THURSDAY’S BEST PICKS
8 PM _ Hell’s Kitchen The moment of truth in showing individual culinary skills arrives for the latest contenders in the new episode “Shrimply Spectacular.” From that title, it’s a pretty good bet that you can guess the main ingredient they must use. The winner will be able to evade a future punishment from someone who certainly knows how to dole those out, series host Gordon Ramsay. Then, the teams reunite to tackle a dinner service.
8 PM * Celebrity Wheel of Fortune Drew Carey has long had his own game show to preside over, “The Price Is Right,” but that doesn’t stop him from playing other contests ... as proven by his participation in this new episode. He competes against Teri Hatcher and “This Is Us” co-star Chrissy Metz as they play for charities, and the one chosen by Carey serves his hometown: the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Pat Sajak serves as host, of course, with Vanna White in her traditional role as letterturner.
9 PM _ Call Me Kat A free trip to Puerto Rico is good for two, but Kat (Mayim Bialik) can’t find anyone to go along in the new episode “Vacation.” Others try to inspire her to take the trip by herself, but she’s not sure what she’ll ultimately decide to do. Randi and Phil (Kyla Pratt, Leslie Jordan) run into trouble almost immediately upon being left to oversee the cafe. Swoosie Kurtz, Cheyenne Jackson and Julian Gant also star.
9 PM * The Chase “To Be the Best, You Got to Beat the Best” isn’t merely a subtitle in the case of the new episode, it conveys the essence of this entire game show. The existing “best” are bigwinning “Jeopardy!” alumni James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, who face three contestants eager to assume their “champion” status. Moonlighting from her weekday role on “The View,” Sara Haines is the host.
10 PM $ Star Trek: Discovery In the new episode “Vaulting Ambition,” Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) heads to the ISS Charon bearing a special “gift” for the Emperor. Elsewhere, with some unexpected help, Stamets (Anthony Rapp) gains some muchneeded clarity while trapped inside the mycelial network, and Saru (Doug Jones) turns to L’Rell (Mary Chieffo) for help. Jason Isaacs and Shazad Latif also star.
10 PM ( TRAV) UFO Witness In this new docuseries, Dr. Jennie Zeidman, who worked on Project Blue Book, opens up her archives to be reexamined by the next generation of UFO investigators. In the premiere, “discovery& 1st Look: Secrets of the State,” Ben, one of the investigators, travels to Oregon to meet with Kevin Day, a former chief radar officer for the Navy and hear his story; Kevin explains that,during a routine defense exercise, he noticed strange blips on his radar and instructed his pilots to investigate.
10 PM ( TRU) Impractical Jokers Season 8 wraps up with a finale called “Dinner Party the Invent a Dish Episode,” which gives cast members James “Murr” Murray, Brian “Q” Quinn, Joe Gatto and Sal Vulcano an opportunity to show off their artistic abilities while dining on guilty pleasures. To finish the season, the guys invite legendary New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera to help judge their works of art. Also: Q flips the doubloon to determine whether or not there will be another season.
10:01 PM ( A&E) Killer Cases In a new episode called “Murder in a Wisconsin Field,” after Nicole VanderHeyden is found fatally shot on a Wisconsin farm, police almost immediately arrest and charge her boyfriend, who had waited 18 hours to report her missing and had a long history of domestic violence. However, a Fitbit device he was wearing proved he had been sleeping at the time of Nicole’s murder, whereupon a man she had met at a bar becomes the prime suspect. 10:30 PM ( TRU) Top Secret Videos Highlights of the Season 1 finale, “Mirror — Interns,” include a keg-standing grandma gone wild, an extreme unicyclist fail and a mid-air fire during a parachute jump. The show’s interns meet some unsettling outsiders and learn just how deep the NSA Internship program goes. Guest stars include Ali Larter, Randy Liedtke, Mike E Winfield and Chase Bernstein.