1) Football, 8:15 p.m. ET Thursday, NBC; pre-game at 7. The pro season . starts … and is likely to dominate viewership. The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles (shown here), 14-3 in the regular season, host the Dallas Cowboys, 7-10. There’s a game Friday (Chiefs-Chargers, 8 p.m., YouTube) and a deluge Sunday, concluding with Ravens-Bills, 8:15 p.m. on NBC.
2) MTV Video Music Awards, 8 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS. For 40 years, this was MTV’s show; now CBS takes over, with LL Cool J hosting. Mariah Carey returns for the first time in 20 years, performing and receiving a career award. Also performing are Ricky Martin, Post Malone, Jelly Roll, Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Tate McRae and many more.
3) ‘”The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” opener, 9 p.m. Sunday, AMC; also at 10:19 and 11:38 Some 25 years after co-creating “The Office” in England, Stephen Merchant has perhaps his best role ever. He’s “the last man in England,” which is overrun by zombies. And he’s the one hope for Daryl and Carol, in an episode that’s visually and emotionally powerful.
4) “The Paper,” Thursday, Peacock. But what about Merchant’s “Office”? Its notion continues here: Dunder Mifflin was bought by another paper company, which also owns The Toledo Truth Teller — a once-mighty newspaper. Now an idealistic (but semi-inept) chap wants to revive it. In sometimes-funny ways, his staffters range from diligent to self-obsessed.
5) “Bachelor in Paradise” season-finale, 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, ABC. In a change, the show will skip its usual Monday spot; instead, tonight will be filled with reruns of “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” Then the finale will be Tuesday, with the final three couples emerging. This has been the first season to include younger and older people, ages 25-36 and 62-72.
6) “America’s Got Talent,” 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, 8-9 p.m. Wednesday, NBC. It’s the third of four quarter-finals, with 11 acts performing Tuesday. There are six music acts — including two rappers — plus a dancer, a juggling duo, an aerial duo, an AI magic act and Anna Dangerous, wielding her crossbow. Viewers vote and learn Wednesday who’s advancing.
7) “TMZ Presents: The War Over OnlyFans,” 9 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. Last week, an OnlyFans model was a “Snake” finalist. Now that timeslot goes to this look at the site, which is open to non-porn spots (we hear from rapper Blac Chyna and model Amber Rose) and explicit ones. We see Joe Gow, who was fired from his day job as a college chancellor
8) “NCIS: Tony & Ziva,” Thursday, Paramount+; and “Highest 2 Lowest,” Friday, Apple TV+. First, two crimesolvers are back, for a 10-part adventure; then Spike Lee directs Denzel Washington in the remake of a Japanese crime classic. That’s part of a hot streaming stretch, from “The Paper” (Thursday) to “Only Murders in the Building” (Sept. 9) and beyond.
9) “The Groomsmen: First Look,” 8-10 p.m. Saturday, Hallmark. This starts a trilogy that helped launch the Hallmark+ streamer last year. Pete (B.J. Britt), a pediatrician, meets Chelsea (Heather Hernandez), a doctor. She lives overseas, so they don’t feel this could work. His friends nudge him … and have their own romances in the next two films.
10) Dramas, Sunday. Mark Ruffalo, a two-time Emmy-winner and four-time Oscar-nominee, has another tough role. In “Task” (9 p.m., HBO), he’s an FBI guy and ex-priest, probing home invasions. It’s a seven-parter going against a strong PBS night: “Professor T” at 8 p.m., a new “Marlow Murder Club” two-parter at 9 and the deepening “Unforgotten” story at 10.