What to Watch Thursday, October 1: ‘Big Brother’ Finale, ‘East of Eden’ & ‘Coven Academy’

October is wasting absolutely no time giving us something to watch. Big Brother closes out Season 28 with its live finale, Netflix drops all seven episodes of East of Eden, and HBO launches its new legal drama WAR. If none of those are calling your name, Freeform is officially embracing spooky season with the premiere of Coven Academy, while American Horror Story: 13 continues on FX.

TV Cave Top Pick: Big Brother Season 28 Finale

After an entire summer of alliances, competitions, betrayals and houseguests discovering that keeping a secret inside the Big Brother house is practically an Olympic sport, Season 28 reaches its live finale tonight at 8 PM ET on CBS. The finale gets a 90-minute block, with The Amazing Race following at 9:30 PM.

Finale night is where all those weeks of strategy finally have to amount to something. A winner will be crowned, the doors will close on another season and we'll finally find out whose game was convincing enough to take them all the way to the end. For a Thursday with several premieres competing for attention, Big Brother gets our Top Pick because this is the payoff viewers have been building toward all season.

Thursday, October 1 TV Schedule

Time (ET)	Show	Network/Streaming	Tonight
Streaming	East of Eden	Netflix	Limited Series Premiere — All 7 Episodes
8:00 PM	Big Brother	CBS / Paramount+	⭐ TOP PICK — Season 28 Live Finale
8:00 PM	Coven Academy	Freeform	Series Premiere — Episodes 1–4
8:00 PM	Scrabble	The CW	New Episode
9:00 PM	American Horror Story: 13	FX	New Episodes
9:00 PM	WAR	HBO / HBO Max	Series Premiere
9:00 PM	Trivial Pursuit	The CW	New Episode
9:30 PM	The Amazing Race	CBS / Paramount+	Season 39, Episode 2

‘East of Eden’ Gives Netflix Viewers a Full Binge

For anyone looking to skip the traditional TV schedule entirely, Netflix has you covered. All seven episodes of East of Eden arrive today, with Florence Pugh leading Zoe Kazan's adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel alongside Christopher Abbott and Mike Faist.

This isn't a show Netflix is asking viewers to patiently follow for the next two months, either. The entire limited series is available immediately, which makes it the biggest binge option on today's schedule and probably a dangerous choice for anyone who says, “I'll just watch the first episode.”

‘WAR’ Begins on HBO

HBO is also bringing something new to Thursday nights with WAR, an eight-episode legal drama starring Dominic West and Sienna Miller. The first episode debuts tonight, with subsequent episodes rolling out weekly on Thursdays.

The drama centers on two powerful London law firms battling over the high-profile divorce between tech entrepreneur Morgan Henderson and film star Carla Duval. With professional rivalries, personal relationships and an extremely public divorce colliding, WAR sounds like the kind of legal drama where nobody is simply going to file some paperwork and peacefully go home.

October 1 gives us a little bit of everything without making the schedule completely ridiculous. Big Brother gets its finale spotlight, East of Eden offers the binge, WAR and Coven Academy make their debuts, and American Horror Story: 13 keeps the spooky season energy going. Now this is the Thursday guide we're working with.