1) Horror films. On the first weekend of October, cable is in Halloween mode. On the light side, Freeform has the clever “Beetlejuice” (1988, shown here) at 6:45 p.m. and the bland “Haunted Mansion” (2023) at 8:50. Heavier? AMC has “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter” at 8 a.m. — then five films that followed it. The 1980 original is 8 p.m., with sequels at 10 and midnight.
2) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Nate Bargatze has become one of NBC’s favorite comics. He’s done Jimmy Fallon’s show 13 times, was on Fallon’s “Clean Comedy” tour and will have an NBC Christmas special. He hosted “SNL” last season and is back now, with Coldplay as music guest.
3) “Tracker,” 8 p.m., CBS. In eight days, “Tracker” will have its season-opener – which also launches CBS’ delayed fall season. First, here’s a goof episode that introduced a key character. Jensen Ackles (“Supernatural”) plays Colter’s estranged brother; he’ll be back in the new season.
4) Football. The 7:30 p.m. ET games include Tennessee (ranked No. 4) at Arkansas, Michigan (No. 10) at Wisconsin and Iowa State (No. 16) hosting Baylor. There’s much more, starting at noon on ABC, with Missouri (No. 9) at Texas A&M (No. 25).
5) MORE: The second round of baseball playoffs begins, with games at 1 and 6:30 p.m. ET on TBS, 4 p.m. on Fox and 8:30 on Fox Sports1. Also, the first three John Wick movies are on the Paramount Network at 10 a.m., noon and 2:30, repeating at 5:30, 7:30 and 10. The Conan films are at 7:30 and 10 on BBC America, the “IT” ones at 8 and 10:15 on HBO.