CBS All Access, 3:00 a.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE: While CBS is replaying Season 1 of this Star Trek spinoff series, CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Discovery, on the parent network during this pandemic, the Discovery series, on CBS All Access, was far enough in production to have banked a season in advance. So beginning today on CBS All Access, Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery returns with new weekly episodes, featuring new adventures in the Mirror universe, with Sonequa Martin-Green, as Commander Michael Burnham, sporting a new uniform and hairstyle (pictured). Watch it now on CBS All Access, for a small streaming service monthly fee – or, if tradition continues, watch it for free on CBS… in 2023.
Various Networks, 5:00 p.m. ET
Until yesterday, the American League Championship Series was entertainingly one-sided (well, entertainingly if you’re rooting, as I am, against the caught-cheating, legacy-tarnishing Houston Astros). The Tampa Bay Rays won the first three games in this best-of-seven series – but yesterday, the Astros took Game 4, giving the Rays a 3-1 series lead as they head into today’s Game 5, played at 5 p.m. ET and televised on TBS. If the Rays win, that team heads ton the World Series – and denies the Astros a chance to advance. If not, that’s still a possibility. Meanwhile, in the National League Championship Series: After the Atlanta Braves took the first two games from the Los Angeles Dodgers (winning the first game handily, and the second one after surviving a fierce comeback rally by the Dodgers), the Dodgers woke up and thrashed the Braves 15-3 in Game 3, scoring a record 11 runs in the first inning. Tonight: Game 4, broadcast at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET
SPECIAL: Tonight was supposed to be the second presidential debate of 2020, but President Trump refused to abide by the safety protocols dictated by the debate organizers, so the second debate was canceled – though what once was the third one, scheduled for next Thursday, Oct. 22, remains on the books. (For now.) But instead, the presidential candidates tonight will answer a question very few people ever thought to ask: What if they gave a presidential debate and only one person came? That’s what’s happening, in essence, as Joe Biden goes to Philadelphia to hold a special, last-minute town hall event, hosted by George Stephanopoulos and broadcast by ABC. While, at the exact same time…
NBC & MSNBC, 8:00 p.m. ET
SPECIAL: On NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC, Donald Trump holds court with a town hall event of his own – televised live from an outdoor event at Miami’s Perez Art Museum, moderated by Savannah Guthrie. His event will be spread across three NBC networks, not just one – and because Trump is, by definition and design, more unpredictable and outrageous on live TV, he’s quite likely to walk away boasting of a ratings victory against his presidential rival. If Trump wins the ratings battle but loses the election war, Biden supporters should be very happy – but NBC’s decision to schedule Trump’s town hall in the exact hour when Biden and ABC already had announced theirs was poor citizenship. Of course , many viewers have the technical capability to watch one town hall while recording and replaying the other – but having the capability and the inclination are two different things. NBC already has hosted a town hall this election cycle with Biden, so giving a similar platform to Trump is commendably fair – but scheduling it in a time-slot duel against Biden on ABC is media mismanagement. It should have been scheduled as a doubleheader: Biden on ABC first, because he was first to schedule his own event after Trump walked away from tonight’s scheduled debate, followed by Trump on the NBC networks. That would have been fair. But if you’re still expecting fairness from anything regarding the 2020 presidential election – well, welcome back to planet Earth. Where have you been?
