Serena Williams Hosts the ESPYs, Felicity Huffman Visits ‘Criminal Minds,’ Martin Freeman’s Award-Winning ‘Responder,’ New Home for ‘Impractical Jokers’

8/7c

Serena Williams took home 12 ESPYs during her remarkable tennis career, making her a natural to host this year’s ceremony from L.A.’s Dolby Theater, often one of the most moving events staged in the world of sports. That promises to be the case again this year, especially when it comes to the special honors. Recipients include former NFL safety Steve Gleason, who receives the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for his activism in his fight against ALS. The Jimmy V Award for Perseverance goes to University of South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley following her team’s perfect championship season, honoring her for her work in women’s sports as well as her advocacy for cancer research. And Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, receives the Pat Tillman Award for Service for founding the Invictus Games Foundation, benefiting wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women. Among active athletes, top nominees include Simone Biles, Caitlin Clark, Coco Gauff, Patrick Mahomes, Jaylen Brown and Shohei Ohtani.

Longtime fans of the crime drama always knew she existed, and now they’ll meet Dr. Jill Gideon, the ex-wife of late BAU co-founder Jason Gideon (once played by Mandy Patinkin), though she’s not the least bit pleased when team leader Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) comes knocking at her door. Dr. Jill is portrayed by Desperate Housewives’ Felicity Huffman, making a strong first impression when she resists a plea to help analyze the unit’s connection to the dastardly Gold Star psychopath-breeding program. They could use her specialty of biological psychology, but her history with David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) is a sticking point. Elsewhere, in an episode directed by series star Aisha Tyler, the BAU tackle a grisly case in nearby suburban Maryland that’s disturbing even by this show’s icky standards.

Season Premiere

Martin Freeman, whose brilliant career encompasses comedy (the original U.K. The Office), drama (Sherlock, Fargo) and fantasy (The Hobbit trilogy), won an International Emmy for one of his most realistic and raw performances, as The Responder’s Chris Carson, a conflicted and emotionally exhausted police officer working the grueling night shift in gritty Liverpool. He’s back for a second season, plunging even deeper into rabbit holes of deception and frustration. What he yearns for is a day job that would keep him closer to his estranged family, but his complicated dealings with shady cops and local drug dealers create one suspenseful setback after another. Launches with two episodes.

Season Premiere

10/9c

The joke’s on you if you turn to truTV to catch new episodes of the long-running prank show. The hidden-camera series moves to the comedy-focused TBS network for its 11^th season of shenanigans perpetrated by Brian “Q” Quinn, James “Murr” Murray and Sal Vulcano. Their first guest—make that victim—is Joey Fatone, who engages in a Joker vs Joker challenge and is subjected to an “epic punishment” in the form of a one-of-a-kind dance party.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• The Real Housewives of Orange County (9/8c, Bravo): Former golf reporter and mother of four Katie Ginella joins the gaggle for Season 18—which also happens to be the 100^th season overall in the Real Housewives.
• Beat Bobby Flay (9/8c, Food Network): Having served up murderous meat pies on Broadway in the recent Sweeney Todd revival, Sutton Foster teams with chef Jet Tila to whip up a musical for Bobby while taking on chefs Kaitlin Guerin and Laura Warren.
• On the Rise (9/8c, MAVTV): The motorsports channel profiles Thomas Annunziata, a rising star on the Trans-Am TA2 circuit.

ON THE STREAM:

• The Hungry Games: Alaska’s Big Bear Challenge (streaming on Peacock): A whimsical mash-up of reality competition and nature documentary depicts bears in Alaska’s Katmai National Park as they bulk up over 150 days, vying to consume 3 million calories before winter hibernation kicks in. Our Flag Means Death’s Rhys Darby provides the narration.
• Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer (streaming on Hulu): A three-part true-crime docuseries plays like a real-life version of Criminal Minds, as pioneering psychiatric nurse and professor Dr. Ann Burgess joins a task force specializing in profiling notorious serial killers.
• Teen Torture, Inc. (streaming on Max): A three-part exposé of the “troubled teen” rehabilitation industry features survivors and whistleblowers alleging sexual abuse and deaths, including suicide, in the name of “tough love” treatments of vulnerable teens.
• Vikings: Valhalla (streaming on Netflix): The third and final season of the Vikings sequel jumps forward seven years with Leif Eriksson (Sam Corlett) and his fellow Norse warriors.
• Tyler Perry’s Divorce in the Black (streaming on Prime Video): Meagan Good stars in writer-director Perry’s domestic melodrama as Ava, who learns to fight back when her messy divorce takes a dangerously dark turn.
• Sausage Party: Foodtopia (streaming on Prime Video): An eight-episode sequel to 2016’s raunchy animated comedy reunites original cast members Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, David Krumholtz and Edward Norton as talking edibles who learn that creating a food society may have an unexpectedly quick expiration date.