THURSDAY’S BEST PICKS
5 PM ( FREE) MOVIE Casper A teen (Christina Ricci) who lost her mother befriends friendly ghost Casper while staying at a mean heiress’s (Cathy Moriarty) haunted mansion in this kid-friendly 1995 comedy adapted from a popular comic book. Watch out for a ghostbuster who probably looks eerily familiar, and he should: He’s Dan Aykroyd, from that blockbuster movie comedy. Bill Pullman also stars in this family comedy, which marks its 25th anniversary this year and tonight helps launch Freeform’s wildly popular fall programming event “31 Nights of Halloween.”
8 PM G Mysteries Decoded As the TV year moves into October, a month widely associated with ghosts and witches, this series obligingly responds with the new episode “Witches of Salem,” in which private investigator Jennifer Marshall, a U.S. Navy veteran, joins professional journalist Sarah Lyons to delve into centuries-old mysteries that still surround the 17th-century Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts.
8 PM ( HBO) MOVIE Never Rarely Sometimes Always Director and screenwriter Eliza Hittman earned widespread critical praise and won awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival for this 2020 American-British drama, which wound up being released through video on demand after the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled plans for a theatrical release. Sidney Flanigan stars as 17-year-old Autumn, who runs into a frustrating series of hurdles, both bureaucratic and emotional, while seeking to terminate an unexpected pregnancy. Talia Ryder, Ryan Eggold and Théodore Pellerin also star. 8:30 PM & CONNECTING... One of several coronavirus-themed TV projects currently in various stages of development, this new character-driven sitcom from “Blindspot” creator Martin Gero and his frequent collaborator Brendan Gall revolves around a group of pals trying to preserve their friendships — and sanity — through video chats and social media as they struggle to cope with these extraordinary times. Produced under quarantine conditions, the show stars an ensemble cast that includes Otmara Marrero, Ely Henry, Preacher Lawson, Parvesh Cheena, Jill Knox, Keith Powell and Shakina Nayfack.
9 PM ( WE) Tamar Braxton: Get Ya Life! An action-packed new episode called “Caught in the Middle” finds Tamar opening for superstar Todrick Hall, even as she spends every free moment planning David’s birthday party. In somewhat less happy developments, after David confronts Goli about the nature of the Dream Work, Goli and Tamar sit down and try to resolve David’s issues. Later, Tamar gets fed up with production.
10:36 PM ( STRZ) MOVIE Beneath Us Director Max Pachman also co-wrote this 2019 thriller, which functions as both a horror film and a disturbing indictment of how immigrant day laborers are treated by many Americans. The suspenseful story deals with a group of undocumented workers hired by a wealthy American couple, who hold them captive in the basement of their remote mansion and force them to fight for their lives by demonstrating they are not expendable. Lynn Collins, Rigo Sanchez, Josue Aguirre, James Tupper and Nicholas Gonzalez star.