Column: TV school is in session, and crime, comedy and Paul Newman are on the syllabus

No more pencils? No more books? No worries, my grown-up friends. Just because fall no longer brings the promise of new shoes and fresh knowledge doesn’t mean your mind-expanding days are over.

Thanks to the summer’s bumper crop of noteworthy shows, your small screen is still stuffed with learning opportunities. If you like your education to be entertaining and homework-free, have we got a lesson plan for you.

The show: “Dark Winds” (AMC+)

The lesson: Zahn McClarnon is a star.

Whether you know him as the terrifying “Fargo” enforcer Hanzee Dent or as the breezily Zen-ish Officer Big in “Reservation Dogs,” you already know that Zahn McClarnon is terrific TV company. But as the fiercely committed Lt. Joe Leaphorn in AMC’s late-summer crime drama “Dark Winds,” McClarnon gets the meaty star turn he deserves, and the spoils are all yours.

Based on author Tony Hillerman’s best-selling “Leaphorn & Chee” mystery series, the six-episode “Dark Winds” uses an armored-car robbery and a grisly double murder to burrow into life in Navajo Nation, where Leaphorn is a detective for the Navajo Tribal Police. In the wake of these brazen crimes, Leaphorn must deal with the invasive interest of a smirky FBI agent (Noah Emmerich), the sudden appearance of cocky new hire Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) while he is still dealing with the trauma of losing his son to a mysterious accident.

Leaphorn is a grieving father, a loving husband and a wary, dedicated, resourceful lawman, and McClarnon plays his many sides with a full-bodied warmth and spiky intelligence that make even your standard shoot-out feel like more than grist for the plot mill. Everyone on “Dark Winds” is really good; McClarnon is great. Streaming on AMC+ and available for purchase on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube TV and other subscription services.

Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman are the subjects of “The Last Movie Stars,” a six-part series on HBO.

(Courtesy of HBO)

The show: “The Last Movie Stars” (HBO Max)

The lesson: All that glitters is not all there is.

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were more than movie stars. They were Actors Studio-trained artists, activists and philanthropists, and spouses who were very hot for each other for a very long time. In this six-hour documentary series, actor and filmmaker Ethan Hawke lets us take a long look at the people behind the famous faces, making this HBO Max series much more than a movie-star documentary.

In addition to a cinema-lover’s dream trove of film clips — the classics (“Hud,” “Rachel, Rachel”) and the duds (“The Silver Chalice,” “The Stripper”) — Hawke gives us revealing insights from interviews Woodward, Newman and assorted friends, colleagues and family members did with screenwriter Stewart Stern. Newman destroyed most of the tapes, so Hawke assembled an impressive cast of actors to read from the transcripts.

George Clooney and Laura Linney don’t necessarily sound like Newman and Woodward, but they capture their essence as only skilled fellow actors could. And while you will get an earful about the couple’s steamy pre-marital affair (Newman was married when they met), Newman’s alcoholism, and Woodward’s struggles with being the wife of a sex symbol, Hawke devotes a lot of time to his subjects’ dedication to the craft of acting. Gossip fades, but as “The Last Movie Stars” reminds us, talent is forever. Streaming on HBO Max.

Cristela Alonzo in her Netflix standup special, ‘Cristela Alonzo: Middle Classy.”

(Beth Dubber/Netflix)

The show: “Cristela Alonzo: Middle Classy” (Netflix)

The lesson: You have to laugh. Really.

Why is Cristela Alonzo smiling? Partly because she is a comedian, but also because she is a comedian who finally has dental insurance and the teeth to show for it.

Raised in South Texas, Alonzo grew up poor in a family where half the members were documented and half weren’t. She perfected her English by watching television, and in “Middle Classy,” Alonzo has perfected the art of turning the stuff many of us take for granted — bottled water, birth certificates, paid water bills — into the stuff punchlines and epiphanies are made of.

Whether she is comparing the COVID-19 pandemic to the “Star Wars” franchise or reveling in the miracle of being able to afford therapy (“I found out I had anxiety and depression!,” she hoots), Alonzo looks at the challenges of modern life with wonder and a bracing dose of joy. Regardless of what condition you’re in, “Middle Classy” is just what the zeitgeist doctor ordered. Streaming on Netflix.

The show: “Hacks”

The lesson: TV lightning can strike twice

The Jean Smart Miracle continues with the (now concluded) second season of “Hacks,” as Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance (Smart) hit the road to try out her new confessional act on a public that is not sure it wants to buy what she’s selling. She is joined once again by her Gen Z writing partner Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), who — unbeknownst to Deborah — got drunk and sent a nasty email about Deborah to some equally nasty producers. Now, Deborah and Ava are on a bus together — what could possibly go wrong?

Plenty. But that’s for Ava and Deborah to hash out for your endless TV pleasure. As Deborah finds a glorious multitude of ways to make Ava pay for her sins and Ava finds ways to make herself indispensable, “Hacks” manages to be both funnier and deeper than it was the first beautiful time around. If Deborah’s lesbian-cruise adventure doesn’t land you on Belly Laugh Island, you’re going to need a bigger lifeboat. Streaming on HBO Max and available for purchase on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and other platforms.