The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

The best programs on TV this week

Late Night With Seth Meyers

The late-night shuffle continues. With Jimmy Fallon ascending to The Tonight Show, fellow Saturday Night Live alum Seth Meyers replaces Fallon at the Late Night desk. He’ll have help at the get-go from some SNL friends: Portlandia’s Fred Armisen will serve as the show’s band-leader, and Amy Poehler, Meyers’s former “Weekend Update” co-anchor, will be his first guest. Monday, Feb. 24, at 12:35 a.m., NBC

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It gets dark out there in New Jersey. Secrets and lies threaten the uneasy peace between a depressed Garden State community and a nearby Lenape reservation in this layered thriller series, which proves a worthy successor to Sundance’s Emmy-winning miniseries Top of the Lake. Martin Henderson plays a sheriff trying to hold things together, while Game of Thrones’ Jason Momoa brings the creepy as a tribe member and ex-con capable of stirring up serious trouble. Thursday, Feb. 27, at 9 p.m., Sundance

Portlandia

Is there a deeper well for satire than Portland, Ore.? Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein return to the city “where young people go to retire”—that gluten-free Eden of Prius-driving, artisanal-brunch-consuming, Etsy-shopkeeping recyclers—for a fourth season of blissful ribbing and raillery. An extensive online preview drops in on a tailgate party for A Prairie Home Companion. Thursday, Feb. 27, at 10 p.m., IFC

Hannibal

If you consider TV a fine vehicle for the delivery of a beautifully horrific, free-flowing nightmare, Hannibal is your series. Subtler and better plotted than The Following, as well acted as True Detective, the show begins season two with Hugh Dancy’s empathetic FBI investigator Will Graham framed and behind bars, a human ear recently expunged from his stomach, while Mads Mikkelsen’s icily terrifying Hannibal Lecter continues his cannibalistic scheming. Friday, Feb. 28, at 10 p.m., NBC

86th Annual Academy Awards

Oscar looks ready to spread the accolades as Hollywood convenes for its big night. With Ellen DeGeneres returning as host after a seven-year hiatus, there’s no Titanic in sight. Bettors are favoring 12 Years a Slave for Best Picture but Gravity’s Alfonso Cuarón for Best Director. Expect Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) and Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) to be crowned as of-the-moment acting royalty. Sunday, March 2, at 8:30 p.m., ABC

Other highlights

Happy Birthday to a BeautifulWoman

Painter Mickalene Thomas turned director to create this loving ode to her mother, a former addict who once dreamed of becoming the first black supermodel.Monday, Feb. 24, at 9 p.m., HBO

Ali G: Rezurection

All 18 episodes of Sacha Baron Cohen’s breakthrough comedy, Da Ali G Show, begin a new broadcast run that will feature segments not previously aired in the U.S. Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 10:30 p.m., FXX

Jazz and the Philharmonic

Jazz greats Chick Corea, Terence Blanchard, and Bobby McFerrin join peers from the world of classical music in a concert that celebrates great compositions from both genres. Friday, Feb. 28, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings