New Faces on ‘Ghosts,’ Vicki Lawrence on ‘Kat,’ Game Night on ABC, BattleBots at War

Ghosts

As the supernatural hit comedy returns from holiday hiatus, Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) are so thrilled to hire eager new assistant Freddie (Mike Lane) that Sam temporarily stops engaging with the ghosts only she can see. They are not amused. But Sasappis (Román Zaragoza) is uncharacteristically tickled, because Freddie has brought along his own spiritual baggage (Superstore’s deliriously dizzy Nichole Sakura) to whom he’s instantly drawn. In other ghostly news, Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long) is chagrined to learn that his son Bjorn (Christian Jadah) from across the way is being bullied—which doesn’t mean he wants Pete (Richie Moriarty) to butt in with parenting advice.

Call Me Kat

Comedy great Vicki Lawrence, who appeared opposite the late Leslie Jordan in the previous Fox sitcom The Cool Kids, makes a guest appearance as Lurlene, the mother of Phil (Jordan). She’s filling in as the café’s baker while Phil is away, which feels like a most appropriate tribute, but whether this gig has staying power remains to be seen.

Celebrity Jeopardy!

On the same day that her Netflix dramedy Ginny & Georgia returns for a second season, Brianne Howey matches wits with Arrested Development’s Michael Cera and The Afterparty’s Zoë Chao in a quarterfinal game when the tournament resumes. Also returning with new episodes: The Chase (10/9c), with Victoria “The Queen” Groce as this week’s intimidating Chaser. On an all-unscripted night of programming until Grey’s Anatomy and its neighbors return late next month, The Parent Test (9/8c) sets up shop, contrasting parenting styles as families take on the Fine Dining Challenge and the Home Alone Challenge.

Battlebots

An elite field of 50 teams from around the world convene with their combat robots at Las Vegas’ Caesars Entertainment Studios in hopes of qualifying for the BattleBots World Championship VII. Among the contenders: past champion and current Golden Bolt winner End Game, and reigning World Champion Tantrum, with all teams competing in a four-fight qualifying season, chasing the ultimate goal of taking home the top prize, The Giant Nut. Home teams from the USA take on challengers from Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South America as the high-tech battles rage on, with sportscaster Chris Rose and former UFC fighter Kenny Florian providing play-by-play analysis and Faruq Tauheed returning as Ring Announcer.

Inside Thursday TV:

• Hell’s Kitchen (8/7c, Fox): The cooking competition resumes with actor-turned-taco master Danny Trejo appearing as guest judge to sample the Final 9 chefs’ attempts to create elevated tacos.
• Young Sheldon (8/7c, CBS): Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage) a dropout? It could happen, when he considers leaving college to build his database.
• Law & Order (8/7c, NBC): The murder of a homeless migrant leads detectives Cosgrove (Jeffrey Donovan) and Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) to investigate a cover-up at a construction site. Followed by new episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9/8c), in which Benson (Mariska Hargitay) is targeted by a gang leader, and Law & Order: Organized Crime (10/9c), where Stabler (Christopher Meloni) is approached by a desperate informer and Jamie (Brent Antonello) goes undercover.
• So Help Me Todd (9/8c, CBS): Happy Endings’ Eliza Coupe guests as Veronica, the jailbird ex-girlfriend of Todd (Skylar Astin), who turns to her as a last resort for help in a case his mother, Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden), is in danger of losing.
• Kold x Windy (10/9c, WE tv): Following the season premiere of Growing Up Hip Hop (9/8c), a scripted musical drama follows hip hop/drill rising star and single mom Malika “Kold” Wise (Sh’Kia Augustin) and her rapper confidant Renee “Windy” Johnson (Nijah Brenea) as they forge careers on Chicago’s South Side.
• January 6th (streaming on discovery+): Award-winning directors Gédéon and Jules Naudet (9/11) were granted full access to the Capitol and Metropolitan Police Departments in their deep-dive documentary into the events surrounding the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which includes testimony from politicians, staffers and first responders who survived the melee.
• Ginny & Georgia (streaming on Netflix): The dramedy about the complicated relationship between wise-beyond-her-years teenage Ginny (Antonia Gentry) and Georgia, her “damaged, trailer-park teen-mom murderer” mother (Brianne Howey), is back for a second season.
• Death in the Dorms (streaming on Hulu): From ABC News Studios, a six-episode true-crime anthology explores the tragic murders of college students from across the country, with a focus on the victims’ lost potential, the grief of family and friends and their determination to seek justice.