Fridays have become so paltry in network programming, it’s almost not worth going through with our night-by-night look at the new fall season on broadcast TV. One of the two new titles planned has already been canceled: an ill-concieved reality show called “The Activist,” whose contestants were to be judged not by any social advances they’d help make, but how much social media engagement they’d receive. So now there’s only one new show on the horizon.
NEW SHOW
“Home Sweet Home” (NBC, 8 p.m., begins Oct. 15). From Ava DuVernay comes an unscripted reality series that sounds like a more high-minded version of “Wife Swap” in that it involves two families from different walks of life exploring each other’s environs. At the end of each episode the two families discuss what they learned.
RETURNING SHOWS
“Shark Tank” (ABC, 8 p.m., returning Oct. 8), “S.W.A.T.” (CBS, 8 p.m., Oct. 1), “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” (CW, 8 p.m., Oct. 1), “20/20” (ABC, 9 p.m., Oct. 8), “Magnum, P.I.” (CBS, 9 p.m., Oct. 1), “Dateline” (NBC, 9 p.m., tonight), “Nancy Drew” (CW, 9 p.m., Oct. 8 p.m.), “Blue Bloods” (ABC, 10 p.m., Oct. 1).
OF NOTE ON STREAMING SERVICES
“Maid” (Netflix, Oct. 1). Margaret Qualley stars in a series about a young woman who escapes an abusive relationship and becomes a housecleaner to support herself and her daughter.
“The Many Saints of Newark” (HBO Max, Oct. 1). David Chase’s long-awaited “Sopranos” movie is a prequel, starring James Gandolfini’s son as the young Tony Soprano.
“I Know What You Did Last Summer” (Amazon Prime, streaming). A new series comes, based on the 1977 slasher film, which has already had a couple of film sequels, “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” in 1998 and “I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer” in 2006. The cast includes Madison Iseman, Brianne Tau and Brooke Bloom.