Monday's Best Bets on TV

“Arthur” (9:30 a.m., PBS): He’s the kid who taught a world of youngsters how to spell “aardvark” — and that’s not all. He’s Arthur, the 8-year-old aardvark with Philip Johnson glasses, who’s back for a new season on PBS with his animated trans-species community of friends.

One of five new episodes of “Arthur” premiering this fall (with five more debuting next spring), today’s edition has an election-year theme — plus a guest appearance (in cartoon form) by Lance Armstrong.

In a nutshell: Arthur’s pal Binky (a willful bulldog) wants bike lanes installed in Elwood City, and he hits on the idea of persuading voters to adopt the plan in the upcoming election.

Binky doesn’t know much about campaign strategy. Fortunately, he hooks up with Armstrong (a biker-shorts-clad bunny in town for a race), who furnishes tips about bike safety as well as the value of promoting a good cause.

As always, “Arthur” is funny, charming and full of bright ideas. At the start of season 12, Arthur and his pals show no signs of growing up. But they have a lot to say to their young viewers, who will.

“SpongeBob SquarePants” (8 p.m., Nickelodeon): SpongeBob has an identity crisis.

“The Return of the War Room” (9 p.m., Sundance Channel): In their groundbreaking documentary “The War Room,” Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker trained their cameras on the command center of Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential race, making stars of political innovators James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, Paul Begala and Dee Dee Myers. Sundance Channel offers a look back at the stumbles, scandals and eventual triumph of Clinton’s challenge to President George H.W. Bush in a pair of films airing today. At 10:30 p.m., it’s “The War Room.” But at 9 p.m., a new film — “The Return of the War Room” — revisits these politicos today, two presidents later. This documentary, also by Hegedus and Pennebaker, invites Carville and Company to share their war stories from a 16-year perspective, while it explores how the political process and media culture have changed irreversibly since the campaign that put Clinton in the White House.

“Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery” (9 p.m., HBO): This absorbing documentary visits the area of the famed military burial ground reserved for those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan and delves into the poignant stories of the fallen.

“Samantha Who?” (9:31 p.m., ABC): It’s with warm regards that we welcome back Christina Applegate, who recently underwent treatment for breast cancer. She returns in the Season 2 opener of “Samantha Who?,” which has our lovable Sam teaming with her mom in a dance contest.

“My Own Worst Enemy” (10 p.m., NBC): Christian Slater takes on his first television series in the spy drama “My Own Worst Enemy.” He plays a mild-mannered suburbanite, who, thanks to a malfunctioning implant in his brain, discovers he has an alter ego as a covert operative trained to kill.