‘Golden Bachelor’ and ‘Bachelor in Paradise,’ People’s Choice Goes Country, ‘Starstruck’ on Max, Party Time on ‘Lower Decks’

Series Premiere

8/7c

Surely there’s a better way for a charming and handsome widower in his early 70s to find a new soulmate than serial-kissing a mansion full of eager “golden girls” in their 60s and 70s. But the camera loves Gerry Turner, a retired restaurateur from Indiana, and when he breaks up with emotion as he discusses his late wife of 43 years, hearts will most likely melt. They surely do among the 22 women who greet him as this never-too-old version of The Bachelor gets underway. One suitor arrives on a motorcycle, another pretends to be wearing only her “birthday suit,” and there’s even a joke candidate who’ll be familiar to late-night watchers. For most involved, though, this is serious dating-game business, and souls are crushed and others lifted in the first rose ceremony.

Season Premiere

9/8c

Jesse Palmer does double duty as host of The Golden Bachelor and this less restrained spinoff, now in its ninth season of lustful fun in the sun. Mexico is the setting for 18 Bachelor Nation alums to pester bartender Wells Adams for libations to keep things interesting.

Special

8/7c

Fans choose the winners in a brand extension of the People’s Choice Awards, focused entirely on country-music stars in a ceremony from Nashville’s Grand Old Opry. Little Big Town hosts as Toby Keith takes home the first Country Music Icon award and Wynonna Judd receives the Country Champion Award. They’ll all perform along with The Voice alum Blake Shelton, Carly Pearce, Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Kane Brown, Jelly Roll and HARDY. Awards will be presented in 12 categories, including People’s Artist of 2023, Social Country Star of 2023 and Collaboration and Crossover Songs of the year.

Season Premiere

The charming British sitcom about the unlikely relationship between film star Tom (Nikesh Patel) and New Zealander Jesse (series creator Rose Matafeo) takes a two-year time jump in its six-episode third season. They’re no longer together, but when they meet again at her pregnant BFF Kate’s (Emma Sidi) wedding to Ian (Al Roberts), could lightning strike again in their messy lives?

The guest voices are more recognizable than usual, when Saturday Night Live alum Rachel Dratch, Abbott Elementary’s Janelle James and sitcom veteran Wendie Malick appear on the animated comedy spinoff as visiting Betazoid diplomat party girls who just want to have fun. Their Vulcan guide T’Lin (Gabrielle Ruiz) is not amused by their “infectious frivolity,” which apparently infects the entire crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos, who begin acting out in manic fashion. Or could there be another cause for this over-the-top psychic disturbance?

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• A Really Haunted Loud House (7/6c, Nickelodeon; streaming on Paramount+): The family comedy returns for a feature-length Halloween movie in which the town’s cool kids turn on the Louds—whose crime is giving out toothbrushes instead of candy—and the Louds fight back.
• Hell’s Kitchen (8/7c, Fox): The fall’s reality onslaught continues with the Season 22 premiere of Gordon Ramsay’s flagship cooking competition, introducing 18 chefs who hope to impress Ramsay in the Signature Dish Challenge. Boxer Oscar De La Hoya and country music’s Martina McBride drop by for inspiration. Followed by the Season 4 premiere of LEGO Masters (9/8c). Also from the reality rialto: the season finale of The CW’s Fight to Survive (8/7c).
• Buddy Games (8/7c, CBS): The naming of a prom king or queen creates new tension among the teams.
• The Ghost Town Terror (9/8c, Travel Channel): Montana’s Gunslinger Gulch guest ranch lives up to its “ghost town” reputation with weird events plaguing the Broussard family, who beckon Tim Wood and Sapphire Sandalo to return for a second season of paranormal exploration.

ON THE STREAM:

• The Kardashians (streaming on Hulu): While Kim Kardashian appears on American Horror Story this season, a fourth round of the family’s rebooted reality show gets underway with a trip to Cabo San Lucas, where Kim and Kourtney are not enjoying each other’s company.
• Castlevania: Nocturne (streaming on Netflix): A spinoff of the video game-inspired animated horror series uses the French Revolution as a backdrop for a battle against a “Vampire Messiah” involving a Caribbean sorceress in league with vampire hunter Richter Belmont.
• The Vanishing Triangle (streaming on Sundance Now): An Irish psychological thriller features Downton Abbey’s Allen Leech as a detective who teams with a journalist (India Mullin), whose article about her mother’s long-ago murder prompts the killer to taunt her with mind games while new victims go missing.