Hello to ‘Bridgerton,’ Goodbye to ‘Sheldon’ and ‘Todd,’ Academy of Country Music Awards, Blast from the Past on ‘9-1-1’

Bridgerton

One of streaming’s biggest hits is back for another lavishly costumed romcom romp through Regency London, with the first half of Season 3 focusing on the dilemma of Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), known to us but very few others as the anonymous author of Lady Whistledown’s scandalous gossip pamphlet (words deliciously read by Julie Andrews). While she wields a vicious pen, Penelope is much less confident in public social settings, including the relentless “marriage mart” of high society. So when her longtime crush Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) returns from his travels, suddenly a hot commodity, she enlists him as her mentor in an impromptu charm school, sparking his romantic interest. Though should he ever learn of her secret identity, woe befall Cupid. Four more episodes premiere June 13.

Young Sheldon

The prequel to The Big Bang Theory ends its seven-year run with a poignant farewell to George Sr. (Lance Barber), whose sudden death from a heart attack was predestined by the older Sheldon’s Big Bang backstory, yet still packs an emotional punch in the two-part series finale. Young Sheldon (Iain Armitage) is perplexed by the different ways people manifest grief, and while he replays his final moments with his dad over and over, older brother Georgie (Montana Jordan)—who’s about to inherit his own spinoff next season—steps up as the man of the Cooper family. In the second episode, Big Bang stars Jim Parsons (Sheldon) and Mayim Bialik (Amy) appear to provide a clever framework for Sheldon’s true coming of age as he prepares to leave the nest for Caltech. But first, his mother Mary (Zoe Perry) has a special and meaningful request.

So Help Me Todd

At least Sheldon got to map out its final act. This clever legal dramedy wasn’t so lucky, and by all reports, its final episode will end on an unresolved note. In Todd’s last chapter, Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden) continues her push to save the struggling Crest, Folding & Wright law firm by taking a case involving a deep-pocketed cosmetics company, while son Todd (Skylar Astin) doggedly works to crack the FBI investigation that could determine the firm’s fate. Let’s be glad for the time we had together, while always wishing for more.

Academy of Country Music Awards

The very busy Reba McEntire, a current coach on The Voice who’s also got a new sitcom in the fall for NBC, hosts and performs at the ACMs (of which she’s won 16) from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, in a ceremony livestreamed for free. (On Friday, the show can be replayed for free on Amazon Freevee and the Amazon Music app.) Highlights include a tribute to the late Toby Keith, with Jason Aldean singing “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” and plenty of performances and collaborations, with a roster including Kelsea Ballerini, Kane Brown, Jelly Roll, Avril Lavigne, Miranda Lambert, Post Malone, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton, Gwen Stefani, Thomas Rhett, Lainey Wilson and more.

9-1-1

When Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Resident) appeared last week as Amir, a nurse in a burn unit, it was immediately clear he was taking a special interest in 118 Captain Bobby Nash (Peter Krause), and not for a happy reason. Turns out he was a victim of the apartment fire that Bobby accidentally caused while drinking and which cost him his own family. Can Bobby make amends—the episode is titled “Step Nine”—that will satisfy Amir and put his own grief and guilt at ease?

Law & Order

The Season 23 finale turns out to be the swan song for Camryn Manheim as Lt. Kate Dixon, but the episode’s focus is on DA Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn), whose family witnesses a murder at a charity event, with his daughter (played by Goldwyn’s own daughter Tess) brought forth as a witness, and whose testimony could damage Baxter’s re-election campaign. Followed by the Season 25 finale of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9/8c), where the team attempts to stop a serial rapist before he escalates to murder; and the Season 4 finale of Law & Order: Organized Crime (10/9c), the spinoff’s last episode on NBC before migrating to Peacock, in which Stabler (Christopher Meloni) hopes to protect his brother Joe Jr. (Michael Trotter) during an ATF raid at the warehouse where he works, while Sergeant Bell (Danielle Moné Truitt) faces the man who killed Detective Samir Bashir (Abubakr Ali).

Hacks

In a classic sitcom situation, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her comedy writer/sidekick Ava (Hannah Einbinder) get lost and injured while hiking in the woods outside QVC headquarters, their bickering leading to epiphanies regarding their fraught working relationship. Then it’s off to a plush golf club where Deborah plans to woo affiliates who could help her land the coveted late-night gig. Guest stars include Tony Goldwyn (also on Law & Order) as the CEO she also needs to impress and Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks as a power player who catches Ava’s eye.

Outer Range

The supernatural contemporary Western returns for a second season, with Wyoming rancher Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin), wife Cecilia (Lili Taylor) and the rest of the ranching family and surrounding community continuing to plumb the depths of metaphysical mystery concealed within a giant black hole on their property. Does this portal through space and time have anything to do with the disappearance of their granddaughter?

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• PGA Championship (12 pm/ET, ESPN): First round coverage of the championship begins from Louisville’s Valhalla Golf course.
• I Can See Your Voice (8/7c, Fox): The wacky music competition returns for a new season, with Cheyenne Jackson, Tyler Hilton and Jimmie Allen acting as this week’s “Celebrity Detectives.” Followed by a reunion episode of Farmer Wants a Wife (9/8c).
• Grey’s Anatomy (9/8c, ABC): There’s no such thing as a day off for the doctors of Gray Sloan. Case in point: Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Teddy’s (Kim Raver) getaway is interrupted by their encounter with an injured civilian, while back at the hospital, the interns finally finish their procedure logs and are allowed back in the OR. Followed by Station 19 (10/9c), where the clinic is now being used to tend to asylum seekers bussed in from out of state.
• Elsbeth (10/9c, CBS): Succession’s Arian Moayed is the guest suspect, a cocktail bar owner whose revenge plot has a fatal aftertaste. While Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) snoops, she also teams with Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce) to find the real criminal in the DOJ investigation.

 ON THE STREAM:

• Star Trek: Discovery (streaming on Paramount+): Capt. Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is challenged to escape a “mindscape” and prove her worthiness to earn access to the Progenitor’s game-changing tech.
• Bronx Zoo ’90: Crime, Chaos and Baseball (streaming on Peacock): A three-part docuseries revisits the infamous year of 1990 for the New York Yankees, with team owner George Steinbrenner in legal jeopardy amid contract disputes, personal scandals and the team’s most losing season in years. (They would soon bounce back.)
• My Crazy Quince (streaming on Tubi): Comedian Anjelah Johnson-Reyes hosts a survey of memorably over-the-top quinceañera celebrations with home videos and guest panelists.