BETALSO SEE: Complete 2023 NFL TV Schedule
All Times Eastern. PBS programming varies regionally.
Wednesday, Oct. 18
Ms. Pat Settles It
BET, 10pm
New Series!
Comedian/author/actress Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams brings her sharp wit to the bench in this series, presiding as judge over real cases where genuine relationships hang in the balance. Ms. Pat has assembled a jury comprised of her closest friends, family members and guest stars to help decide the cases. The series kicks off with back-to-back half-hour episodes.
NHL Hockey: Pittsburgh at Detroit
TNT, 7:30pm Live
Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins slide into Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena to face off against Dylan Larkin and the Red Wings.
Sullivan’s Crossing: “Detours”
The CW, 8pm
The annual land blessing is thrown into disarray when one of the campers goes missing.
Quantum Leap: “Closure Encounters”
NBC, 8pm
Now a government agent, Ben (Raymond Lee) investigates unexplained extraterrestrial activity; after a mysterious incident in New Mexico, two young girls’ lives are on the line. Ben also meets Hannah Carson (new cast member Eliza Taylor), who may be more than she appears.
Nature
PBS, 8pm
Season Premiere!
The acclaimed natural history series returns for its 42nd season with “The Platypus Guardian,” which tells the story of Pete Walsh, a Tasmanian man who befriends a platypus he names Zoom. With the help of experts, Pete learns more about the platypuses’ secret world in a mission to protect them from the dangers of urban development.
Star of the Month: Charlton Heston
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Turner Classic Movies’ monthlong Wednesday salute to Charlton Heston during this centennial month of his birth continues tonight with five films. The first three titles feature Heston portraying notable historical figures. The lineup begins with the historical drama The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965), starring Heston as artist Michelangelo, followed by the 1988 TV movie A Man for All Seasons, directed by Heston and starring the actor as Sir Thomas More alongside Vanessa Redgrave as Alice More, and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), an account of the life of Jesus (Max von Sydow) costarring Heston as John the Baptist. Closing out the lineup in the early morning are The Mountain Men (1980), a Western adventure also starring Brian Keith, and Number One (1969), a sports drama with Heston portraying an aging pro quarterback.
NFL Football: Jacksonville at New Orleans
Prime Video, 8:15pm Live
Week 7’s Thursday Night Football matchup has Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Big Easy to battle Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints.
Tyler Perry’s Sistas
BET, 9pm
New Episodes!
New episodes of this comedy/drama’s sixth season return starting tonight with “Daydreams,” which finds Gary (Chido Nwokocha) giving Hayden (Chris Warren) a stern warning to be careful with Tamara’s (Joi Simone) mysterious motives, and Sabrina (Novi Brown) learning that Bayo’s (Ellis E. Fowler) help with her and Maurice’s (Brian Jordan Jr.) legal situation has strings attached.
The Spencer Sisters: “The Coder’s Calamity”
The CW, 9pm
Darby (Stacey Farber) and Victoria (Lea Thompson) investigate stolen intellectual property for a trio of Silicon Valley-style tech developers.
Crime Scene Confidential: “Evidence to Trust”
Investigation Discovery, 9pm
In 1988, 20-year-old Pizza Hut manager Nancy DePriest was dropped off at work by her husband. After arriving early to start the day’s prep work alone, she was found a few hours later, shot in the head. Investigators close in on a pair of suspects in what seems like an open-and-shut case … until the late 1990s, when someone else confessed to the crime. CSI expert Alina Burroughs visits the crime scene, takes a closer look at the evidence through a 21st century lens and follows every twist of this controversial case to find out what really happened to Nancy DePriest.
Magnum P.I.: “Appetite for Danger”
NBC, 9pm
Magnum (Jay Hernandez) and Higgins (Perdita Weeks) enlist Katsumoto (Tim Kang) to go undercover when a chef at a high-end restaurant goes missing. Meanwhile, Kumu (Amy Hill) works with Cade (Martin Martinez) at the Cultural Center, confronting one of America’s darker chapters — the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
NOVA: Ancient Earth: “Life Rising”
PBS, 9pm
For billions of years, life teemed in Earth’s oceans while the land was desolate and inhospitable. See how life eventually made the leap to land, transforming a barren, rocky landscape into the lush, green world we call home.
American Horror Story: Delicate
FX, 10pm
Midseason Finale!
The first part of the American Horror Story: Delicate season concludes with “Preech.” Emma Roberts, Kim Kardashian and Cara Delevingne star.
Secrets of the Dead: “Jurassic Fortunes”
PBS, 10pm
Discover the world of dinosaur fossil collecting and hear perspectives on this controversial hobby from private collectors, paleontologists and others as “Big John” — the largest Triceratops fossil ever found — is assembled in Italy and auctioned in France.
Ghost Adventures: Screaming Room
Discovery Channel, 11pm
New Series!
Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, Billy Tolley and Jay Wasley, the paranormal investigative team from Ghost Adventures, look back on some of their favorite episodes from past seasons and comment on the scariest, funniest and most exciting moments.
Thursday, Oct. 19
God’s Grace: The Sheila Johnson Story
BET+
Original Film!
This biopic is based on the life of Sheila Marie Johnson (portrayed by Demetria McKinney), who had to retire from the Air Force at age 43 after being diagnosed with stage IV metastatic breast cancer. With the emotional support of her father, daughter and best friend, Sheila later went on to found an advocacy group to support and empower Black women and men diagnosed with the disease.
Bodies
Netflix
New Series!
This police procedural offers a twist: When a body — the same body — is found on Longharvest Lane in London’s East End in 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053, one detective from each period must investigate. As connections are drawn across the decades, the detectives soon discover their investigations are linked, and an enigmatic political leader — Elias Mannix (Stephen Graham) — becomes increasingly central. To solve the mystery, the four detectives must somehow collaborate and uncover a conspiracy spanning over 150 years.
Neon
Netflix
New Series!
This eight-episode comedy follows three friends (played by Tyler Dean Flores, Emma Ferreira and Jordan Mendoza) from small-town Florida to the bustling beaches and bright lights of Miami as they hustle their way toward making it big in the world of reggaeton music.
Wolf Like Me
Peacock
Season Premiere!
In the second season of this half-hour romantic dramedy, Mary (Isla Fisher) and Gary (Josh Gad) leap into the next phase of their relationship and face their biggest challenge yet: pregnancy. As much as they try to have a “normal” pregnancy, it seems impossible with so many questions looming over them. Will their child be a baby or a wolf pup? Just how long can they keep things secret from the rest of their family? And will what happened in the Outback come back to haunt them? When Mary’s former professor, Anton (Edgar Ramirez), suddenly reappears in her life, new secrets from her past are revealed, leaving Mary and Gary to question whether they are even meant to be together.
Guest Programmer: Martin Scorsese
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Legendary director Martin Scorsese has chosen six of his favorite movies for this evening’s lineup, beginning with two short Westerns from the silent era: The Last of the Line (1914) and The Lady of the Dugout (1918). Following these is Blood on the Moon (1948), director Robert Wise’s Western film noir led by Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston and familiar Western character actor Walter Brennan. The evening concludes with three films featuring Montgomery Clift. In Best Director Oscar nominee William Wyler’s Best Picture-nominated The Heiress (1949), Best Actress Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland plays a wealthy young woman who falls for a man with questionable intentions (played by Clift). Next, Clift and John Wayne star in director Howard Hawks’ Oscar-nominated Western Red River (1948), which follows a rancher leading 10,000 cattle to Missouri whose tyrannical nature causes a mutiny among the men hired to help. Finally, Clift plays a young field administrator from the Tennessee Valley Authority who travels to rural Tennessee to oversee the construction of a dam and falls for a local widow (Lee Remick) in director Elia Kazan’s Wild River (1960).
Transplant: “Baggage”
NBC, 9pm
As Bash (Hamza Haq) and Mags (Laurence Leboeuf) take a big step forward in their relationship, Mags treats a young pregnant patient with a life-threatening condition, Bash confronts an extremely rare condition of his own and June (Ayisha Issa) settles into trauma OR with the demanding Dr. Novak (Gord Rand).
The Dead Files
Travel Channel, 10pm
Season Finale!
In “The Eternal Haunting,” the Season 15 finale, Kentucky’s Octagon Hall is known for its paranormal activity, but that activity has turned violent following the death of the museum’s founder. Staff and guests are scared out of their minds, and the director, Barry, fears he’ll have to shut it down.
Friday, Oct. 20
Bosch: Legacy
Amazon Freevee
Season Premiere!
The new season of the crime drama that follows retired homicide detective Harry Bosch in his new life as a private investigator picks up where the Season 1 cliffhanger left off, following the abduction of Maddie (Madison Lintz) by a masked assailant. Season 2 will feature the return of some other characters from the original Bosch series, including Jerry Edgar (Jamie Hector), Detective Robert “Crate” Moore (Gregory Scott Cummins) and Detective “Barrel” Johnson (Troy Evans). Among the newcomers to the Bosch universe this season is Anthony Michael Hall as Special Agent Will Barron. Two episodes are available Fridays beginning today.
Werewolf by Night in Color
Disney+
This stand-alone special from Marvel Studios based on the Werewolf by Night comic books and inspired by horror movies of the 1930s and ’40s premiered last year in black and white and is now being presented in what Disney+ calls “vibrant color.”
Creature
Netflix
New Series!
This limited series from Turkey, which has echoes of Frankenstein, is an epic story set during the final era of the Ottoman Empire. Ziya (Taner Ölmez), an adventurous, rebellious and smart young medical student, has the insatiable desire to become a physician and cure infectious diseases. His path crosses with Ihsan (Erkan Kolçak Köstendeil), a fellow medical doctor, who walks the fine line between genius and insanity. These two wounded souls will eventually pay the price for the forbidden experiment they conduct, which could let all hell break loose.
Elite
Netflix
Season Premiere!
The teen drama from Spain set at an elite private school returns for Season 7. The new season will tackle the subject of mental health through the journey of Omar (Omar Ayuso), who is living a new life at university and far away from Las Encinas, but still traumatized by Samuel’s murder. Thanks to an internship, he decides to return to the school where everything happened to confront his demons face-to-face. Omar’s story shows that the rest of the students are also silently battling their own hells. The series has been renewed for Season 8.
Old Dads
Netflix
Original Film!
Bill Burr leads this comedy that he also cowrote and made his film directorial debut with. It follows three best friends (played by Burr, Bobby Cannavale and Bokeem Woodbine) who become fathers later in life and find themselves battling preschool principals, millennial CEOs and anything created after 1987.
Surviving Paradise
Netflix
New Series!
Twelve contestants think they are going to have the summer of their lives, staying in the lap of luxury in a clifftop, oceanside villa. What they don’t know is that they’ll have to start with nothing, living in the woods without any lavish amenities. Through friendships and alliances, they’ll team up to fight their way into the villa for a chance at the $100,000 grand prize.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
Peacock
Feature Film Exclusive!
This animated action comedy from Dreamworks is set in a fantasy underwater world, where sweet and awkward 16-year-old kraken Ruby (voice of Lana Condor) discovers that she is part of a legendary royal line of mythical sea krakens and that her destiny, in the depths of the oceans, is bigger than she ever dreamed. The voice cast also includes Toni Collette, Jane Fonda, Colman Domingo, Annie Murphy and Jaboukie Young-White.
Upload
Prime Video
Season Premiere!
The eight-episode third season of this sci-fi/comedy series from Greg Daniels (The Office) picks back up with Nora (Andy Allo) and a freshly downloaded Nathan (Robbie Amell) as they navigate their relationship while racing to stop the mysterious conspiracy that threatens to destroy millions of lives. Can they shut down Freeyond and finally have a real life together, or is it just a matter of time before Nathan’s head explodes? Meanwhile, in Lakeview, a backup copy of Nathan has been activated, and Ingrid (Allegra Edwards) is not about to let this second chance at love slip away; back in the real world, Aleesha (Zainab Johnson) rises through the ranks of Horizen by managing AI education and falls into a new romantic relationship; and Luke (Kevin Bigley), all alone in Lakeview, is forced to come up with the funds to pay for his stay in paradise, driving him to work in The Grey Zone. Two episodes are available Fridays beginning today.
Checkin’ It Twice
Hallmark Channel, 8pm
Original Film!
A journeyman hockey player (Kevin McGarry) falls for a real estate agent (Kim Matula) in a career crisis when he’s traded to her hometown and moves into her hockey-loving family’s backyard.
TCM Spotlight: Gothic Movies: “Supernatural Stories”
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Things that go bump in the night are the focus of this evening’s ghostly gothic movie lineup. It starts with the supernatural romantic fantasy The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. After that is The House of the Seven Gables (1940), an adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1851 novel starring George Sanders, Margaret Lindsay and Vincent Price. Then come two of the finest and scariest haunted house movies ever made: The Uninvited (1944), with Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey, and The Haunting (1963), an adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House, starring Julie Harris and Claire Bloom. Finishing out the lineup are The Woman in White (1948), based on Wilkie Collins’ 1860 novel, and Sylvia and the Phantom (1946), a French comedy.
Next at the Kennedy Center: “Embracing Duality: Modern Indigenous Cultures”
PBS, 9pm
In partnership with electronic music pioneers The Halluci Nation, R&B artist Martha Redbone and performance artist Ty Defoe, the Kennedy Center explores the impact and evolution of Indigenous performing arts cultures. Through conversations, personal anecdotes and performances across the Kennedy Center campus, these artists delve into the subtle and complex representation of the contemporary Indigenous experience.
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs: “Joe Bob’s Helloween”
Shudder & AMC+, 9pm Live
Joe Bob and cohost Darcy the Mail Girl celebrate the spooky season in style with a demonic double feature and one very scary special guest.
Saturday, Oct. 21
College Football
ABC, CBS & FOX, beginning at 12pm Live
Two service academies collide in a rivalry game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, as the Air Force Falcons face the Navy Midshipmen on CBS. The Falcons have three straight wins in the series. Other top matchups include Washington State at Oregon (ABC) and Texas at Houston (FOX).
Flying Leathernecks
TCM, 4:30pm
Catch a Classic!
In this 1951 historical war drama, John Wayne stars as Maj. Daniel Xavier Kirby, the commander of a squad of undisciplined Marines sent to a battle on Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, which was the first major land offensive by Allied forces against Japan at the end of World War II. Robert Ryan, who famously did not get along with John Wayne, costars as Capt. Carl “Griff” Griffin, the second-in-command.
Where Are You, Christmas?
Hallmark Channel, 8pm
Original Film!
When Addy (Lyndsy Fonseca) wishes for a year without Christmas, she wakes up in a world of black and white and must work together with the town mechanic (Michael Rady) to restore Christmas.
Bad Romance: The Vicky White Story
Lifetime, 8pm
Original Film!
Every day for divorced prison corrections officer Vicky White (The Goldbergs’ Wendi McLendon-Covey) is like the movie Groundhog Day — each day is the same. But when new prisoner Casey White (Rossif Sutherland) is brought to her facility, the two develop a secret infatuation. Vicky gives Casey special attention, believing he’s the only man to see her the way she wants to be seen. But when Casey’s lengthy prison sentence approaches, Vicky risks everything and breaks him out of jail and the two go on the run.
Svengoolie Halloween BOOnanza
MeTV, beginning at 8pm
It’s a night of fright beginning with a double feature on Svengoolie Classic Horror & Sci-Fi Movie. Up first is The Night Stalker (1972), the TV movie that introduced Darren McGavin as reporter Carl Kolchak, who investigates a series of murders in Las Vegas apparently committed by a vampire. After that is Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), the Raymond Burr-led, Americanized English-language repurposing of the 1954 Japanese classic Gojira. McGavin’s newsman is back investigating more supernatural mysteries with a five-hour late-night/early morning marathon of episodes from the 1974-75 series Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
NFL Icons
MGM+, 10pm
Season Premiere!
Four more Pro Football Hall of Famers get the NFL Icons treatment in Season 3 of this documentary series. Tonight’s premiere features Jim Brown, the Cleveland Browns running back, movie star and civil rights champion who passed away in May. Upcoming episodes profile Charles Woodson, Bill Cowher and Mike Singletary.
Saturday Night Live: “Bad Bunny”
NBC, 11:30pm Live; also livestreams on Peacock
Rapper/singer Bad Bunny does double duty tonight, making his SNL hosting debut and his second appearance as musical guest.