‘Hacks’ Is Back, ‘Matlock’ Faces the Music, ‘Pitt’ Finale, ‘Black Mirror’

Not coasting from its recent and well-deserved best-comedy Emmy win, Hacks opens its fourth scathingly hilarious season with stand-up legend Deborah Vance (the peerless Jean Smart, who’s won three Emmys for the role) at war with her long-suffering writing partner and protégée Ava (the resilient and resourceful Hannah Einbinder). Deborah is furious over being blackmailed by Ava to give her the head-writer job Deborah had promised her for the late-night show both fought so hard to attain. Their caustic conflict creates backstage tension as they scramble to develop and put on a show worthy of them both. Launches with two episodes. (See the full review.)

This is the episode fans have been waiting for, and possibly fearing, ever since the twist was revealed that Matty Matlock (the great Kathy Bates) isn’t who she says she is. “Who the hell are you?” her boss and would-be friend Olympia (a stunning Skye P. Marshall) demanded in last week’s cliffhanger, revealing she had finally seen through Matty’s web of lies. The fallout is dramatic, with Olympia boiling in rage over the deception and Matty trying to explain her altruistic goal. “I’m your judge, I’m your jury,” Olympia tells the real Madeline Kingston. But can Olympia handle the truth about the faux Matlock’s crusade for justice?

After the most harrowing 15-hour ordeal imaginable, it’s time for the day shift to hang up their scrubs and stethoscopes and head home. And yet the crises don’t stop in the Season 1 finale of TV’s most riveting hospital drama, as Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle, never better) contends with anti-vax parents of a measles patient, disgraced senior resident Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) pleads his case and gung-ho resident Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) rides an adrenaline high. We know how she feels.

Charlie Brooker‘s tantalizing Twilight Zone-style sci-fi anthology returns for a highly anticipated seventh season, including a sequel to Season 4’s Emmy-winning fan favorite USS Callister. In USS Callister: Into Infinity, the cloned crew of the virtual starship have lost their creator and tormentor, but now are fighting for survival against millions of game players. Another video game-inspired episode, Plaything, features Bandersnatch‘s game developer Colin Ritman (Will Poulter) in a vignette about a murder suspect linked to a 1990s video game. The impressive guest-star roster includes Paul Giamatti, Issa Rae, former Doctor Who Peter Capaldi, The Crown‘s Emma Corrin, Rashida Jones, Chris O’Dowd and Tracee Ellis Ross. All six episodes are available for a mega-binge.

After centuries of “torturous sexual frustration” (Thor’s words), the lovelorn Native American spirit Sasappis (Román Zaragoza) considers taking a risk to his own immortality in order to reconnect with the love of his afterlife, Shiki. But first, they need to fix the ghost trap that could carry him across Woodstone’s ghost boundary, a device with few guarantees of safety. As newly arrived “roamer” Joan (Taylor Ortega) puts it, fighting her own feelings for Sasappis, “No great love story ever ends without fighting through some adversity.”

A charming comedy set in the frigid Arctic village of Ice Cove stars Anna Lambe as Siaja, a restless young Inuk mother who spurns her condescending husband (Kelly William) and, to the town’s horror, sets out to create an independent life for herself. Romantic complications ensue for Siaja and her former wild-child mother Neevee (Maika Harper) as our heroine finds a job and her purpose in a remote setting most of us can only dream of visiting.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Masters Tournament (3 pm/ET, ESPN): First round coverage of the 89th Masters Tournament begins on the hallowed ground of Augusta National Golf Club. Can defending champion Scottie Scheffler repeat?
• 9-1-1 (8/7c, ABC): The first of a two-part “Contagion” thriller sends the 118 into a biohazard when a lab specializing in lethal and exotic viruses catches on fire.
• Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (8/7c, CBS): The honeymoon period may be over when Georgie (Montana Jordan) and Mandy (Emily Osment) clash over having another kid.
• Law & Order (8/7c, NBC): The shooting death of a rising basketball star leads to the messy capture of a suspect. Followed by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9/8c), where long-buried secrets are revealed after a man is assaulted and burned.
• The Wizard of Paws (8 pm/ET, BYUtv): Derrick Campana returns for a seventh season of helping animals in need by creating prosthetics of all sizes. This season, he’s joined by his new dog, Rosie.
• Doctor Odyssey (9/8c, ABC): Avery (Phillipa Soo) faces a setback and Capt. Massey’s (Don Johnson) stress level has consequences during “Hot Tub Week.” Followed by Grey’s Anatomy (10/9c), where a visiting star surgeon triggers unpleasant memories for Griffith (Alexis Floyd).
• Elsbeth (10/9c, CBS): Denis Medical star David Alan Grier moonlights as an officious funeral-home owner who may have put his paranoid nephew six feet under, with Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) joined on the investigation by a chatty new officer (Wicked‘s Ethan Slater) while Kaya (Carra Patterson) settles into her new detective role.
• Found (10/9c, NBC): A fierce storm imperils M&A’s search for Heather (Danielle Savre).

ON THE STREAM:

• Pop the Balloon (streaming on Netflix): Insecure‘s Yvonne Orji hosts a streaming version of the viral dating series in which singles gauge their chemistry with a partner while trying not to, as they say, pop the balloon that comes between them.
• The Wheel of Time (streaming on Prime Video): Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) finds a new ally to help protect Two Rivers from Padan Fein (Johann Myers) and his army of Trollocs.
• Bosch: Legacy (streaming on Prime Video): While new D.A. Chandler (Mimi Rogers) faces blowback from the chief of police, Bosch (Titus Welliver) pursues a Juan Doe case he thinks may be linked to another murder.
• The Kardashians (streaming on Hulu): The reality show’s Season 6 finale finds Khloé heading to London to launch a new fragrance, while the L.A. family gathers for Kim’s birthday.