1) “The Simpsons,” 8 p.m. Sunday, Fox. Once a year, “Simpsons” offers a “Treehouse of Horror,” with three tales that are sometimes witty, sometimes gory, always odd and imaginative. The first 32, plus a special, rerun Tuesday from 7:30 a.m. to midnight; No. 33 reran last Sunday and No. 34 (shown here) debuts Sunday (Nov. 5). Its first two tales are fairly good (and quite gory), but the third one is the real gem, offering a world in which everyone has Homer-ic habits.
2) “Ghosts,” 8 and 8:30 p.m. today, CBS. Like the mythical village of Brigadoon, this show re-appears – but only for a day. It reruns Halloween episodes – both of them excellent – from the first two seasons. In the first, neighborhood kids plan to vandalize the place; the ghosts try to help … and make things worse. In the second, a séance goes bad. After that, be patient: Tentative plans have reruns returning Nov. 16, alongside the British version of the show,
3) More Halloween, cable. AMC has two days of “Halloween” films, including the 1978 original (6 a.m. and 6 p.m. today, 4 p.m. and midnight Tuesday). For fun, the Disney Channel has “Monsters University” at 7 p.m. today and “Halloweentown” at 11 a.m., 5:20 p.m. and 11:40 p.m. Tuesday, with sequels in between. Freeform has “Addams Family” films at 3 and 5 p.m. today, “Hotel Transylvania” ones at 7 and 9 p.m. today and 4:35 and 6:40 p.m. Tuesday.
4) “Planet Earth III” opener, 8-9:09 p.m. Saturday, BBC America. David Attenborough was 31 when he led a TV voyage to Raine Island, a 79-acre speck near Australia that is vital to the nesting of green turtles. Now, 66 years later, this eight-week series (which he narrates) returns to Raine. That wraps up an opening hour filled with gorgeous footage and smart narration. Previous “Planet Earth” episodes are rerun, from 9 a.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Sunday.
5) World Series, 5:03 p.m. PT today and beyond, Fox. In 2001, the Arizon Diamondbacks – in only their fourth season – won the deciding Series game, before a hometown crowd of 49,589. They’ve never been back in the Series until now. After two games in Texas, this returns to that same Arizona stadium for games today, Tuesday and (if needed) Wednesday. If needed, it’s back in Texas (which seeks its first Series title) Friday and Saturday.
6) “The Swarm” season-finale 9 p.m. Tuesday, CW. For the first seven, well-made episodes, the seas have churned. Whales attacked ships; killer crabs marched ashore. Secret drilling on the ocean floor may have unleashed a creature; last week, scientists arrived by ship to see. One tried to communicate by soundwaves; another tried a mini-sub mission. Now something has infiltrated the ship and one person is in a coma. Charlie faces a lonely decision.
7) “Quantum Leap” and “Magnum P.I.,” 8 and 9 p.m. Wednesday, NBC. Often, Ben leaps into bodies far different from his own; not now. Ben (Raymond Lee, who has Korean roots) leaps into a young Korean-American. It’s April 29, 1992, the day of battles between Korean merchants and Blacks angered by a not-guilty verdict for the police who beat Rodney King. This episode gets too talky, but “Magnum” then follows with a high-octane hour.
8) “SEAL Team” return, 10 p.m. Thursday, CBS. During the strikes, networks have pillaged cable and streaming shows. ABC took Monday football and “Dancing With the Stars”; CBS took “Yellowstone,” “FBI True” and “SEAL Team.” It begins with the fifth season, which had four episodes on CBS, then went to Paramount+. Starting a two-parter, the crew gets at-home time, starts a “training exercise” … and learn it’s a real (and dangerous) rescue mission.
9) “Great Performances,” 9 p.m. Friday, PBS. Two strong talents combine. There’s Sting, the singer-songwriter who has won 17 Grammys. And Kate Prince, who grew up in an English village and found fresh ways for dancers to blend hip hop and contemporary moves. She’s choreographed a passionate piece, backed by such Sting songs as “Roxanne” and “Every Breath You Take.” Forced to flee their country, a family finds pain and joy as refugees.
10) “JFK: One Day in America,” 8-11 p.m. Sunday, National Geographic. Before the 60th anniversary (Nov. 22) of the Kennedy assassination, we see it unfold slowly, via old footage and fresh interviews. We meet the woman who shared her home with Lee Harvey Oswald’s baby and estranged wife. We also meet the co-worker, then 19, who gave him a ride to work that day. “Lee was a big talker,” he says, but “he would not initiate a conversation.”
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