Back to ‘Bridgerton,’ Season 4 of ‘The Boys,’ Remembering the Brat Pack, Going It ‘Alone’

Midseason Premiere

“Who needs fresh air when there is fresh gossip?” declares the imperious Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) as word spreads around Regency London of the impending love match of Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlin). Indeed, dear readers, fresh air can wait when four more chapters concluding Season 3 are available for bingeing. While both families reel from this latest romantic revelation, a sword of Damocles hangs over their happy union: Penelope’s secret identity as anonymous gossipmonger Lady Whistledown. Better have a fainting couch ready when and if the well-polished shoe drops.

Season Premiere

The explosive (as in heads, often) and bloody entertaining superhero satire opens its long-awaited fourth season with an election that could put Congresswoman (and secret supe) Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) a step away from the White House, under the control of Alpha Supe and raging sociopathic “patriot” Homelander (Antony Starr). There’s also a leadership change among the vigilante Boys, still determined to expose and bring down the supes, with Butcher (Karl Urban) terminally ill and Hughie (Jack Quaid) distracted by his own ailing father. Season 4 launches with three episodes, the remaining of the eight-episode season dropping weekly.

Documentary Premiere

Come along with director/actor Andrew McCarthy for a nostalgic and revealing trip back to the 1980s heyday of the Brat Pack, a cultural phenomenon of which he’s a charter member. The author of Brat: An ’80s Story gathers many of his fellow Brat Packers—Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Jon Cryer, Lea Thompson and more—to reflect on their fame and infamy while filming iconic coming-of-age movies like St. Elmo’s Fire —which is one of a gallery of films also available on Hulu, including About Last Night, Betsy’s Wedding, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Fresh Horses and Say Anything.

Season Premiere

9/8c

Even those experiencing a pre-summer heat wave might find themselves chilled to the bone when they tune in to the 11^th season of this most rugged of reality competitions. Filming themselves without crews in the harsh frigid wilderness of Inuvik, Canada—the series’ most northern location to date—10 survivalists make do as they forage for food and shelter while dodging predatory wildlife. The last one standing in this test of endurance takes home $500,000.

Season Finale

10/9c

The engaging docuseries about the Welsh soccer team owned by Hollywood buddies Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney ends its third season on what threatens to be a sour note. Having been promoted back into the English Football League after last year’s triumphs, the Red Dragons of Wrexham struggled, particularly on the road. As the end of the team’s season approaches, Ryan and Rob have some tough decisions to make.

The wicked Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson) can’t say he wasn’t warned. And Kristen (Katja Herbers) wasn’t kidding earlier this season when she said, “Did you ever wonder why The Omen skipped the infancy? Because that’s the real horror.” Now that the infant whom Leland insists is the anti-Christ has been born (using one of Kristen’s eggs), the babe is bedeviling him with all manner of bodily fluids, and he turns to an unusual source for help. Elsewhere in a typically wild episode, the team encounters a supernatural force that’s literally eating their words, Sister Andrea (Andrea Martin) takes giant shears to fight a demon that’s become attached to Father Ignatius (Wallace Shawn), and Leland targets Kristen’s husband Andy (Patrick Brammall) with a truly diabolical scheme.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• U.S. Open (6:30 am/ET, USA Network): Coverage of the USGA’s national championship starts early at North Carolina’s Pinehurst Resort & Country Club. Starting at 5 pm/ET, the first round continues, streaming on Peacock.
• Patti Stanger: The Matchmaker (8/7c, The CW): Former NFL tight end Roland Williams is Patti’s client in the season finale.
• Elkhorn (9/8c, INSP): The first season of the historical drama ends with future president and rancher Theodore Roosevelt (Mason Beals) fending off a stampede during a lightning strike, then getting the ranch settled for the winter before returning to New York to reunite with his daughter.

ON THE STREAM:

• Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go (streaming on Max): On the comedy Hacks, Hannah Einbinder plays a writer penning jokes for a stand-up legend (Jean Smart). In her first comedy special, Einbinder takes the stage of L.A.’s El Rey Theatre to regale an audience with humorous reflections on her stoner roots, her queer identity and other personal matters.
• Fateful Planet (streaming on Curiosity Stream): A five-part nature docuseries, filmed in eight locations worldwide, spans 4.5 billion years as it recounts distinct periods of mass extinction events in Earth’s turbulent history.
• Criminal Minds: Evolution (streaming on Paramount+): What did dastardly serial killer Elias Volt (Zach Gilford) whisper to Luke (Adam Rodriguez) that got him so upset? The answer is damaging enough that members of the BAU are urged to contact Volt’s estranged family to arrange a reunion to appease the imprisoned fiend. It’s almost a welcome distraction when J.J. (A.J. Cook) and Rossi (Joe Mantegna) are sent to Houston to investigate a “Moving Day” killer targeting new homeowners. Back in the office, Prentiss (Paget Brewster) is besieged with conspiracy theories perpetuated by her annoying neighbor Brian (Paul F. Tompkins).