Everything worth watching on Thursday, October 29, 2026, across 32 channels.

Thursday’s one live event is on cable, and everything else can wait

See also: Friday's TV guide

Thursday night belongs to the WNBA Finals on USA Network, the only thing on the dial that has to be watched as it happens. It starts at 8pm ET (5pm PT), and USA is already scheduling a postgame show for 10:30pm ET, which tells you how much of the evening the network expects the game to fill. If you care about basketball at all, this is the night. If you don’t, there is still a strong case for staying off the big networks.

The 8pm fight

Eight o’clock is crowded and mostly familiar. ABC has 9-1-1, NBC has The Traitors: New Blood, FOX has Hell’s Kitchen, and ION has “FBI: Captured”. CBS goes with Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, an episode subtitled “The Devil’s Interval and a British Stripper”, which is at least a title that commits. All of these air at 8pm ET/PT, 7pm Central.

Of that group, The Traitors: New Blood is the strongest network entry and NBC’s best case for the hour. But the real choice at this hour is between a live Finals game that happens once and a pile of series that will still be there on Friday. That is why the Finals take the pick, even with ABC and NBC both in the slot.

The 9pm hour is a Halloween mix

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit holds NBC’s 9pm slot with “Arcana”, and ABC follows 9-1-1 with 9-1-1: Nashville. Those are the dependable choices. The more interesting scheduling is on the cable side, where Halloween week is still doing the work. FX has American Horror Story: Devil of a Good Time. CBS offers Ghosts with “Halloween 6: The Mirror – Part One and Part Two” at 9:01pm ET/PT, the most seasonal title on a broadcast network all night.

Keep an eye on the stragglers too. FOX’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test starts at 9:02pm ET/PT, a minute-and-change offset that matters if you are flipping between channels.

The movies, and the ones worth the hour

For anyone who wants the evening off from series television, Paramount Network has Raiders of the Lost Ark at 9:30pm ET, and it is the best film on any channel tonight by a wide margin. It is a 1981 movie that does not need a recommendation, only a free two hours. Earlier, TCM has The Beguiled (1971) at 8pm ET and The Sentinel (1977) at 10pm, a tidy pair for anyone who likes older thrillers in order. TNT’s The Batman (2022) starts late, at 10:15pm ET.

On the lighter end, Hallmark Channel is in full Christmas mode already. Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper (2023) is at 8pm ET, and What If Christmas (2026) follows at 10pm. Hallmark Mystery has The Christmas Contest at 8pm and ‘Tis the Season to Be Irish at 10pm. The Christmas schedule is in earnest on October 29th, which says something about how early the season now starts.

Weaker options exist. FX’s The Mummy (2017) begins at 9:51pm ET and runs 150 minutes, so it clears midnight, and the one thing it has going for it is that it is on.

The short version

Watch the WNBA Finals live on USA at 8pm ET. If basketball is not your thing, put on Raiders of the Lost Ark at 9:30pm ET and ignore the rest.


What’s on tonight — Thursday, October 29, 2026

Time Channel Show
8:00 PM ABC 9-1-1
8:00 PM A&E The First 48: Rookie Year
8:00 PM Bravo The Real Housewives of Orange County: Reach For The Skytops
8:00 PM CBS Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage: The Devil’s Interval and a British Stripper
8:00 PM Discovery Dirty Jobs: Bug Detective
8:00 PM Disney Channel Phineas and Ferb: The Aurora Perry-Alis; Lord of the Firesides
8:00 PM Food Network Beat Bobby Flay: Howdy Halloween
8:00 PM FOX Hell’s Kitchen
8:00 PM Hallmark Channel Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper
8:00 PM Hallmark Mystery The Christmas Contest
8:00 PM HGTV House Hunters International
8:00 PM History Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo
8:00 PM ION FBI: Captured
8:00 PM Lifetime NCIS: Legend, Part 2
8:00 PM NBC The Traitors: New Blood
8:00 PM PBS This Old House: Essex County Colonial: Bigger Isn’t Better
8:00 PM SundanceTV Law & Order: Nowhere Man
8:00 PM TBS The Big Bang Theory: The Vartabedian Conundrum
8:00 PM TCM The Beguiled
8:00 PM The CW Scrabble
8:00 PM TLC 1000-lb Roomies
8:00 PM USA Network 2026 WNBA Finals
8:05 PM Showtime Magic Mike
8:10 PM Comedy Central The Office
8:30 PM Disney Channel Phineas and Ferb: The Candace Suit; Agent T (for Teen)
8:30 PM Food Network Beat Bobby Flay: Boil and Trouble
8:30 PM HGTV House Hunters International
8:30 PM PBS Ask This Old House: Cracked Foundation Skirting
8:30 PM Syfy The Crow
8:30 PM TBS The Big Bang Theory: The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis
8:31 PM CBS Eternally Yours
8:35 PM Freeform Casper
8:45 PM Comedy Central The Office
8:45 PM IFC I Know What You Did Last Summer
9:00 PM ABC 9-1-1: Nashville
9:00 PM A&E After the First 48
9:00 PM AMC TNA iMPACT! Wrestling: Season 26 Episode 44
9:00 PM Discovery Dirty Jobs: Fossil Hunter
9:00 PM Disney Channel Wizards Beyond Waverly Place
9:00 PM Food Network Beat Bobby Flay: Fright Club
9:00 PM FX American Horror Story: Devil of a Good Time
9:00 PM HBO War
9:00 PM HGTV House Hunters International
9:00 PM ION FBI: Boy Scout
9:00 PM Lifetime NCIS: Semper Fidelis
9:00 PM NBC Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Arcana
9:00 PM PBS Velvet
9:00 PM SundanceTV Law & Order: Everybody Loves Raimondo’s
9:00 PM TBS The Big Bang Theory: The Killer Robot Instability
9:00 PM The CW Trivial Pursuit: Write, Not Wrong
9:00 PM TLC 1000-lb Roomies
9:01 PM CBS Ghosts: Halloween 6: The Mirror – Part One and Part Two
9:02 PM FOX Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test
9:02 PM History Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo
9:15 PM Bravo Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen: Season 23 Episode 176
9:20 PM Comedy Central The Office
9:30 PM Disney Channel Phineas and Ferb: The Haberdasher; Out of Character
9:30 PM Food Network Beat Bobby Flay: The Nightmare Before Pastry
9:30 PM Paramount Network Raiders of the Lost Ark
9:30 PM TBS The Big Bang Theory: The Friendship Algorithm
9:45 PM Bravo The Real Housewives of Orange County: Reach For The Skytops
9:50 PM HBO War
9:51 PM FX The Mummy
9:55 PM Comedy Central The Office
10:00 PM ABC Grey’s Anatomy: It’s All Wrong, but It’s All Right
10:00 PM CBS Cupertino
10:00 PM Discovery Dirty Jobs: Doomsday Seed Banker
10:00 PM Disney Channel Phineas and Ferb: The Chronicles of Meap Ep. 42 Meap Me in St. Louis
10:00 PM Food Network Bobby Flay’s The Line
10:00 PM FOX Local Programs
10:00 PM Hallmark Channel What If Christmas
10:00 PM Hallmark Mystery ‘Tis the Season to Be Irish
10:00 PM HGTV House Hunters International
10:00 PM ION FBI: Manifest
10:00 PM NBC Law & Order: Property
10:00 PM Showtime Magic Mike XXL
10:00 PM SundanceTV Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena Sneak Peak
10:00 PM TBS The Big Bang Theory: The Financial Permeability
10:00 PM TCM The Sentinel
10:00 PM The CW Local Programs
10:00 PM TLC Untold Stories of the ER
10:01 PM A&E Killer Investigations
10:03 PM Lifetime NCIS: Aliyah
10:05 PM History Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo
10:15 PM TNT The Batman
10:30 PM Comedy Central The Office
10:30 PM Disney Channel Kiff: Big Barry on Campus; Club Book
10:30 PM HGTV House Hunters International: Pressing Restart in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
10:30 PM PBS This Old House: Essex County Colonial: Bigger Isn’t Better
10:30 PM TBS The Big Bang Theory: The Maternal Capacitance
10:30 PM USA Network WNBA on USA – Postgame
10:40 PM HBO The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story


Frequently asked questions

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight?

Our pick is 2026 WNBA Finals on USA Network at 8pm ET. Also worth watching: Raiders of the Lost Ark on Paramount Network at 9:30pm ET and The Traitors: New Blood on NBC at 8pm ET.

What movie is on TV tonight?

30 movies start after 6pm ET on Thursday, October 29, 2026, including It (2017) on AMC at 6pm ET, Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story (2026) on Hallmark Channel at 6pm ET, Switched for Christmas (2017) on Hallmark Mystery at 6pm ET, Forrest Gump (1994) on Paramount Network at 6pm ET and Tarzan and His Mate (1934) on TCM at 6pm ET.

What’s on TV at 8pm ET tonight?

At 8pm ET on Thursday, October 29, 2026: 9-1-1 (ABC), The First 48: Rookie Year (A&E), The Real Housewives of Orange County (Bravo), Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (CBS), Dirty Jobs (Discovery), Phineas and Ferb (Disney Channel), Beat Bobby Flay (Food Network) and Hell’s Kitchen (FOX).

What sport is on TV tonight?

TNA iMPACT! Wrestling on AMC at 9pm ET.