‘Pitt’ Finale, New Season of ‘Beef,’ Iain Armitage in ‘Ghosts,’ ‘Hacks’ in New York

The long 4th of July shift is finally ending for the crew of the gripping medical drama, and in the Season 2 finale, everyone’s worried about their leader, Dr. Robby (Emmy winner Noah Wyle), whose mental state is a cause for concern. “You gotta find somebody to help you dance through the darkness,” advises his buddy and nightshift attending Dr. Jack Abbot (fellow Emmy winner Shawn Hatosy). But is it too late? Before Robby leaves on his motorcycle spirit quest, if he ever does, he has another crisis to manage: the revelation that his replacement, Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi), has been concealing a seizure disorder. And while fireworks go off outside, there’s plenty of drama within Pittsburgh’s Trauma Medical Center, with all available hands responding to an expecting mother in distress. All in a day’s work.

Winner of eight Emmys for its first season, the dramedy anthology overreaches in its second iteration, despite expert performances by its core cast. Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan are Josh and Lindsay, a seemingly golden couple who oversee an elite country club in Montecito, California. The undercooked beef ensues when a young couple further down the corporate food chain, Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) and Austin (Riverdale‘s Charles Melton), observe and capture on phone video a violent argument between the boss and his deeply unhappy wife. After the “kids” use what they’ve seen as leverage for promotion, the class-conscious satire veers into melodrama when both couples become enmeshed in a cover-up involving the club’s new owner, a ruthless Korean billionaire (Minari Oscar winner Youn Yuh Jung). Blackmail, extortion, fraud, betrayal and revenge each play their role in a cynical story that’s as unpleasant as it is unconvincing.

We watched him grow up on Young Sheldon, and now Iain Armitage is back on the network playing himself, an actor joining a high-stakes poker game at the haunted Woodstone B&B as research for his next role. What he doesn’t know is that Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) and Sam (Rose McIver) are hosting the illegal event as a quick way to raise money to pay their tax-evasion debt to the IRS, and they’re counting on the ghosts to help them cheat.

Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) brings her team to New York City in the second episode of the Emmy-winning comedy’s final season, trying to convince the management of Madison Square Garden that the venue would be the perfect spot for her legendary comeback. When she realizes she may have put the proverbial cart before the horse, Deborah enlists her “little Debbies” fan club to take up the cause. Imagine her chagrin when she discovers that she’s been taking her acolytes for granted and needs to re-energize her base.

The task force tracking down escaped killers from the government’s top-secret Pit faces a dilemma: The wrong man is in prison for the murders committed by their latest psycho target, Byron May (Christopher Denham, also seen in the new season of For All Mankind). Because their mission is hush-hush, they’ll be defying orders from their boss, Lazarus (Kari Matchett), if they make public their capture and secure the wronged inmate’s release. But first they’ll have to find Byron, who’s been “phrogging,” as in lurking, in strangers’ homes, spying on them from their attics. How creepy.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Artemis II: To the Moon and Back (8/7c, Discovery): If you missed Wednesday’s Nova installment, or just want to relive the triumphant spaceflight again, a new special follows the Artemis II crew from preparations through liftoff and splashdown.
• Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (8/7, CBS): Mandy (Emily Osment) is still doing damage control over her controversial on-air comments, this time turning to Pastor Jeff (Matt Hobby) for redemption.
• Next Level Chef (8/7c, Fox): The teams are dissolved, and the remaining chefs are now cooking on an individual basis to stay in the competition.
• Matlock (9/8c, CBS): Melanie Lynskey returns as Debra Palmer, the former lover of Senior (Beau Bridges) who could hold the key to exposing his corrupt dealings — if she doesn’t expose Team Matty (Kathy Bates) first.
• Animal Control (9/8c, Fox): Oliver Hudson guests as a movie star studying Frank’s (Joel McHale) every move as research for his next role. Followed by Going Dutch (9:30/8:30c), with Kristen Stewart returning as General Martin, whose displaced troops bunk down at Stroopsdorf, where the Colonel (Denis Leary) learns of her plot to take control of the base.
• Elsbeth (10/9c, CBS): Griffin Dunne is the guest villain as a pompous novelist who fatally silences a critic and bookseller (Mark Linn-Baker) and thinks he got away with it — until nosy Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) revives the cold case. And election returns are in for the mayor’s race, but what will that mean for Elsbeth and her not-entirely-honest beau, candidate Alec Bloom (Ivan Hernandez)?

ON THE STREAM:

• Jerry West: The Logo (streaming on Prime Video): A documentary profiles the legendary NBA star, whose likeness inspired the league’s silhouette logo and whose fame continued as coach, then as fiery general manager of the Lakers, among other achievements.
• Ronaldinho: The One and Only (streaming on Netflix); Another sports great takes the spotlight in a revealing docuseries charting the life and career of Brazilian soccer phenom Ronaldinho Gaúcho.
• Silent Witness (streaming on BritBox): The long-running U.K. procedural returns for a 29th season with five two-part mysteries released over 10 weeks, as forensic pathologist Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox) and her team move into a new lab, the Bowman Centre of Excellence in Birmingham. The job, however, never changes.
• Big Mood (streaming on Tubi): Three’s a crowd in the second season of the British comedy starring Bridgerton‘s Nicola Coughlan as hot mess Maggie, whose hope of rekindling her friendship with bestie Eddie (Lydia West) after a year’s separation is complicated by Eddie’s new companion, an upbeat spiritual healer (Hannah Onslow).
• Vanderpump Villa (streaming on Hulu): “This place is like The White Lotus of reality stars,” chirps a guest at Lisa Vanderpump‘s British estate, which in Season 3 opens its doors to a flotilla of reality-TV veterans, sparking manufactured drama above and below stairs.
• Hope Valley: 1874 (streaming on Hallmark+): Rebecca (Bethany Joy Lenz) and Tom (Benjamin Ayers) get better acquainted while searching for the children who got lost in the woods.
• Why’d They Wear That? (streaming on YouTube): The catty What Not to Wear duo of Stacy London and Clinton Kelly reunites for a web and podcast series, breaking down nostalgic and inexplicable looks from the past.
• The Poly Couple (streaming on ElectricNOW): The series of amorous TikTok and YouTube shorts, starring real-life couple Dana Hobson and Daniel Wolf, is now a half-hour scripted show, launching with three episodes.