What’s On: A New season of ‘Doc Martin,’ Streaming ‘Will & Grace,’ and the Return of ‘Gotham’

Caroline Catz as Louisa Glasson and Martin Clunes as Dr. Martin Ellingham holding a baby in Doc Martin
AcornTV

Doc Martin (streaming on Acorn TV): After a two-year wait for new episodes, fans of the beloved British dramedy welcome back the curmudgeonly title character (Martin Clunes), with the Acorn TV streaming service making the show available one day after its premiere on ITV. The eighth season commences with the good doctor and wife Louisa (Caroline Catz), having survived therapy, now trying to live happily ever after with their baby, James Henry. On another romantic-comedy front, constable Joe Penhale (John Marquez) ties the knot with the doctor’s nanny, Janice Bone (Robyn Addison), but not without some hitches threatening the ceremony.

Will & Grace (Hulu and the NBC app): Answering another Frequently Asked Question, in advance of the hit comedy’s revival on NBC next Thursday, all 194 episodes of the original series have finally been cleared for mega-binge watching in the series’ first streaming deal. All eight seasons are available starting today on the NBC app, Hulu and on demand through pay TV providers.

Gotham (8/7c, Fox): Relocating on a new night, the fourth season of the baroque bat-prequel gets underway with the grand opening of Penguin’s (Robin Lord Taylor) Iceberg Lounge being affected by the villain’s own “licensing” of crime in beleaguered Gotham City. Another fiend, Jonathan Crane (Charlie Tahan), is suspected by Gordon (Ben McKenzie) of a series of robberies that bear The Scarecrow’s signature.

The Orville (9/8c, Fox): Seth MacFarlane’s derivative homage to classic TV space operas moves to its regular time period with its most thought-provoking episode yet, which unfortunately is at odds with the light-parody tone of the rest of the series. Imagine what Star Trek: The Next Generation might have done with a scenario in which an all-male alien species, like that of Klingon-like Bortus (Peter Macon) and Klyden (Chad L. Coleman), spawns a female child, prompting calls for a gender-reassignment surgery that the ship’s doctor (Penny Johnson Jerald) refuses to perform. As an interplanetary confrontation looms, the ship’s crew takes sides in a universally controversial debate.

Inside Thursday TV: If you missed it the first time and wondered what all the fuss was about as it collected a total eight Emmys, the deliciously addictive Big Little Lies is being repeated in its entirety on HBO2, with all seven episodes airing starting at 8/7c. … With O.J. Simpson’s release date from prison looming, A&E helpfully revisits the story of his second arrest and convicting for armed robbery in the two-hour special O.J.: Guilty in Vegas (9/8c). … Summer finale fever continues, with CBS’s Zoo (10/9c) wrapping its third season with the team desperately trying to stop the hybrids from breaking through the barrier wall. … Bravo’s Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce (10/9c) bids toodles to its abbreviated fourth season with Abby (Lisa Edelstein) at wit’s end with her father, George (Barry Bostwick), and business partner Barbara (Retta). … TBS’s comedy anthology The Guest Book (10:30/9:30c) signs off its freshman season with a focus on the townspeople coming to grips with all the wacky havoc of the last few months.