Old Men in Afghanistan, Oprah on AI, Emily Goes to Rome, ‘SNL’ Stars Host ‘New York After Dark’

Season Premiere

10/9c

The title of this grizzled spy adventure might consider going plural in its second year, because on-the-run former CIA agent Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) is now yoked with his adversary from last season, ex-FBI boss Harold Harper (John Lithgow), bickering their way into Afghanistan as old pros do. Their mission: find and retrieve Dan’s daughter and Harold’s FBI protégée, Emily (Alia Shawkat), who’s been kidnapped by Afghan tribal chief Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban) — who happens to be Emily’s biological dad from way back. Make that three old men caught up in this intrigue, as they all go up against the Taliban. The first of two hours brings Dan and Harold deep into treacherous Afghan territory. The second hour is seen mostly from Emily’s disoriented point of view.

Season Premiere

Make that Emily in Rome. At least for part of the second half of Season 4, which finds Emily (Lily Collins) setting aside all of those triangulated romcom complications in the City of Lights as she heads to the Eternal City on the invitation of new love interest Marcello (Eugenio Franceschini). From the looks of things, she’s trying to channel Audrey Hepburn from the classic Roman Holiday, at least in the style department. I’ve got news for you: Emily’s no Audrey.

Special

The irreverent Weekend Update tag team from Saturday Night Live still has a few weeks before the late-night show’s landmark 50th season begins on September 28. (And presumably, Jost has recovered from his Olympics misadventures in Tahiti.) They moonlight as hosts of a live comedy showcase from Brooklyn’s The Bell House, where an in-person audience welcomes rising and established comics, with 1500 or Nothin’ as the house band. The duo hopes to introduce some new faces to their fans, but expect some old favorites as well.

Those rings are causing trouble all over the realm as the epic fantasy series heads into the second half of Season 2. In Eregion, the ringsmith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) clashes with Annatar aka Sauron (Charlie Vickers) over creating more rings for men, the artisan fearing “the danger of corruption is too great.” (He’s not wrong.) Elsewhere, in the underground dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dûm, Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur) grows concerned after his ring-wearing father the King (Peter Mullan) shows signs of becoming obsessed with his new power.

AI and the Future of Us: An Oprah Winfrey Special (8/7c, ABC): We beg you, Queen Oprah, to lead us down that mystifying rabbit hole of newfangled artificial intelligence. And so she does, in an hourlong special that aims to shed light on the promise and perils of AI, featuring interviews with Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI, and tech visionary Bill Gates, who describes the oncoming revolution in science, health and education while also warning of AI’s potential impact on the job market. Oprah gets a demonstration of AI’s dazzling possibilities from YouTube’s Marques Browless, while FBI Director Christopher Wray reveals how criminals and foreign agents are using AI for nefarious purposes.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• America’s Got Talent (8/7c, NBC): Find out which acts from Wednesday’s live show will move on to next week’s finals. Followed by the first episode of Peacock’s comedy Mr. Throwback (9/8c), starring NBA/Olympics star Stephen Curry as himself in a mockumentary about his reunion with a childhood friend (Happy Endings’ Adam Pally) whose life hasn’t gone nearly so well.
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (10/9c, ABC): The game show repeats a memorable appearance by Celebrity Jeopardy! champ Ike Barinholtz and his dad Alan.
• The Tailor of Sin City (10/9c, SundanceTV, streaming on Sundance Now and AMC+): A four-part true-crime docuseries tells the story of how gifted small-town tailor AJ Pratt is elevated by the Kansas City Mob to Las Vegas, where he becomes a cocaine kingpin after taking the infamous Pablo Escobar as a client.

ON THE STREAM:

• Thursday Night Football (8:15 pm/ET, Prime Video): A new season begins with the Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins.
• Trigger Point (streaming on BritBox): Edge-of-your-seat TV at its most harrowing. Season 2 continues with the bomb-disposal team reeling over the latest brutal and shocking death when an informant emerges and a journalist receives a suspicious package.
• Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter (streaming on Netflix): A documentary follows a woman who plays citizen sleuth after she learns that the daughter she gave up for adoption when she was just 17 has been missing for years.