Chris Pratt hosts the 40th (!) season premiere of “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 11:30 p.m.) with Ariana Grande as musical guest. There are not a lot of changes in the cast, except that former “SNL” cast member Darrell Hammond returns to do the introductory voice of Don Pardo who died last month, and standout (and recent) “Daily Show” correspondent Michael Che stepping up to the “Weekend Update” desk. Unfortunately he will be replacing Cecily Strong, who was good in the role, and not Colin Jost, who never quite settled into it.
Also back: The one-hour prime-time cut-downs, now called “SNL Vintage” (NBC, 10 p.m.), starts with a rare classic: Richard Pryor hosting during 1975’s first season — with Gil Scott-Heron as musical guest.
Tamron Hall hosts “Music for Change: The Global Citizen Festival” (NBC, 9 p.m., recorded in New York’s Central Park recently to help stop extreme poverty and featuring Alicia Keys, Jay Z, Carrie Underwood, No Doubt, the Roots, Fun and Tiesto.
“Outlander” (Starz, 9 p.m.) reaches a mid season finale, with no new episodes until April.
Prime time is clogged with college football, with Baylor at Iowa State (Fox, 8 p.m.) and Notre Dame vs. Syracuse (ABC, 8 p.m.).
First week premieres of “Madam Secretary” (CBS, 8 p.m.) and “Scorpion” (CBS, 9 p.m.) get repeats, while “The Voice” (NBC, 8 p.m.) is a one hour recap of the four hours of blind auditions from earlier this week (and possibly a good lesson in how the show could become much more succinct if it wanted to).
The Vin Diesel project “Riddick” (HBO, 8 p.m.) and “47 Ronin” (Cinemax, 10 p.m.) make their debut on premium cable.
October doesn’t come until next week, but the Halloween movies are beginning, sort of, with the made-for-TV “Midnight Masquerade” (Hallmark, 9 p.m.) starring Autumn Reeser as a businesswoman looking for a prince charming from a ball she attends. Christopher Russell and Richard Burgi also star.
Also on tonight a couple feature of “Hocus Pocus” (Lifetime, 8 and 10 p.m.).
A domestic murder in Costa Rica is investigated on the season premiere of “48 Hours” (CBS, 10 p.m.).
Three films explore the world of the New York apartment: “Laura” (TCM, 8 p.m.), “The Apartment” (9:45 p.m.) and “Auntie Mame” (midnight). Later a couple of mid-1970s blaxploitation films, “Darktown Strutters” (TCM, 2:30 a.m.) and “Sweet Jesus, Preacher Man” (TCM, 4:15 a.m.).
On the last Saturday of the regular season, baseball includes Yankees at Boston (Fox, 1 p.m.), San Diego at San Francisco (MLB, 4 p.m.) and St. Louis at Arizona (MLB, 8 p.m.).
In preseason hockey, it’s Columbus at Pittsburgh (NHL, 4 p.m.) and Winnipeg at Minnesota (NHL, 8 p.m.).
Mostly, there’s college football, starting with, at noon: Tennessee at Georgia (ESPN), Wyoming at Michigan State (ESPN2,), South Florida at Wisconsin (ESPNU), TCU at SMU (CBS Sports) and Tulane at Rutgers (ESPNews).
At 3:30 p.m., it’s Western Kentucky at Navy (CBS Sports), Florida State at North Carolina State (ABC), Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (CBS), Minnesota at Michigan (ESPN2) and Wake Forest at Louisville (ESPNU). Games at 4 p.m. include Temple at Connecticut (ESPNews), Texas at Kansas (Fox Sports 1) and Stanford at Washington (Fox, 4:15 p.m.)
Other games tonight include, at 7 p.m., Missouri at South Carolina (ESPN), North Carolina at Clemson (ESPNU) and Boise State at Air Force (CBS Sports). At 9 p.m., Texas State at Tulsa (ESPNews), UNLV at San Diego State (ESPN2). At 10:30 p.m., it’s Oregon State at Southern California (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.) and Nevada at San Jose State (CBS Sports).
Coldplay plays a rerun of “Austin City Limits” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings), accompanied by “Bluegrass Underground” (PBS, 10 p.m., check local listings).