Kristen Bell & Adam Brody Do Romcom, People’s Choice Country Awards, ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Joins ABC Lineup, ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Heads East

Nobody Wants This

Fleabag had its hot priest. Now meet Noah the hot rabbi, as played charmingly by The O.C. alum Adam Brody, who has chemistry to spare with Veronica Mars icon Kristen Bell in a fun romcom. The complication, because there are always hurdles: Joanne is a shiksa (“not a Jewish bone in her body”), also a non-believer, and her profession might seem a bit dicey to his congregants. She co-hosts a frank-talk podcast about sex and relationships with her snarky sister (Succession’s Justine Lupe). “Is there a world where this works?” Noah wonders after their first kiss. Let’s hope so. The terrific supporting cast includes Veep’s Timothy Simons as Noah’s brother and the fierce Tovah Feldshuh as his disapproving mom. She may not want this to work, but we do.

People’s Choice Country Awards

The second edition of the fan-driven awards show is hosted by Shania Twain, with Miranda Lambert receiving the Country Icon Award. Both will perform from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry stage, joined by Country Champion Award recipient Kane Brown, Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini, Brad Paisley, Lady A, Parker McCollum and more.

9-1-1

What’s the buzz? Season 8 (the second on ABC) opens in crisis mode when a long-haul truck crashes, unleashing a swarm of 22 million killer bees upon Los Angeles. A “bee-nado,” observes Buck (Oliver Stark). He’s not getting along well with the “buzzkill” new Capt. Gerrard (Brian Thompson), an unwelcome replacement for Bobby Nash (Peter Krause), whose new gig is rather meta. Elsewhere, Bobby’s wife Athena (Angela Bassett) is sent on a road trip to Phoenix, as police escort to someone she hoped she’d never see again.

Grey’s Anatomy

When did Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) become such a monster? She fired anyone who stood up to her in last season’s finale—including Bailey (Chandra Wilson)!—and Season 21 opens with the Fox Foundation maven as unyielding as ever, prompting a visit from son Jackson (Jesse Williams), who urges Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) to take the high road. Bailey is less than thrilled to learn the new residency director filling her formidable shoes is the chirpy Sydney Heron (Kali Rocha from seasons 2 through 4), whose mantra is “Who’s ready to heal with love?” Elsewhere at Grey Sloan, Winston (Anthony Hill) nudges a reluctant Webber (James Pickens Jr.) back towards surgery, and the interns help treat a climate-change protestor who fell through a car’s windshield. As Sydney understates, “Odd things often happen here.” Preceded by the series premiere of Doctor Odyssey (9/8c), a Love Boat-meets-Royal Pains drama starring Joshua Jackson and Don Johnson, not made available for preview.

Hell’s Kitchen

The cooking competition that put Gordon Ramsay on the TV map returns for a 23^rd season, moving East for the first time, based at Connecticut’s Foxwoods Resort Casino, where Ramsay operates one of his Hell’s Kitchen restaurants. This season’s cast is comprised entirely of head chefs accustomed to calling the shots in their diverse fields. Ramsey’s looking for leaders, setting the bar higher than ever. Cue the bleep machine. Followed by the Season 3 premiere of Crime Scene Kitchen (9/8c), hosted by Joel McHale.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Battle rages in the penultimate episode of the epic fantasy’s second season, as Adar’s (Sam Hazeldine) army of orcs lay siege on Eregion, where ringsmith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) begins to suspect that something’s amiss. Which may be too little too late, as dark lord Sauron, cloaked as Annatar (Charlie Vickers), seizes more power. Surely the dwarf allies can rally their own army, but they’ve got their own problems.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Colin from Accounts (streaming on Paramount+): The hilarious romantic comedy from Australia, starring real-life couple Patrick Brammall (Evil) and Harriet Dyer (American Auto) as Gordon and Ashley, returns for a second season. The couple is trying to make things work, but first they need to get their special-needs dog Colin back.
• Killer Heat (streaming on Prime Video): The Greek isle of Crete is the backdrop for a sun-dappled noir thriller, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a dashing private eye hired by femme fatale Shailene Woodley to investigate the death of her brother-in-law, twin to her rich and powerful husband (Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden).
• Little Penguin Love Island (streaming on Curiosity Stream): A nature documentary follows the courtship of two diminutive blue penguins on the Australian island of Tasmania.
• Frasier (streaming on Paramount+): Peri Gilpin makes a repeat return appearance as Roz Doyle from the original series, badgering the guys—Frasier (Kelsey Grammer), son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) and professor buddy Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst)—to care for Eve’s (Jess Salguiero) baby and give the single mom a night off. Is that too much to ask? Maybe.