1) “Grey’s Anatomy” season-opener, 9 p.m., ABC. Here’s one of the last shows to return post-strike … and one that people really missed. It’s the 20th season, tying the show with “Gunsmoke” for No. 3 among dramas (trailing only two “Law & Order” shows). The season starts with a doctor (Teddy) and patient (Sam) in peril. Meredith re-thinks her research and the young interns (shown here is Adelaide Kane as Jules Millin) face a tough case.
2) “9-1-1” and “Station 19” season-openers, 8 and 10 p.m,. ABC. Surrounding “Grey’s” are two shows about rescue teams. “Station 19” starts its final season with a hostage crisis. And “9-1-1” has an epic story for its jump from Fox to ABC: Athena (Angela Bassett) and Bobby (Peter Krause) take a belated honeymoon cruise. Naturally, pirates take over and the ship is soon sinking.
3) “Young Sheldon,” 8 p.m., CBS. There’s been a lot of good news lately: Georgie and Mandy, will have their own spin-off next season; also, Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialiik, as the not-young Sheldon and his wife Amy, will be on the season-finale, May 16. For now, the focus is elsewhere: A computer program goes rogue, Sheldon’s mom finds a new church and his sister throws a party.
4) “Elsbeth,” 10 p.m., CBS. Losing a lot of Thursdays lately – to the State of the Union last week and basketball next week – CBS has simply decided to rerun the “Elsbeth” pilot now and wait until April to continue the series. Fortunately, it’s a good pilot – both smart and funny – and it follows new episodes of “Ghosts” and “So Help Me Todd.”
5) Movies. This is a musical night, led by Taylor Swift; her mega-concert film arrives today on Disney+. Also, Freeform has the second “Mamma Mia” film (2018), which is much better than the original, at 6 p.m.; and the first “Footloose” (1984), much better than the remake, at 8:30. Doris Day even sings a tad in “Lover Come Back” (1961), one of her better fiilms; it’s 8 p.m. ET on Turner Classic Movies.