliction that has left her covered with more than a thousand growths.
CULT CHOICE
A scheming Oldsmobile dealer (William H. Macy) hatches a kidnapping plot that quickly unravels in the 1996 dark comedy “Fargo” (8 p.m., Cinemax), directed by the Coen Brothers and starring Francis McDormand in an Oscar-winning role.
SERIES NOTES
“Survivor” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … “The Masked Singer” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … A trip to Chicago on “The Conners” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … A misadventure in babysitting on “Not Dead Yet” (8:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Shred’s jealousy becomes an issue on “Animal Control” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Janine finds funding for a librarian on “Abbott Elementary” (9 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … A laid-off Peter becomes very lazy on “Family Guy” (9:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … “$100,000 Pyramid” (9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Dwayne Johnson, Roman Reigns, Emma Roberts and Grupo Frontera on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Jerrod Carmichael, Stephanie Ruhle and X Ambassadors visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts “After Midnight” (12:37 a.m., CBS).
