‘NCIS’ Takes Over Tuesdays, Surviving Horror in ‘Guts & Glory,’ Marlee Matlin on ‘American Masters,’ Real Housewives’ ‘Wife Swap’

NCIS

The franchise that keeps on giving takes over the entire Tuesday lineup on CBS, with the mothership entering its 23rd season in the wake of tragedy, as Special Agent Parker (Gary Cole) seeks to avenge his father’s death at the hands of Kansas City mob boss Carla Marino (Rebecca De Mornay). When he goes rogue, in defiance of Director Vance (Rocky Carroll) and with the help of his concerned team, the situation brings in his sister, the by-the-books Navy Vice Admiral Harriet Parker (Nancy Travis). As Agent Knight (Katrina Law) puts it: “When was the last time anything good came from an agent running hot?” Or as forensics whiz Kasie (Diona Reasonover) observes: “Emotional baggage and bravado: What could go wrong?”

Only Murders in the Building

Season 5 of the comedic murder mystery is back with new episodes every Tuesday on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez set out to solve the murder of Lester, the Arconia’s beloved doorman. Their amateur sleuthing soon leads to clashes with a trio of potentially sinister billionaires. Armchair detectives and true crime podcasters Charles, Oliver, and Mabel dive into their most dangerous case yet, one that edges them closer to the mob and exposes secrets at the heart of the Arconia.

NCIS: Origins

The 1990s-set prequel opens its second season, also recovering from a setback, picking up several months after the car crash involving Agent Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino). The accident and its aftermath have altered the working environment at the NIS Pendleton branch, with a distracted Gibbs (Austin Stowell), still a probie, taking a personal interest in a case involving a young missing Marine. Followed by the Season 3 premiere of NCIS: Sydney (10/9c), with the Australian and American agents discovering a terrorist plot after two U.S. Navy aviators are found adrift in the Coral Sea.

Guts & Glory

Leave it to The Walking Dead‘s award-winning special-effects guru and executive producer Greg Nicotero to concoct and host a gleefully gruesome reality competition that makes Survivor look like child’s play (no, not the Chucky movie). Originally scheduled for September but now airing as a more appropriate run-up to Halloween, the six-episode survival contest puts the players in immersive scenarios that unfold like a real-life horror movie, with terrors lurking that force everyone involved to face their fears. The two-part opener begins with a sluggish trek to an Alabama swamp but picks up in the second episode when the remaining players find themselves in a hospital that turns into a bloody haunted house in whose morgue a corpulent corpse awaits. This may be the only reality show where you’ll hear someone warn, “No one step in the liver, please.”

American Masters

American Masters celebrates the life and career of Marlee Matlin, who made entertainment history as the first deaf actor to win an Oscar (for the 1986 film Children of a Lesser God, when she was only 21), catapulting her into stardom and a lifetime of advocacy for rights for the hearing-impaired. The documentary, directed by deaf actress/writer/producer Shoshannah Stern, uses ASL as its primary language as Matlin reflects on her childhood, her relationships, and her roles on series including The West Wing and the Oscar-winning movie CODA, with commentary from friends and colleagues including Henry Winkler, Aaron Sorkin, and Lauren Ridloff.

Wife Swap: The Real Housewives Edition

Imagine the stories these housewives will tell at the next reunion. Wife Swap, the reality series that previously aired on ABC and Paramount Network, gets a four-week reboot that takes four veterans of the Real Housewives franchise out of their pampered comfort zone when they trade places with spouses from very different households. In the opener, The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City‘s Angie Katsanevas leaves her posh and structured lap of luxury to rough it in the home of Lindsay Flake, a Mormon homesteader whose family lives off the grid without electricity and running water. The horror!

Chad Powers

In the best episode to date of the goofy sports comedy, Russ, a.k.a. Chad Powers (Glen Powell), and his accomplice, team mascot Danny (Frankie Rodriguez), find themselves in enemy territory when the visiting Catfish of South Georgia spend the night before the game amid the rabid Volunteers fans of Knoxville, Tennessee. Not the best time for Russ to run out of the face glue that transforms him each day into star college football quarterback Chad. A farcical caper ensues, with Russ no longer in disguise and the clock ticking towards curfew.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• Dancing With the Stars (8/7c, ABC, streaming on Disney+): Two-time Mirrorball winner Kym Johnson Herjavec returns as guest judge as the 10 remaining teams perform on “Dedication Night,” which amps up the emotional stakes when the person chosen to be honored by the celebrity contestant joins the couple on the ballroom floor for their routine.
• Murder in a Small Town (8/7c, Fox): Karl’s (Rossif Sutherland) latest case involves a famous singer whose coastal trip with her entourage turns deadly. Followed by Doc (9/8c), where Amy (Molly Parker) works with Jake (Jon-Michael Ecker) and new intern Hannah (Emma Pfitzer Price) to diagnose a college student’s sudden blindness.
• The Lowdown (9/8c, FX): Peter Dinklage guest-stars as Lee’s (Ethan Hawke) oldest friend — or is he a frenemy — as they take part in an annual bacchanalia while corrupt gubernatorial candidate Donald Washberg (Kyle MacLachlan) becomes more agitated about Lee’s snooping.
• Road Wars (9/8c, A&E): A new season of the reality series capturing incidents of road rage is followed by new episodes of Customer Wars (10/9c), which depicts bad behavior between disgruntled customers and store employees whose service leaves something to be desired.
• High Potential (10/9c, ABC): While the LAPD team adjusts to their new captain, they investigate an influencer content house after a social media stunt ends in death.
• 7 Little Johnstons (10/9c, TLC): The docuseries about an expanded family living with dwarfism opens its 16th season with Trent revealing a health diagnosis related to sleep apnea.
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Deathwatch (streaming on Netflix): An animated adaptation of the stealth video game franchise features the voice of Ray Donovan‘s Liev Schreiber as renowned agent Sam Fisher, who’s lured back into the field on a violent mission.
• Beyond Paradise (streaming on BritBox): The Death in Paradise spinoff returns for a third season, with DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) investigating a body found in a river while he and fiancée Martha (Sally Bretton) learn the ropes of foster parenting. Battlestar Galactica‘s Jamie Bamber shows up this season as Martha’s former flame, complicating their relationship.