Party Time on ‘Abbott’ and More Finales (‘Chicago,’ ‘Survivor,’ ‘Masked Singer,’ ‘Jeopardy! Masters’), Ramsay vs. Vanderpump on ‘Food Stars’

Season Finale

9/8c

Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) loves everything about school—including the last day of classes, a fitting end to a shortened Season 3 of the Emmy-winning comedy. The idealistic teacher sees it as “a pleasant wind down,” and plans to celebrate by inviting her closest co-workers, and even principal Ava (Janelle James), to her modest apartment—Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) calls it a “refurbished entryway”—for an end-of-term party. This being a sitcom, not everything goes according to Janine’s tightly orchestrated plan, but what everyone wants to know is whether she and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) can get over themselves and declare their feelings for each other. Followed by the Season 6 finale of The Conners (9:30/8:30), which returns next midseason for a truncated series finale. This season wraps with Mark (Ames McNamara) picking up extra jobs to pay his way through school, while mom Darlene (Sara Gilbert) is rocked by more changes on the home front.

Season Finale

8/7c

The One Chicago troika signs off, with the medical drama’s Season 9 finale featuring a clash between Dr. Archer (Steven Weber) and his son Sean (Luigi Sottile) when a resident in the rehab clinic where the now-sober Sean works lands in the E.D. Chicago Fire (9/8c) and Chicago P.D. (10/9c) provide dramatic swan songs for two departing primary cast members, Fire’s Eamonn Walker as Chief Boden and P.D.’s Tracy Spiridakos as Detective Hailey Upton.

Season Finale

8/7c

And then there were two. Season 11 of the elaborately costumed singing competition ends with the last two masked performers, Gumball and Goldish, facing off with songs including “Heart of Glass” and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” A winner will be announced upon the final unmasking.

Season Finale

8/7c

It’s anyone’s game in back-to-back matches pitting last year’s Masters winner, James Holzhauer, against two impressive newcomers, Victoria Groce and Yogesh Raut, in the finals. In this contest between three extremely quick and brilliant champions, Daily Doubles and aggressive wagers may be the deciding factor in who ends up with the $500,000 grand prize and bragging rights as 2024’s Jeopardy! Masters champion.

Season Finale

8/7c

The show that put reality TV on the network map ends its 46^th season with the usual three-hour blowout, including a cast reunion during which time we might hear more from some of those contestants who got voted out with immunity idols and/or advantages still in their pocket. But first, in a climactic round titled “Friends Going to War,” the remaining tribe members’ agreeable nature is tested by an outburst during a reward challenge, leading to pivotal tribal councils that will narrow the field to three and a final vote deciding who wins the $1 million prize as Sole Survivor.

Season Premiere

9/8c

While so many shows are ending this week, the networks’ summer season of reality and game shows gets an early start. Fox launches Season 2 of the ubiquitous Ramsay’s “business bootcamp” competition for entrepreneurs to pitch and prove their prowess in hopes of earning the mogul chef’s favor and financial backing. This time he’s joined by Real Housewives alum and successful restaurateur Lisa Vanderpump, with each picking teams to compete in London-based challenges, starting with the conceptualization of a food truck during a busy lunch hour.

Season Premiere

The charming domestic comedy about British adoptive parents Nikki (Esther Smith) and Jason (Rafe Spall) takes a six-year time jump, with siblings Princess (Scarlett Rayner) and Tyler (Cooper Turner) having settled into a family routine. Season 4 opens with a funeral that triggers Princess’s desire to connect with the birth mother who left when she was 5, but how to proceed without upsetting the parents who’ve raised her? The second episode features the great Jim Broadbent (Oscar winner for Iris) as a courtly gentleman who unexpectedly takes Nikki and Jason, who fear they’ve drifted apart lately, out for a special night on the town. Also continuing on Apple TV+: new episodes of comedies Loot and The Big Door Prize, and the sci-fi thriller Dark Matter.

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• Ireland’s Wild Desert (8/7c, PBS): You probably don’t think of lush Ireland as having a desert, but Nature introduces us to a region of grey stones known as the Burren, where a pine marten thrives among a habitat of wild birds, crab spiders and other fascinating wildlife.
• Walker (8/7c, The CW): While Capt. James (Coby Bell) tries to get the title Texas Ranger (Jared Padalecki) to take a break, Walker’s partner Cassie (Ashley Reyes) takes her relationship with Det. Luna (Justin Johnson Cortez, previously on Walker: Independence) to a new level.
• Decoding the Universe: Cosmos (9/8c, PBS): A wide-ranging installment of Nova explores discoveries made about the universe over the last 50 years. A follow-up episode, Quantum, airs in the fall.
• grown-ish (10/9c, Freeform): Andre (Marcus Scribner) celebrates his college graduation by gathering his friends on a yacht in the series finale of the black-ish spinoff. Also looking toward their future: Junior’s older sister Zoey (Yara Shahidi) and Aaron (Trevor Jackson).
• Rich & Shameless (midnight/11c, TNT): Following the Western Conference final between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves, a new season of the scandalous docuseries opens with an examination of legendary quarterback Brett Favre’s entanglement with a welfare funds scandal.
• Buying London (streaming on Netflix): The streamer’s real-estate reality-TV portfolio expands with a series featuring agents selling high-end London properties at DDRE Global.