Disney Plus scares up Muppets Haunted Mansion

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, October 8, and Saturday, October 9. All times are Eastern.

Top picks

Muppets Haunted Mansion (Disney+, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Gonzo takes on the biggest challenge of his life on Halloween night by spending it in the most grim place on Earth, The Haunted Mansion. The special is inspired by all four iconic Disney Haunted Mansion attractions across the globe. The star-studded cast includes Will Arnett, Yvette Nicole Brown, Darren Criss, Taraji P. Henson, and John Stamos. Muppets Haunted Mansion marks the late Ed Asner’s final onscreen performance.

Acapulco (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m., series premiere): Set in 1984, the show stars Enrique Arrizon as a 20-something Máximo Gallardo, whose dream comes true when he gets the job of a lifetime as a cabana boy at the hottest resort in Acapulco, Mexico. He quickly realizes the job is far more complicated than he ever imagined and he must learn to navigate a demanding clientele, a mercurial mentor, and a complicated home life in order to succeed. Eugenio Derbez narrates the show as present-day Máximo. Acapulco is inspired by the 2017 film How To Be A Latin Lover. Keep an eye out for Danette Chavez’s review of the show on the site.

Regular coverage

Foundation (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.)
Ted Lasso (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m., season two finale)
The Great British Bake Off (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.)
Saturday Night Live (NBC, Saturday, 11:29 p.m.): Kim Kardashian-West is the first-time host with musical guest Halsey. Dennis Perkins will recap the episode.

Wild cards

Shark Tank (ABC, Friday, 8 p.m., season 13 premiere): ABC’s unscripted reality series returns for a new season with sharks Lori Grenier, Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcorran, and first-time guest shark Emma Grede of Good American. These moguls will listen to pitches for start-ups and companies before deciding if they want to invest. This year’s other guest sharks include actor Kevin Hart, Nextdoor co-founder Nirav Tolia, and Peter Jones of Shark Tank’s BBC counterpart, Dragons’ Den.

Justin Bieber: Our World (Amazon Prime Video, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): “Bieber’s previous docs, Never Say Never and Justin Bieber’s Believe, were appallingly shameless slices of carefully PR-managed propaganda, the former so carefully molded to create a rags-to-messiah image, it didn’t even allow its own subject to address the camera. This one might have a looser feel, but it’s no less manipulated and stage-managed for its COVID-hook elements or ‘authentic’ home-video footage of Bieber himself filming little moments of his day-to-day routine. If anything, the movie doubles down on fidelity to the idea of Justin Bieber as an artist who can do no wrong.” Read the rest of Alex McLevy’s review here.

Leverage: Redemption (IMDb TV, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): This crime drama returns with the back half of its first season. As Danette Chavez wrote when the series first premiered, “Leverage: Redemption retains the zippiness of the original series, even with a revised cast and a truncated season, while leaning into its procedural element. The new version of the show is quite modular, as the team is assembled and reassembled, and heists are expeditiously planned and executed.”

Pretty Smart (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Netflix continues to expand its mediocre original sitcom slate with this new one, starring Emily Osment and Gregg Sulkin. After being unexpectedly dumped, the Harvard-educated and intellectual Chelsea moves in with her carefree sister Claire. She meets Claire’s eccentric, lovable roommates and her tough, judgmental exterior starts to soften up.