‘Diplomat’-ic Crisis, ‘Ghosts’ Devilish Bargain, ‘Devil in Disguise,’ ‘Matlock’s Document Dance

The Diplomat

The most entertaining political drama since The West Wing careens from crisis to crisis in the twist-filled third season, with UK Ambassador Kate Wyler (the fierce Keri Russell) navigating treacherous diplomatic waters on both sides of the ocean alongside her sometimes in-name-only husband Hal (an amusing Rufus Sewell). Grace Penn (Allison Janney) has become the accidental president after the Wylers threatened to expose her part in a calamitous conspiracy. The Wylers’ roles in Penn’s administration, and the impact on America’s “special relationship” with the UK and its volatile prime minister (Rory Kinnear), provide juicy, suspenseful, and even sexy drama. Kate and Hal’s marriage may be the most deliciously complicated we’ve seen since Russell starred opposite Matthew Rhys in The Americans. Not to be missed. All eight episodes are available for binge-watching.

Family Guy

This year’s Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ exclusive Family Guy Halloween Special premieres October 6, with another Holiday Special coming later this fall. The Griffin family may live on Spooner Street, but Hulu and Disney+ are their streaming home, with more Seth MacFarlane-voiced antics returning in 2026 for the show’s 24th season. Every Sunday on FOX and next day on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+, you can head to Quahog, have a cold one at the Drunken Clam, and get into some shenanigans with Peter, Lois, Stewie, Brian, Chris, and Meg.

Ghosts

It’s all spectral hands on deck as Season 5 of network TV’s most delightful comedy returns with the spirits and living of Woodstone Manor rallying around Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar), who inadvertently sold his soul to the devil via his despicable emissary Elias Woodstone (Matt Walsh). Even the Puritan ghost Patience (Mary Holland) returns, hoping her “good and pure soul” will vanquish evil. It may indeed require an act of providence to keep someone from feeling the heat.

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Unlike Netflix’s repulsively lurid Monster: The Ed Gein Story, this eight-part true-crime docudrama takes a more clinical, blandly conventional, and discreet approach in depicting the mass murders of the incongruously gregarious John Wayne Gacy (Severance‘s Michael Chernus, compellingly enigmatic), who buried dozens of bodies of young men in his crawlspace. Because it downplays the shock factor, Devil in Disguise is more chilling and haunting, with an emphasis on the grieving families — Marin Ireland is a standout as a distraught mother — and on the failures of law enforcement to recognize a killer in their midst, because so many of his victims were easily dismissed as troubled truants or promiscuous gay men. Gacy’s banality is the true terror here. All episodes are available for a soul-crushing binge.

Matlock

Who’s got the Wellbrexa document? In the conclusion of the two-part Season 2 opener, Matty (Kathy Bates) and Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) secretly go to war over the critical opioid study that the Jacobson Moore law firm hid. Though both say they would like to see justice done, bringing down Senior (Beau Bridges) as a bonus, Matty’s zeal to expose the cover-up immediately has her glamorous boss looking for leverage, however she can. Which should make for an interesting dynamic going forward.

English Teacher

The hilarious comedy ends its second season with back-to-back episodes depicting two major senior-year milestones: the overnight lock-in and graduation. Title character Evan (series creator Brian Jordan Alvarez) is exhausted and too emotionally checked out to fret when the students’ lock-in scavenger hunt takes a bizarre turn. He tries to keep his emotions in check when saying goodbye to the graduating class during the commencement ceremony — where he characteristically makes matters worse when trying to protect a student he thinks is being set up to fail during a crucial speech.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (8/7c, CBS): Regrets? They have a few. As Season 2 of the Young Sheldon spinoff begins, Jim (Will Sasso) has second thoughts about retiring, while son-in-law Georgie (Montana Jordan) questions the wisdom of his co-ownership of the tire store.
• 9-1-1 (8/7c, ABC): In can-you-top-this mode, the first-responder drama goes out of this world when the space flight carrying Athena (Angela Bassett) and Hen (Aisha Hinds) encounters a geostorm. Followed by another storm front on 9-1-1: Nashville (9/8c), with the Station 113 team doing their duty amid a thundering tornado.
• Law & Order (8/7c, NBC): When a billionaire banker is murdered, the prosecution tries to keep the jury focused on the crime and not the victim’s dark past. Followed by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9/8c), where Rollins (Kelli Giddish) weighs her career options.
• Downright Delicious With Yo-Yo (8/7c, aspireTV): The rapper/actress aka Yolanda Whitaker moonlights in the kitchen, whipping up recipes and cocktails for special guests.
• Elkhorn (9/8c, INSP): While future president Theodore Roosevelt (Mason Beals) chases a horse thief, his rival, the Marquis de Morés (Jeff DuJardin), is arrested and put on trial in Bismarck, charged with a rancher’s murder.
• Elsbeth (10/9, CBS): Arrested Development‘s David Cross guest-stars as an ex-con who negotiates with Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) during a hostage crisis at a toy store.
• Grey’s Anatomy (10/9c, ABC): While the hospital rebuilds after the explosion, Link (Chris Carmack) faces a long road of recovery, and the staff endures a hectic day of surgical rotations. 

ON THE STREAM:

• Starting 5 (streaming on Netflix): With the start of the official NBA season just days away, an eight-part docuseries follows superstars Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), and James Harden (Los Angeles Clippers) through the highs and lows of last season.
• Eli Manning Presents: The Undercovers (streaming on Prime Video): Wide receiver Justin Jefferson (whose Vikings take on the Rams next week on Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football) goes incognito as a nature photographer, going inside the sport of flag football.
• Last Lands (streaming on Disney+ and Hulu): ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff travels to national parks in Guatemala and Panama to explore preservation efforts at these nature sanctuaries.
• Little Did I Know (streaming on Viaplay): Swedish star Alexandra Rapaport plays a woman confronting the collapse of her marriage. The movie, based on the novels of Martina Haag (who also directed), is the country’s most-watched domestic film of the year.