1) “Grey’s Anatomy” season-opener, 9 p.m. Thursday, ABC. One of the last shows to return post-strike, this is one that people miss. It’s the 20th “Grey’s Anatomy” season, tying it with “Gunsmoke” for No. 3 among dramas (trailing two “Law & Order” shows). It opens with a doctor (Teddy) and patient (Sam) in peril. Meredith is re-thinking her research and interns (shown here is Harry Shum Jr.) are immersed in a tough case.
2) “9-1-1” and “Station 19” season-openers, 8 and 10 p.m, Thursday. ABC,. Surrounding “Grey’s” are two shows about rescue teams. “Station 19” starts its final season with a hostage crisis. And “9-1-1” has an epic story for its jump from Fox to ABC: Athena (Angela Bassett) and Bobby (Peter Krause) take a belated honeymoon cruise. Naturally, pirates take over and the ship is soon sinking.
3) “Nolly” opener, 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS. In real life, “Nolly” Gordon was a British TV pioneer. A talkshow host and program executive, she had a soap opera molded around her; fame and awards followed. That era is captured brilliantly by Russell Davies (the writer who revived “Doctor Who”). It;s funny and warm … and then, mid-way in the first of three parts, takes a fascinating shift.
4) “Queens” conclusion, 8, 9 and 10:03 p.m. today, National Geographic. This superb series views the females that dominate animal society. At 8 is a moving portrait of an elephant herd guiding its one baby. Other hours view Ethiopian wolves and simians and then bears and orcas. Previous ones are at 4:49, 5:55 and 6:54, plus Hulu and Disney+. And at 11:07, we see the gifted women who filmed this.
5) “Alert: Missing Persons Unit,” 9 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. This tries hard – too hard, maybe – to please. It has a wild tale of a guy hiding in plain sight, dressed as Ben Franklin and giving tours in Philadelphia. And it extends the cliché of a forensic scientist who has odd social skills. Credibility is strained, but it’s still an interesting tale, with solid work from its stars, Scott Caan and Dania Ramirez.
6) “Password” season-opener, 10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. Joe Manganiello keeps having “The Voice” as his lead-in. At 10 p.m. Monday, he hosts “Deal or No Deal Island”; the next night, he battles Jimmy Fallon on this show, with Keke Palmer as host, That’s on a night that starts with Brent Spiner reviving his old “Night Court” role, then has a funny “Extended Family,” with some yoga-flounderiing.
7) “The Amazing Race” season-opener, 9:30-11 p.m. Wednesday, CBS. The 13 duos cover a wide range. There’s a mother-son and a dad-daughter. There are cousins, twin brothers and a brother-sister. One married duo has retired cops; another includes Rod Gardner, who had 242 receptions and 23 touchdowns in six pro-football seasons. Friend duos include Air Force pilots and small-town firefighters.
8) Basketball finals. There are conference tourneys all week, including 13 finals on Saturday. Fox has the Big East one at 6:30 p.m. ET and the final game of the disbanding Pac-12 at 9, ESPN has the Big 12 at 6 and the ACC at 8:30. ESPN2 has five games, ending with the Big West at 9:30 and the WAC at 11:30. Also: CBS (Mountain West, 6 p.m.), CBS Sports Network, ESPNU.
9) “NAACP Image Awards,” 8-10 p.m. Saturday, CBS and BET. Queen Latiifah has her second straight year as host, after a nine-year stretch with Anthony Anderson. There are special awards (including poet Amanda Gorman, 25) and ones for TV, music, books and more. Nominated for best movie are “American Fiction,” “Rustin,” “The Color Purple,” “Oppenheimer” and “They Cloned Tyrone.”
10) “Call the Midwife” season-opener and “Alice & Jack” debut, 8 and 10 p.m. Sunday, PBS. The usually dependable “Midwife” has a wobbly start; key dialog is hard to follow and a gun-toting storyline is way out of its wheelhouse. It gets better next week – and “Alice” works instantly. A tentatiive and appealing romance of opposites is well played by Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson,