What to Watch on Wednesday: The Masked Singer, Survivor, Modern Family, and much more Fall TV
We know TV has a lot to offer, be it network, cable, premium channels, or streaming platforms including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Facebook Watch, and elsewhere. So EW is here to help, guiding you every single day to the things that should be on your radar. Check out our recommendations below, and click here to learn how you can stream our picks via your own voice-controlled smart-speaker (Alexa, Google Home) or podcast app (Spotify, iTunes, Google Play).
The Masked Singer
HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 8 p.m. on Fox
Season Premiere
A butterfly, Rottweiler, ladybug, flower, skeleton, flamingo, egg, and monster-looking thingy (okay, technically its name is Thingamajig) are among the costumed characters who’ll be taking the stage for season 2 of this strange and addictive singing competition that quickly became a TV phenomenon when the inaugural season premiered earlier this year. Celebs included Tori Spelling, Joey Fatone, Margaret Cho, Gladys Knight, Donny Osmond, and T-Pain, who won. The identity of the new celebrities underneath the masks is anyone’s guess, but the show will be providing some clues — and misdirects — along the way (which are way more helpful than the random names thrown out by panelists Jenny McCarthy and Ken Jeong; Nicole Scherzinger and Robin Thicke are a little rational with their theories). Will anyone from our wish list be suiting up? —Gerrad Hall
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The Masked Singer season 2 promo shows crazy look at new contestants
Survivor
HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 8 p.m. on CBS
Season Premiere
Survivor‘s latest iteration, Island of the Idols, centers around the return of two legendary alumni, Sandra Diaz-Twine and Boston Rob Mariano, who will serve as mentors to the usual slate of 20 competitors. “The idea for this came from the question of how do we get somebody like Boston Rob to come back again when he’s said repeatedly that ‘I’ll never play again,’” host Jeff Probst told EW. How to entice them to return, then? “You make them gods.” Befitting that status, the pair will do more than dispense advice, offering players the chance to take them on in challenges with potentially game-altering stakes. You’ll have to tune in to see how the new castaways — which include an Olympic swimmer and the show’s first Canadian contestant — stack up, but the “gods” certainly seem impressed. “The players now are way smarter than the last time I played,” Boston Rob says. “They’re way smarter, they’re more savvy, they understand the game, all of them. There are no soft spots in the lineup.” —Tyler Aquilina
Related content:
Watch the start of the Survivor: Island of the Idols premiere
Boston Rob and Sandra size up the Survivor: Island of the Idols cast
The Goldbergs
HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 8 p.m. on ABC
Season Premiere
After previous tributes to Star Wars, Dirty Dancing, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl,” A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Breakfast Club, and many more, The Goldbergs take an epic adventure in the season 7 premiere to honor the 1980s classic National Lampoon’s Vacation. “Two of the kids are going to college — 15 minutes away, but that’s still too much for Beverly. So I really have to sink my teeth into the youngest one,” star Wendi McLendon-Covey explained to EW while visiting the set last month, “and this is kind of our last hurrah as a family.” A cross-country, high-jinks-filled-hurrah that takes them to an Old West town, and a run-in with Christie Brinkley, who reprises her “Girl In The Red Ferrari” role. Eventually, the Griswold Goldberg family makes it to Walley World California’s Disneyland, where they’re met by original Vacation star Anthony Michael Hall, who’s “doing justice to the memory of John Candy,” according to star Jeff Garlin, in his cameo as a security guard. —Gerrad Hall
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Modern Family
HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 9 p.m. on ABC
Season Premiere
Modern Family returns for an 11th and final season with two new additions: the twins whom Haley gave birth to in the season 10 finale. “The way that we have it designed is that it really affects the entire Dunphy household on a regular basis,” co-creator Steven Levitan told EW in May. “We gave them twins because they’re going to need more help, and it gives Phil and Claire and the rest of the family something to really be engaged with.” Indeed. The season premiere sees Hayley at odds with Phil and Claire over proper parenting techniques. Meanwhile, Manny aims to win back his former girlfriend by directing a commercial for Jay’s dog bed. A deeply romantic gesture or one of the saddest ways in human history to woo back an ex? Tune in to find out! —Dan Snierson
Related content:
See the Modern Family cast recreate first table-read photo 10 years later
Watch the Modern Family cast react to their first interviews from 10 years ago
Modern Family finale: Sarah Hyland, co-creator break down Haley’s birth episode
What ELSE to Watch
8 p.m.
Chicago Med (season premiere) — NBC
8:30 p.m.
Schooled (season premiere) — ABC
9 p.m.
Chicago Fire (season premiere) — NBC
Suits (series finale) — USA
9:30 p.m.
Single Parents (season premiere) — ABC
10 p.m.
American Horror Story: 1984 — FX
Chicago P.D. (season premiere) — NBC
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (season premiere) — FXX
South Park (season premiere) — Comedy Central
Stumptown (series debut) — ABC
10:30 p.m.
Cake (series debut) — FXX
Crank Yankers (season premiere) — Comedy Central
Streaming
Liza on Demand (season premiere) — YouTube
Glitch (season premiere) — Netflix
*times are ET and subject to change
