Saturday 17 October to Saturday 24 October is one of those weeks where the schedule quietly fills up. Seventy-eight episodes land across those eight days in the EpisodePing database, and the shape of the week is unusual: two full seasons arrive on consecutive days, three network dramas share the same Wednesday, and the long-running imports keep ticking along at a pace that makes the weekly shows look leisurely.
Here's what is actually airing, and when.
Two full seasons land mid-week
Two shows skip the weekly drip entirely and drop a whole season in one go.
The Terminal List returns for its second season on Wednesday 21 October — all eight episodes, E1 through E8, on the same date. The first season built its reputation on a slow-burn revenge story, and the second arrives in one block rather than one episode a week, which changes how you watch it. If you have been holding off, there is no waiting period this time.
The next day is busier. Nobody Wants This puts its entire third season online on Thursday 22 October: ten episodes, E1 to E10, arriving in one block. Ten episodes on a single day makes it the biggest single drop of the month, and for a comedy that trades on rapid-fire dialogue, a binge is arguably the intended format.
Springfield's horror double
The Simpsons does what it does every October. Season 38 episode 3 airs on Sunday 18 October, and the following Sunday, 25 October, brings episode 4: "Treehouse of Horror XXXVII." Thirty-seven Halloween specials in is its own kind of milestone, and it remains the one episode a year that gets watched by people who stopped following the show a decade ago.
Wednesday belongs to Chicago
All three Chicago shows move in lockstep. Chicago Med (season 12), Chicago Fire (season 15) and Chicago P.D. (season 14) each air episode 3 on Wednesday 21 October, then episode 4 on Wednesday 28 October. Three shows, the same night every week — it is the most predictable block on the schedule, and after fifteen seasons of Fire, that predictability is the point.
Abbott Elementary joins the same Wednesdays, with season 6 episode 3 on 21 October and episode 4 on 28 October.
The weekly staples
Strictly Come Dancing runs twice a week, which is why it appears four times in this eight-day window: "Icons Week" on 17 October with the week 4 results the next day, then episode 9 on 24 October and the week 5 results on 25 October. Two episodes every week for the rest of the competition.
Dancing with the Stars takes the Tuesday slot, with season 35 episode 7 on 20 October and episode 8, "Horror Movie Night," on 27 October. And The Great British Bake Off reaches episode 6 of season 10 on 27 October.
The returning dramas
The procedural block is where the volume is. On Thursday 22 October, Grey's Anatomy (season 23, episode 2), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 28, episode 3) and 9-1-1 (season 10, episode 2) all air, and all three return the following Thursday with episode 3. Law & Order adds season 26 episode 4 on 29 October.
Elsewhere in the week:
- Outlander: Blood of My Blood continues its second season with "Small Mercies" on 23 October and episode 7 on 30 October.
- Fire Country reaches season 5 episode 3 on 23 October, with episode 4 the following Friday. Sheriff Country airs alongside it: "Ulysses" on 23 October, episode 4 on 30 October.
- The Rainmaker is two episodes into its second season by 23 October, and Tulsa King reaches season 4 episode 3 on 30 October.
- MobLand airs season 2 episode 7 on 30 October.
- Dark Matter closes out its second season with episodes 9 and 10 on 22 and 29 October.
- American Horror Story lands three episodes in the window — season 13 episodes 11, 12 and 13 across 22 and 29 October.
- Avatar: Seven Havens releases season 1 episodes 7 to 10 on 23 October and 11 to 13 on 30 October.
- South Park returns with season 29 episode 4 on 28 October.
The long-runners you have probably never heard of
Two shows in this window are worth noting purely for the arithmetic. A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality reaches episode 196 on 17 October and episode 197 a week later — still in its first season. Renegade Immortal airs episode 163 on 18 October and episode 164 on 25 October, also season 1. Both release weekly without a break, which is how you get to 190-plus episodes without ever starting a second season.
Smaller runs fill the gaps: Line of Fire airs "Cul-de-Sac" on 19 October and "Cabin Pressure" on 26 October; GET JIRO reaches "Secret Sauce" on 18 October and "Pressure Cooker" on 25 October; Brothers airs "The Dance" on 20 October.
How to keep up without checking
Seventy-eight episodes is more than anyone tracks in their head. If you add a show on EpisodePing it will tell you when a new episode lands instead of leaving you to check listings — and the new episodes this week page carries the full calendar, updated as schedules shift. Everything else that has already aired is on the recently aired page, so catching up on something you missed is a short trip.
