This Week in TV: ‘Handmaid’s Tale,’ ‘Atlanta’s’ Final Season, Fall Onslaught Begins

The official start of the 2022-23 TV season is only a few days away: On Monday, fall schedules at the broadcast networks kick into gear, which means a lot of season premieres (and a smattering of new series). The seven days from Sept. 14-20 are also pretty busy on streaming services — and the premieres on those platforms include a couple former broadcast staples. The coming week also brings the final season of Atlanta on FX.

Below is The Hollywood Reporter‘s rundown of premieres, returns and specials over the next seven days. It would be next to impossible to watch everything, but let THR point the way to worthy options for the coming week. All times are ET/PT unless noted.

The Big Show

The Handmaid’s Tale ended its fourth season in June 2021 with a seemingly momentous victory for June (Elisabeth Moss), who got her revenge on Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes). But of course, there will be fallout from June’s actions — for her, the people around her and even Serena (Yvonne Strahovski), who looks to build on her husband’s work as one of the architects of Gilead. Season five, which will be the next to last for the series, premieres with two episodes Wednesday on Hulu.

Also on streaming …

Former network stalwarts Thursday Night Football (8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. PT Thursday, Prime Video) and Dancing With the Stars (Monday, Disney+) move into their new streaming homes, and one-time CBS drama SEAL Team begins its second season on Paramount+ (and sixth overall) on Sunday. Peacock enrolls at Vampire Academy, from Legacies showrunner Julie Plec, on Thursday. Friday brings a new season of The Great British Baking Show and the second installment of Fate: The Winx Saga to Netflix. On Tuesday, Hulu debuts a comedy called Reboot from Modern Family’s Steven Levitan and a pizza-focused cooking competition called Best in Dough.

On broadcast …

New: NBC tries out a new take on Quantum Leap (10 p.m. Monday). The show is a sequel to the 1989-93 original that starred Scott Bakula and will follow a team that restarts the Quantum Leap project — only to see its leader, physicist Ben Song (Raymond Lee), make an unplanned jump into the past. Original series creator Don Bellisario is among the executive producers.

Also: Several summer shows wrap their seasons on Wednesday: NBC’s Password (8 p.m.) and America’s Got Talent (9 p.m.); Fox’s Masterchef (8 p.m.); and CBS’ The Challenge USA (9 p.m.). Dateline begins a new season at 9 p.m. Friday on NBC, and 60 Minutes winds the clock again at 7:30 p.m. Sunday (approximately; it will air after CBS’ afternoon NFL coverage ends).

Fall premieres on Monday are CBS’ The Neighborhood (8 p.m.), Bob Hearts Abishola (8:30 p.m.), NCIS (9 p.m.) and NCIS: Hawai’i (10 p.m.); Fox’s 911 (8 p.m.) and The Cleaning Lady (9 p.m.); and NBC’s The Voice (8 p.m.). Tuesday brings season openers for CBS’ FBI trio (starting at 8 p.m.); Fox’s The Resident (8 p.m.) and the time period debut of Monarch (9 p.m.); and the final season of New Amsterdam (10 p.m.) on NBC.

On cable …

Final season: After a trip through Europe — and as often as not leaving its main characters to the side — in season three, Atlanta returns to its hometown for the show’s fourth and last season. The final run is the “most grounded” season of the frequently surrealist show, creator and star Donald Glover said, and it will “explore people more than we have before, because I feel like we are right now kind of living in a time where you just don’t give people the benefit of the doubt.” It premieres at 10 p.m. Thursday on FX.

Also: HBO’s offbeat comedy Los Espookys begins its second season at 11 p.m. Friday. Anne Heche stars in Lifetime’s movie Girl in Room 13 (8 p.m. Saturday), one of her final roles before her death in August.