Honoring a Fallen ‘9-1-1’ Hero, Seeing ‘Ghosts,’ Revisiting ‘Four Seasons,’ a ‘Simple Favor’ Sequel

Four-hanky alert: The fan base of this long-running first-responder drama is still in shock — and mourning — over the unexpected death of the 118 crew’s leader, Bobby Nash (Peter Krause), in the most recent episode. They, and by extension we, get to vent their grief and respect for the fallen hero as the series stages a public memorial. His widow, Athena (Angela Bassett), pours her emotions into a case involving the death of a child and bringing closure to a distraught mother.

Turns out Sam (Rose McIver) isn’t the only one who can see dead people. In a clever outing for the popular comedy, we meet Kyle (Superstore‘s charming Ben Feldman), a drifter who shares Sam’s gift, or possibly curse, when Pete (Richie Moriarty) encounters him during one of his roamings. Sam is thrilled to have someone else joining the conversation, but Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) feels even more left out than usual. Elsewhere in spirit world, 500-year-old virgin Sassapis (Román Zaragoza) and Joan (Taylor Ortega) consider taking their screwball romance to the next level.

Spring, summer, fall, and winter — for this group of longtime friends, first played by the likes of Alan Alda and Carol Burnett in a 1981 film, there’s no bad time to get together for a holiday, even when nerves and relationships fray. Tina Fey, working with fellow 30 Rock alums Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield, adapts Alda’s hit film into a bittersweet eight-part comedy. Fey stars alongside fellow Saturday Night Live grad Will Forte, with Steve Carell, Colman Domingo, and Kerri Kenney-Silver also part of the friend group, which suffers an upheaval when one of the couples splits up. Erika Henningsen (currently playing Sandra Dee in Broadway’s Just in Time) costars as Ginny, who joins the gang as a chipper new girlfriend trying to fit in, just one of many complications over an eventful year.

Blake Lively reunites with Anna Kendrick in director Paul Feig‘s sequel to the hit 2018 mystery-comedy. Emily (Lively), fresh out of prison seven years later, is as glamorous and enigmatic as ever when she invites her true-crime vlogger frenemy Stephanie (Kendrick) to be her maid of honor at a lavish wedding in stunning Capri, Italy to a handsome businessman (Michele Morrone). Is this an act of reconciliation or something more sinister? Seems the latter when the ceremony takes a murderous twist.

The Emmy-winning (for cinematography) surfing docuseries returns for a third season, once again hanging 10 on the giant swells of Nazaré in Portugal, where veteran surfer Garrett McNamara once set a big wave world record in 2011. As Garrett assesses his health, he hopes to get back in peak form before passing the torch to the next generation. But dangers lurk as big-wave groupies converge on the high cliffs, pushing their physical and mental limits.

With opening night behind them, TV’s new late-night star Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) gets a lesson in audience demographics in the brilliant show-biz comedy. Gay dads under 50 love her, women 25-54 not so much. What to do? Deborah’s about to get a rough lesson in guest booking (courtesy of an inspired Jimmy Kimmel cameo), and could a corny “Dance Mom” (Julianne Nicholson) from Canada be the answer?

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (8/7c, CBS): The family dynamic is strained when Jim (Will Sasso) starts placing and losing bets with Meemaw (Annie Potts).
• Law & Order (8/7c, NBC): The execution-style murder of a mechanic leads the detectives to conclude the victim did more than fix cars. Followed by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9/8c), with the search for a young girl who was in the backseat of a stolen car.
• Doctor Odyssey (9/8c, ABC): It’s double trouble when the ship double-books two very different book tours: one for traditional moms, one for sex-positive groups. Followed by Grey’s Anatomy (10/9c), where Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) performs a risky brain surgery on a young patient, while her ex, Link (Chris Carmack) and Jo (Camilla Luddington) clash over wedding preparations.
• Elsbeth (9/8c, CBS): Billy Magnussen (Black Mirror) guests as a spoiled playboy who Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) suspects has added murder to his must-do list.
• Lifelines of Hope (9/8c, The CW): An inspirational special features celebrities including Dolly Parton, Billy Crystal, Billie Eilish, Jennifer Garner, Samuel L. Jackson, Bob Odenkirk, and Luke Combs in stories of bravery and community spirit.
• Genghis Khan: The Secret History of the Mongols (9/8c, National Geographic): A six-episode historical docuseries (two episodes weekly) profiles the legendary warrior and conqueror.
• Found (10/9c, NBC): Margaret (Kelli Williams) leads the hunt for a missing woman with Down Syndrome, while Dhan (Karan Oberoi) makes progress in figuring out Jamie’s (Parker Queenan) identity.

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