What to Watch Wednesday, September 2: The Mandalorian and Grogu, AGT Results & MasterChef

Wednesday is giving streaming viewers the biggest new arrival of the day, while broadcast television has apparently agreed that 8 PM is where everybody needs to fight for our attention.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu makes its Disney+ streaming debut after hitting theaters in May, and Disney is basically turning the entire day into a Mando event with a new LEGO special and a behind-the-scenes podcast joining it. Prime Video counters with The Runner, while Netflix begins its programming around the 25th anniversary of September 11 with Turning Point: Generation 9/11.

Then 8 PM arrives and things get crowded fast. America's Got Talent reveals which acts survived Tuesday's third quarterfinal, Jeopardy! Masters reaches the end of its quarterfinal round, MasterChef determines its three finalists and Big Brother returns with another new episode. Apparently nobody consulted anybody else before making this schedule.

TV Cave Top Pick: The Mandalorian and Grogu Comes Home

Din Djarin and Grogu are back where this whole thing started.

After becoming the first Star Wars theatrical release since 2019 when it opened May 22, The Mandalorian and Grogu begins streaming today on Disney+. Pedro Pascal returns as Din Djarin, with Sigourney Weaver joining the adventure as the New Republic enlists Mando and his tiny green apprentice to help deal with Imperial warlords still scattered around the galaxy.

Disney isn't simply dropping the movie and calling it a day, either. LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian also premieres today, putting a comedic LEGO spin on stories from all three seasons of the original series. Then at 9 PM ET, Disney+ launches the two-episode Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Official Podcast, featuring conversations with Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Pascal, Weaver and composer Ludwig Göransson.

That's enough Mando for one Wednesday to earn our TV Cave Top Pick. Grogu helped launch Disney+ back in 2019, went to the movies this summer and has now returned to streaming. That little man has a better career trajectory than most people in Hollywood.

Wednesday, September 2 TV Schedule

Time (ET)	Show	Network/Streaming	Tonight
Streaming	Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu	Disney+	Streaming premiere
Streaming	LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian	Disney+	Animated special premiere
Streaming	The Runner	Prime Video	Original movie premiere
Streaming	Turning Point: Generation 9/11	Netflix	Documentary premiere
Streaming	The One Shot	Disney+ / Hulu	Season 1 finale episodes
8:00 PM	America's Got Talent	NBC	Quarterfinals 3 results
8:00 PM	Jeopardy! Masters	ABC	Quarterfinal Games 11 & 12
8:00 PM	Big Brother	CBS	New Season 28 episode
8:00 PM	MasterChef	FOX	Top 5 compete for three finale spots
8:00 PM	AEW Dynamite	TBS	Live from Allen, Texas
9:00 PM	Next Gen NYC	Bravo	New Season 2 episode
9:00 PM	Alone	History	“Subzero”
9:00 PM	Guy's Grocery Games	Food Network	“Food Fanatic Teams”
9:00 PM	Expedition X	Discovery	“Curse of the Skinwalkers”
9:00 PM	Tyler Perry's The Oval	BET	New Season 7 episode
9:00 PM	Body Cam	Investigation Discovery	New episode
9:00 PM	ER: Caught on Camera	TLC	New episode
9:00 PM PT	The Shards	Hulu	New episode, “Hamlet”
9:00 PM	Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Official Podcast	Disney+	Two-episode premiere
10:00 PM	The Ark	Syfy	“Deja Vu”
10:00 PM	Botched Homes	HGTV	Series premiere
10:00 PM	House of Stassi	Freeform	Season 1 finale
10:00 PM	Booked: First Day In	A&E	New episode
10:00 PM	911: Did the Killer Call?	Investigation Discovery	“Lying Consequences”

AGT Sends Three More Acts Through

Tuesday's America's Got Talent performances are over, which means tonight comes the uncomfortable part.

NBC airs the Quarterfinals 3 results at 8 PM ET, revealing which three acts earned enough viewer votes to advance. One contestant already has nothing to worry about: guest judge Kenan Thompson used his Golden Buzzer Tuesday to send 14-year-old singer Lai Noelle directly into the finals.

That leaves the remaining contestants waiting on America's vote. Thompson stepped in at the judges' table while Simon Cowell recovers from a back procedure, joining Howie Mandel, Sofía Vergara and Mel B for this week's competition.

If Tuesday is about showing what you can do, Wednesday is basically AGT making everybody stand under dramatic lighting while Terry Crews stretches a five-second announcement into enough suspense to shorten everyone's life expectancy.

MasterChef Is Picking Its Final Three

FOX has considerably higher culinary stakes tonight as MasterChef reaches the Top 5 at 8 PM ET.

The remaining home cooks face “Keeping Up With Gordon and Tiffany,” where they must cook alongside Gordon

Ramsay and Tiffany Derry in real time while attempting to reproduce their dishes. There isn't much room for “Chef, can you repeat that?” when the chefs you're following have already moved three steps ahead.

More importantly, only three cooks advance to next week's finale. That makes tonight effectively the semifinal, with two eliminations standing between the remaining contestants and the $250,000 prize. The finale begins September 9.

This is exactly when MasterChef becomes dangerous television to watch while eating something mediocre. Suddenly that sandwich you've been perfectly happy with looks deeply disappointing.

Jeopardy! Masters Ends the Quarterfinals

ABC's marathon Jeopardy! Masters schedule reaches another milestone tonight with Quarterfinal Games 11 and 12 at 8 PM ET.

Ken Jennings hosts as Victoria Groce, Andrew He, Long Nguyen, Paolo Pasco, Yogesh Raut and Juveria Zaheer finish the opening stage of the tournament. The survivors don't get much recovery time: the semifinals begin Thursday with two more games and continue Friday before the two-game final airs Tuesday, September 8.

ABC really looked at weekly television scheduling and said, “No, we're running a tournament.” At this point, we respect the commitment.

Prime Video Gives Gal Gadot One Very Bad Morning

If Star Wars isn't your streaming choice, Prime Video has a thriller built around an extremely simple nightmare: do not stop moving.

Gal Gadot stars in The Runner as Maia Marten, a London lawyer whose morning run becomes a fight to save her kidnapped son after an anonymous caller begins issuing commands she has to follow while staying on the move. Damian Lewis also stars in the Kevin Macdonald-directed thriller.

At roughly 85 minutes, this is also one of those streaming movies that understands some of us have commitment issues. Get in, kidnap the child, make Gal Gadot run across London, resolve the situation and send us home.

HGTV Has Seen Your DIY Mistakes

HGTV introduces Botched Homes at 10 PM ET, with contractor Charlie Kawas and designer Courtney Ibars taking on South Florida homeowners whose renovation projects have gone very, very wrong.

And we're not talking about choosing an unfortunate backsplash. The premiere includes a kitchen with exposed electrical wiring and no hot water, which immediately puts every crooked shelf we've ever installed into perspective.

Between that, House of Stassi wrapping its first season on Freeform and The Ark continuing on Syfy, the 10 PM hour has enough happening to keep Wednesday going.

But today's biggest arrival happens whenever you feel like pressing play. Mando and Grogu are home.