The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

The best TV programs this week

United States of Tara

The Season 2 premiere of creator Diablo Cody’s quirky comedy about a suburban wife with multiple personality disorder begins with Tara discarding the clothing of her “alters,” who haven’t appeared in months. But a neighbor’s suicide may change that—and give gifted star Toni Collette another opportunity to channel her talent into multiple characters. Monday, March 22, at 10:30 p.m., Showtime

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Great Performances: Dance in America

Performed only sporadically since its 1958 debut, Jerome Robbins’ NY Export: Opus Jazz blends ballet with jazz and ballroom dancing. This ambitious film adaptation was created on location in New York with dancers in street clothing, a choice that inevitably evokes Robbins’ dynamic choreography for the movie West Side Story. Wednesday, March 24, at 8 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Chandon Pictures

This darkly funny series from Australia stars its creator, Rob Carlton, as a low-rent filmmaker who fancies himself an artistic “documenteur.” In the premiere, a wedding video becomes an exposé of “the love that dare not speak its name”—in this case, that between cousins. The show has a cringe-inducing style of comedy similar to the original, British version of The Office. Friday, March 26, at 9 p.m., Sundance Channel

Masterpiece Classic: Sharpe

Sean Bean returns to the role of dashing 19th-century British soldier Richard Sharpe in two new adventures. In “Sharpe’s Challenge,” he comes out of retirement to rescue an old friend in India; Padma Lakshmi (Top Chef) co-stars. The following week brings “Sharpe’s Peril,” in which a willful bride-to-be leads Sharpe into a dangerous predicament. Sundays, March 28

and April 4, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Other highlights

Great Performances at the Met: Les Contes d’Hoffmann

Joseph Calleja stars in a new production of the Jacques Offenbach opera based on stories by German Romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann. Wednesday, March 24, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Ghost Cat: Saving the Clouded Leopard

Three female conservationists venture into Southeast Asia’s largest black market to save endangered clouded leopards from poachers and encroaching development. Saturday, March 27, at 9 p.m., Smithsonian Channel

Breakout

This new series documents noteworthy prison breaks, starting with the December 2000 escape of the “Texas Seven.” Sunday, March 28, at 9 p.m., National Geographic Channel