All in the ‘Sheriff Country’ Family, Strangler Vibes on ‘Boston Blue,’ Ben Affleck in ‘Animals,’ a ‘Matchbox’ Movie

Sheriff Country

Having spent years working to clean up crime in Gotham, Ben McKenzie is once again on the right side of the law. He’s guest-starring opposite his wife, series star Morena Baccarin, in the Season 2 opener as neighboring Sheriff Wade, who teams with Sheriff Mickey Fox (Baccarin) to help her on a case involving a criminal operation that poses a threat to Edgewater. Followed by the Season 5 premiere of Fire Country (9/8c), where a massive sinkhole disrupts the Founders’ Day celebration in Edgewater, causing new headaches for Station 42.

Boston Blue

The Blue Bloods spinoff returns for a second season, tackling a case with disturbing echoes of the past. A copycat killer is mimicking the methods of the infamous Boston Strangler of the 1960s, something Danny’s (Donnie Wahlberg) grandfather Henry (Blue Bloods’ Len Cariou) remembers all too well. Henry gives an assist to Danny and Lena (Sonequa Martin-Green) as they track the new menace. In other news, Danny weighs a potentially career-changing promotion, and Lena gets a new lead regarding the attack on her boyfriend, Det. Brian Rodgers (Ryan Broussard).

Animals

Ben Affleck is a political animal facing a personal crisis in a thriller he co-wrote (with Connor O. McIntyre and Billy Ray), starring as ambitious L.A. mayoral candidate Mark Kimball. His campaign is thrown into turmoil when his young son is kidnapped, forcing him and his wife, Abigail (Kerry Washington), to make some tough moral choices. Gillian Anderson co-stars as their enigmatic fixer.

Matchbox The Movie

They can’t all be Barbie. The latest movie inspired by a Mattel toy is a ridiculous but rousing action-comedy with impressive stunt work involving vehicles that spin, flip, and crash — just like we used to do with the Matchbox toy cars of our now-distant childhood. For globe-trotting covert CIA agent Sean (an iron-jawed John Cena), that childhood was back in the late 1990s, when his best friends in Ohio were part of a middle-school “Matchbox gang.” When Sean returns for a nostalgic reunion, he inadvertently involves his pals in international intrigue, getting swept up in a ticking-clock search for a stolen nuclear warhead. Good thing his grown-up gang has special skills: One (Jessica Biel) is a race-car driver, another (Arturo Castro) a science/chemistry teacher, with a helicopter traffic reporter (Teyonah Parris) and her husband, a heavy-equipment operator (Sam Richardson), along for the wild ride.

Anna Pigeon

Just renewed for a second season, the blue-sky mystery series ends its first with park ranger Anna (Tracy Spiridakos) staying behind at Glacier National Park as the season winds down and the rest of the seasonal staff moves on. Manning the station alone, she responds to an unusual S.O.S. call that puts her in the crosshairs of her nemesis, Jeremiah D. Paulson (Sons of Anarchy‘s Kim Coates).

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• Boorman and the Devil (8/7c, Turner Classic Movies): A fascinating documentary reflects on the career nosedive after celebrated director John Boorman (Deliverance) was hired to helm the critically maligned sequel to The Exorcist. Followed by a screening of 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic (10/9c) and several of Boorman’s less controversial films, 1987’s Hope and Glory (12:15 am/11:15c), and 1967’s Point Blank (2:15 am/1:15c).
• Outlander: Blood of My Blood (8/7c, Starz): On the eve of battle, Ellen (Harriet Slater) rides to Brian (Jamie Roy) with a warning, while Henry (Jeremy Irvine) reaches out to Julia (Hermione Corfield) after returning to the 18th century. Before war comes lovemaking.
• Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (8/7c, ABC): Comic actors Lennon Parham and Cedric the Entertainer and filmmaker Kevin Smith spin the wheel for charity.
• Tip Toe (9/8c, Starz): The tension is thick when the humorless Clive (David Morrissey) brings his older son, cam boy Saul (Joseph Evans), to work on the wiring at gay neighbor Leo’s (Alan Cumming) bar. No one dares to spill what they know about the sexual yearnings of Clive’s younger son, George (Jackson Connor).
• Great Musicians of Our Times (10/9c, PBS): A series of biographical portraits of contemporary classical artists opens with a profile of “Itzhak Perlman: Virtuoso Violinist.” Preceded in many markets by Austin City Limits (9/8c) featuring Olivia Rodrigo.
• Jaÿ-Z in 8 (9/8c, HBO): The series concludes with analyses of tracks including “The Story of O.J.,” “Family Feud,” and “Legacy.”
• Rocky Mountain Wreckers (9/8c, Discovery Channel): A new series follows towing and recovery crews in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming as they work in dangerous conditions to clear the highways from wreckage and debris.
• True Crime Watch: On Dateline NBC (9/8c, NBC): Josh Mankiewicz reports on how Internet sleuths helped pursue leads after Talina Galloway went missing in Oklahoma in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. ABC‘s 20/20 (9/8c) reports on the 2016 murder of Catherine Ann Blauvelt, a wife from South Carolina whose estranged husband later took off with a 17-year-old.
• Mothers & Daughters: Torn Apart with Iyanla Vanzant (9/8c, OWN): An OWN Spotlight special features the life coach working to heal the strained relationships of three generations of estranged mothers and daughters in front of a live studio audience.
• S.W.A.T. Exiles (10/9c, Starz): When Hondo’s (Shemar Moore) actions to protect one of his team backfire, he begins to suspect a mole in his midst.
• Real Time with Bill Maher (10/9c, HBO): Michael Douglas, author of a new memoir (One Helluva Ride), is the one-on-one interview guest.

ON THE STREAM:

• Dark Matter (streaming on Apple TV): I’d stay in any alternate world if the great Margo Martindale was there to greet me. That’s what happens to Charlie (Oakes Fegley) when he goes back in the box to find a reality where his brother Max is still alive.
• MobLand (streaming on Paramount+): Loyal fixer Harry (Tom Hardy) does damage control on several fronts after the meeting with rival mobster Frankie Cooper (Johnny Flynn) ended with an explosion.
• Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger (streaming on Disney+ and Hulu): An expanded version of the acclaimed music documentary depicts the reunion of brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher on their band’s celebrated 2025 world tour.
• Disclosure Day (streaming on Peacock): Steven Spielberg‘s entertaining alien-encounter conspiracy thriller makes its streaming debut.
• The Housemaid (streaming on HBO Max): Also new to streaming: the thriller starring Sydney Sweeney as an ex-con who goes to work in the twisted household of Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar. The movie premieres Saturday on HBO at 8/7c.
• Unmasking the Tylenol Killer (streaming on The Roku Channel): An Unsolved Mysteries special follows Detective Tim Cooper’s quest to discover who was behind the poisoning of Tylenol capsules that killed at least seven people in Chicago in 1982.
• V/H/S/ Mixtape (streaming on Shudder): The found-footage horror franchise returns for a ninth installment, with vignettes including the revival of a mysterious puppet show featuring creations from Jim Henson‘s Creature Shop.
• R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2 (streaming on Tubi): Cassandra Peterson, aka horror hostess Elvira, joins the fun in a sequel to the kid-friendly supernatural caper.
• Is It Cake? Halloween (streaming on Netflix): Host Mikey Day (Saturday Night Live) returns for a second mini-season of Halloween-themed cake illusions, with guest judges including Lil Rel Howery, Wednesday‘s Hunter Doohan, Cedric Yarbrough, Kristen Schaal, and Paul Scheer.
• Haunted Hotel (streaming on Netflix): The animated supernatural comedy returns for a second season.
• Avatar: Seven Havens (streaming on Paramount+): An animated fantasy spinoff introduces Pavi, a young Earthbender who inherits the Avatar title and all of the chaos that comes with it.