Jake Gyllenhaal in the ‘Road House,’ Netflix’s Sci-Fi ‘Problem,’ ‘9-1-1’ Going Down with the Ship, NCAA First Round

Movie Premiere

Jake Gyllenhaal is Dalton, the bouncer who talks softly but wields a mighty fist, in Doug Limon’s turbo-charged remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze guilty pleasure. “No one ever wins a fight,” Dalton concedes, scraping bottom after a bruising career as a UFC fighter. But when roadhouse owner Frankie (Shrinking’s Jessica Williams) gives him a new start as bouncer at her Florida Keys joint, it’s only a matter of time before he’ll start swinging at the thugs hired by a corrupt developer (Billy Magnussen) to take the roadhouse down. “It takes a lot to get me angry,” Dalton says. “But when I am, I just can’t let go.” Who’s asking him to?

Series Premiere

The aliens are coming—but not any time soon, in the slow-burning eight-episode Season 1 of the adaptation of Liu Cixin’s acclaimed visionary sci-fi trilogy from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss with Alexander Woo. Dense and thought-provoking in its cosmic and existential implications, though uneven in pacing, the series stumbles by creating a new set of characters, a gaggle of young brainiac scientists known as the “Oxford Five,” from whose less-than-compelling perspective we interpret the puzzles (some unfolding in a VR fantasy world) that suggest modern science is under attack by a threat from a galaxy far, far away. (See the full review.)

8/7c

The transplanted first-responder drama is still at sea with Athena (Angela Bassett) and Bobby (Peter Krause), whose luxury cruise has taken a decidedly dangerous turn. An explosion on board sends the police officer and her firefighter husband into full-on rescue mode, while back at Station 118, Hen (Aisha Hinds) gets concerned when she can no longer track her friends’ location. Followed by new episodes of Grey’s Anatomy (9/8c), with Bailey (Chandra Wilson) now in charge of the interns, and Station 19 (10/9c), where Jack (Gray Damon) is in for a painful period of off-the-job adjustment.

Enjoy your brackets before they get busted—a nearly annual tradition as the first round of 64 pits Cinderella teams against top-seeded favorites, with the possibility of shocking upsets. Play starts early and goes into the evening, with a key prime-time matchup pairing No. 2 Tennessee against No. 15 Saint Peter’s (9:20 pm/ET, CBS).

Series Premiere

Against a backdrop of 1970s economic and social turmoil in the U.K., a gripping seven-part true-crime docudrama depicts the years-long hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, who initially targets vulnerable sex workers. Toby Jones (from Masterpiece’s upcoming Mr Bates vs the Post Office) and The Walking Dead’s David Morrisey star as police officers leading the frustrating investigation as the body count rises. Launching with two episodes, which also dramatize the desperate circumstances that put women on the streets and into this elusive killer’s grasp.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Law & Order (8/7c, NBC): New D.A. Baxter (Tony Goldwyn) is once again putting pressure on ADA Price (Hugh Dancy), urging him to increase the charges in a case involving the death of a comedian during a subway incident (very timely, that). Followed by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9/8c), where ADA Carisi (Peter Scanavino) pursues hate-crime charges following a street assault, and Law & Order: Organized Crime (10/9c) brings Stabler (Christopher Meloni) the results of the IAB probe.
• TMZ Investigates: Where Is Kate Middleton? (9/8c, Fox): What’s up with those doctored royal photos? What’s behind the recent Kate and Prince William sighting on the street? TMZ stirs the pot of speculation and conspiracy theories.
• Son of a Critch (9/8c, The CW): In back-to-back episodes of the nostalgic family comedy, young Mark (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) has a spiritual awakening after a near-death experience in a pool, then gets a lesson in how to succeed in business during a school project.

ON THE STREAM:

• Halo (streaming on Paramount+): The race is on to the Halo in the explosive Season 2 finale.
• Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told (streaming on Hulu): A lively documentary relives the glory days in the 1980s and ’90s when the street party known as Freaknik took over the highways and byways of Atlanta in a raucous celebration of Black culture and expression. Among those reflecting on the phenomenon: Killer Mike, CeeLo Green, and former mayor Kasim Reed.
• Diarra from Detroit (streaming on BET+): Kenya Barris (black-ish) is among the executive producers of a comedic thriller starring series creator Diarra Kilpatrick in the title role of a spirited schoolteacher going through a divorce and who suspects foul play when her hot Tinder date goes missing—or is he ghosting her? Co-stars include Morris Chestnut as her ex and Phylicia Rashad.