Survivor 45 and The Golden Bachelor Mark the Official Start of the Fall TV Season

Looking for your next binge-watch, or just need to fill an hour? Welcome to Your Weekly Watch List, our curated collection of the best shows on television. Here's what to watch from Sunday, September 24 through Saturday, September 30.

Late September traditionally brings the return of broadcast hits like Grey's Anatomy and Young Sheldon, but as the SAG-AFTRA strike continues, networks are going all in on unscripted programming. This week sees a host of reality and competition show premieres, including returning favorites Survivor and Dancing with the Stars and highly-anticipated spin-off The Golden Bachelor. Elsewhere on TV, Starstruck offers more charming romance, Reservation Dogs caps a historic run, Gen V introduces The Boys' next generation of superheroes, and more.

Survivor 45, The Voice, and The Golden Bachelor Premieres

Various days and times on broadcast
*Our must-watch picks of the week*

The fall TV season officially gets underway this week with more than a dozen broadcast premieres, almost all of which involve some kind of competition — though prizes vary from money to bragging rights to lasting love. Fans of the genre should make a point to tune in to the landmark 45th season of Survivor (Wednesday, 8:00 PM ET on CBS), which has been expanded into a 90-minute format that will offer a closer look at the castaways' 26 days in Fiji and Jeff Probst's many twists. The Voice (Monday and Tuesday, 8:00 PM ET on NBC) also shakes up its judging panel as country music legend Reba McEntire claims her red chair and competes with Niall Horan, John Legend, and Gwen Stefani in the blind auditions. And after a brief stint on streaming, Dancing With the Stars (Tuesday, 8:00 PM ET on ABC and Disney+) returns to network television, where Ariana Madix, Mira Sorvino, and Adrian Peterson will cha-cha their way through different theme nights.

But the most-hyped reality show of the week just might be The Golden Bachelor (Thursday, 8:00 PM ET on ABC). Bachelor Nation doesn't have a great track record when it comes to women of a certain age, but ABC's spin-off makes an effort to change that: The 22 women dating 71-year-old Gerry Turner are all between 60 and 75 years old, and they speak openly about the negative stereotypes they've had to overcome in their personal and professional lives. These women, and the show, bring a different perspective to the franchise, one that seems decidedly less interested in social media fame and sponsorship deals. That said, Bachelor in Paradise (Thursday, 9:00 PM ET on ABC) airs immediately afterward, if you want a traditional Bachelor experience.

Other unscripted premieres this week include:

Kitchen Nightmares: Monday, 8:00 PM ET on Fox
The Masked Singer Season 10: Wednesday, 8:00 PM ET on Fox
Celebrity Jeopardy! Season 2: Wednesday, 8:00 PM ET on ABC
Snake Oil: Wednesday, 9:00 PM ET on Fox
The Amazing Race Season 35: Wednesday, 9:30 PM ET on CBS

The Irrational

Monday, 10:00 PM ET on NBC

Reality TV may dominate the broadcast networks this fall, but NBC has kept at least one scripted drama in its pocket. The Irrational stars Jesse L. Martin as Alec Mercer, a behavioral science expert who puts his knowledge to use on high-stakes cases of all kinds. While Criminal Minds' Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Numb3rs prodigy Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz) fought crime by identifying patterns, Alec specializes in evaluating illogical behavior and turning it back around on the perpetrators. His unique skill set is best applied to more unconventional cases (including one in which a woman asks him to solve her own murder), giving the procedural a campy feel reminiscent of its late-2000s predecessors.

But for all The Irrational's breeziness, Martin gets down to business when it matters. Martin brings shades of his longtime Law & Order character, Detective Edward Green, to the role, and his interplay with co-stars Maahra Hill (as Alec's ex-wife Marissa, an FBI agent) and Arash DeMaxi and Molly Kunz (as his dedicated researchers) is a consistent highlight. The NBC series isn't breaking any new ground, but in a season devoid of procedural dramas, it makes for a perfectly enjoyable watch.

Reservation Dogs Series Finale

Wednesday, Hulu

Reservation Dogs' third and final season has taken these sh*tasses from the home of an alien-obsessed conspiracy theorist (Graham Greene) to an Indian boarding school in a run of episodes that Primetimer editor-in-chief Danette Chavez rightly hailed as "incandescent." Over the past 10 episodes, the comedy's Indigenous teens have grown in ways big and small as they've evaluated their respective futures, but no matter what life threw at them — acid trips, bus explosions, or visits from spirits — they stuck together. The same can be said for the uncles and aunties of Okern: In "Wahoo!", a beautiful episode directed by star Devery Jacobs, Rita (Sarah Podemski) and her friends set Cookie's (Janae Collins) spirit free, giving each of them an opportunity to seek out new adventures while honoring their shared past.

As Sterlin Harjo's acclaimed series concludes, it will be remembered for its ability to reinforce its themes of Native joy and trauma in a way that was both intimate and expansive (and always laugh-out-loud funny). The Rez Dogs and their elders will be missed immensely, but this talented group of performers, writers, and craftspeople can rest assured that their work will not be forgotten.

Starstruck Season 3

Thursday, Max (Full Season)

One of television's best will-they/won't-they stories continues as Starstruck's third season hits Max. (It premiered across the pond in August.) When viewers last saw New Zealander Jessie (Rose Matafeo) and movie star Tom Kapoor (Nikesh Patel), they were kissing in a pond, finally ready to commit to one another, but reality soon set in and they went their separate ways. Two years after the breakup, they've entered new relationships — Jessie is dating Liam (Lorne MacFadyen), an electrician, and Tom is engaged to a famous actor, Clem (Constance Labbé) — but lingering feelings prevent them from fully moving on.

While Jessie and Tom's undeniable chemistry (and the chaos it creates in their lives) still drives Starstruck, Season 3 also expands its focus on Jessie's friends, including newlyweds Kate (Emma Sidi), now pregnant, and Ian (Al Roberts). These lively group scenes make for some of the funniest moments of the season, but they also reinforce Jessie's anxiety about being left behind as her friends move on to the next stage of life. As a result, the season becomes less about Jessie and Tom's romantic journey and more about her general aimlessness, a theme that's developed with care across six episodes.

Gen V

Friday, Prime Video

The Boys heads back to the classroom in Gen V, the second spin-off in Prime Video's popular franchise. Set at Godolkin University, a prestigious superhero college, Gen V sees a new group of supes hone their abilities in battle royal challenges while navigating the freedoms and expectations of young adulthood. The supes are content to test their budding powers and party their faces off, but when they discover something is amiss at Godolkin, they end up on a collision course with the university's sinister administration and their backers at Vought.

Though Gen V introduces a new group of characters (played by up-and-coming actors including Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jaz Sinclair, and Chance Perdomo), it carries on The Boys' legacy as an irreverent, ultra-violent superhero drama. The spin-off also includes guest appearances from Chace Crawford's The Deep and Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy, and because it's set concurrently with its parent series, it's bound to include a few Easter eggs to tide longtime fans over until Season 4 premieres. Three episodes of Gen V drop Friday, followed by one every week through November 3.

If You Have...

An Hour

Krapopolis: Sunday, 8:00 PM ET on Fox
Breeders Series Finale: Monday, 10:00 PM ET on FX
Physical Series Finale: Wednesday, Apple TV+
The Kardashians Season 4 Premiere: Thursday, Hulu
The Great British Baking Show Collection 11 Premiere: Friday, Netflix

An Evening

Below Deck Mediterranean Season 8 Premiere: Monday, 9:00 PM ET on Bravo
The Vanishing Triangle: Thursday, Sundance Now
The 72nd Annual Miss USA Pageant: Friday, 8:00 PM ET on The CW
The New York Times Presents: How to Fix a Pageant: Friday, 10:00 PM ET on FX

A Full Day

The Devil's Plan: Tuesday, Netflix
Love in Fairhope: Wednesday, Hulu
Castlevania: Nocturne: Thursday, Netflix

Up Next

Found: Tuesday, October 3 on NBC
Only Murders in the Building Season 3 Finale: Tuesday, October 3 on Hulu
Our Flag Means Death Season 2: Thursday, October 5 on Max
Loki Season 2: Thursday, October 5 on Disney+
Lupin Part 3: Thursday, October 5 on Netflix

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.