HBO Max
Charlotte’s Web
E.B. White’s children’s-lit classic that has lifted and broken hearts for generations returns as a three-part family animated special from Sesame Workshop and Oscar-winning writer/producer Luke Matheny (the 2010 short God of Love). The impressive voice cast features Amy Adams as the selfless spider Charlotte and Elijah Wood as the adult version of the guileless runt of a barnyard pig Wilbur (Griffin Robert Faulkner is Young Wilbur). Hacks‘ Jean Smart narrates the timeless story, with Randall Park as Templeton the rat, Cynthia Erivo as Goose, Danny Trejo as Gander, Natalie Chan as Fern, and Chris Diamantopoulos and Rosario Dawson as farm couple Homer and Edith Zuckerman.
Abbott Elementary
It’s back to school for Abbott Elementary. After the Wednesday 10/1 season five premiere on ABC, you can catch it Wednesdays on ABC and streaming next day on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. The Emmy-winning series follows a group of underfunded, dedicated teachers – and a slightly tone-deaf principal – who go above and beyond for their students, turning everyday classroom chaos into sharp, heartfelt comedy. Season five brings back the Philly pride, surprise guest appearances, and the fast-growing legacy that makes Abbott one of TV’s most celebrated comedies.
ITV
Karen Pirie
Spunky Detective Inspector Karen Pirie (Lauren Lyle) prefers the term “historic” rather than “cold” case, and indeed, there’s nothing chilly about the heat this Scottish detective brings to long-unsolved mysteries in this adaptation of Val McDermid’s excellent book series. The second season toggles between 2024 and four decades earlier in 1984, when an oil heiress and her baby are kidnapped in what became “one of the biggest missing-persons cases in Scottish history.” After a body is discovered that provides a link to the disappearance, Karen and her team, which includes her secret-to-coworkers boyfriend DS Phil Parhatka (Zach Wyatt), get to work. The story unfolds in three weekly 90-minute chapters.
Everett Collection
The Harvey Girls
In the month that would have marked her centennial birthday (on October 15), TCM honors Angela Lansbury (1925-2022), the legendary star of screen, stage (with five Tony Awards) and TV (18 Emmy nominations, including 12 for Murder, She Wrote, the series that made her a household name) with weekly prime-time tributes from her extensive movie career. The first night features early movies from the 1940s, including the 1946 musical The Harvey Girls starring Judy Garland (8/7c), and two from 1948: the Depression-era drama Tenth Avenue Angel (10/9c) starring Margaret O’Brien and as Queen Anne in The Three Musketeers (11:30/10:30c).
BBC America
The Graham Norton Show
A new season of unfiltered chat hosted by the witty Irish comedian gets underway when the award-winning talk show returns with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt (The Smashing Machine) sharing a couch with Matthew McConaughey (star of the Apple TV+ thriller The Lost Bus) and James Norton (Netflix‘s House of Guinness). The star power continues next week when Taylor Swift visits Norton as part of a late-night media blitz that includes appearances on NBC‘s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers.
Steve Swisher / FX
English Teacher
The biting comedy set at an Austin, Texas high school drops three more episodes from a terrific second season, with beleaguered teacher Evan Marquez (Brian Jordan Alvarez) fielding new aggravations that feed his amusing insecurities. In the first, a deadline for students’ college applications sparks a debate about diversity initiatives, leaving Evan wondering if he was a diversity hire. Then his overbearing mother (a very funny Laura Bayonas) visits, followed by the arrival on campus of an earnest military recruiter (Brandon Tyler Moore, also a hoot) whom Evan bonds with despite his reservations.
INSIDE THURSDAY TV:
- Elkhorn (9/8c, INSP): The historical drama about a young Teddy Roosevelt (Mason Beals) opens its second season with the future president enmeshed in a range war in the Dakota Badlands after discovering his nemesis, the Marquis de Morés (Jeff DuJardin), is illegally grazing his cattle.
- Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test (9/8c, Fox): The celebrity recruits’ latest challenge: escaping a cargo plane underwater after it’s lowered into a dam. Their reward: facing off in a military-style boxing match.
- The Real Housewives of Miami (9/8c, Bravo): Andy Cohen gathers the cast for the first of a three-part reunion to spill hot tea about the events of last season.
ON THE STREAM:
- Wasp Woman: The Murder of a B-Movie Queen (streaming on Sundance Now): A true-crime docuseries unravels the sordid tale of 1950s’ B-movie actress Susan Cabot, whose 1986 murder in her Hollywood home led to suspicion of her son, Timothy Scott Roman.
- NCIS: Tony & Ziva (streaming on Paramount+): “Complicated feelings are our gold standard,” Tony (Michael Weatherly) reveals to a therapist who’s harboring Tony and his on-and-off-again love interest Ziva (Cote de Pablo) in Paris, where they’re surveilling the double agents Jonah (Julian Ovenden) and Martine (Nassima Benchicou) who’ve framed the couple for all kinds of espionage mayhem.
- Reasonable Doubt (streaming on Hulu): Jury selection begins, which maybe isn’t the most opportune time for Jax (Emayatzy Corinealdi) and her legal team to discover more dark secrets from their client Ozzie’s (Kyle Bary) past.