What to Watch Wednesday, September 23: ‘Survivor 51,’ ‘Brothers’ & ‘America’s Got Talent’ Finale

Wednesday is busy-busy, with broadcast premieres, a major finale and several worthwhile streaming drops fighting for attention. Survivor begins Season 51 with a supersized two-hour premiere on CBS, while America's Got Talent crowns its Season 21 winner on NBC. FOX also launches new seasons of The Floor and 99 to Beat, so apparently Wednesday has decided we haven't been watching enough people compete for money lately.

Streaming is just as crowded. Brothers pairs real-life friends Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson on Apple TV, The Love Hypothesis brings Ali Hazelwood's bestselling romance to Prime Video, Toy Story 5 makes its Disney+ debut, and Netflix opens the factory for Wonka's The Golden Ticket. This is exactly why we do the streaming sweep instead of pretending television begins at 8 PM.

TV Cave Top Pick: Survivor 51

Survivor 51 premieres tonight at 8 PM ET on CBS with a two-hour opener and 21 first-time castaways beginning the game in Fiji. After tonight, episodes settle into their regular 90-minute Wednesday slot beginning September 30.

There's also a wrinkle beyond simply introducing another group of people who believe they're going to be better at Survivor than the people who played before them. Season 51 begins what CBS is calling the show's “Open Era,” where twists, idols and advantages from throughout Survivor history can potentially return. After 50 seasons, Jeff Probst apparently looked at the rulebook and decided knowing the rulebook was the problem.

Wednesday, September 23 TV Schedule

Time (ET)	Show	Network/Streaming	Tonight
Streaming	Brothers	Apple TV	Series premiere; first 2 episodes
Streaming	The Love Hypothesis	Prime Video	Movie premiere
Streaming	Toy Story 5	Disney+	Streaming premiere
Streaming	Wonka's The Golden Ticket	Netflix	Series premiere
Streaming	Habeas Corpus	Netflix	Series premiere
Streaming	Slow Horses	Apple TV	New Season 6 episode
8:00 PM	Survivor	CBS / Paramount+	Season 51 two-hour premiere
8:00 PM	The Voice	NBC	Blind Auditions; final night of three-night launch
8:00 PM	The Floor	FOX	Season 6 premiere
9:00 PM	America's Got Talent	NBC	Season 21 finale/results; winner revealed
9:00 PM	99 to Beat	FOX	Season 2 premiere
10:00 PM	Big Brother	CBS	Special 90-minute episode

McConaughey and Harrelson Are Brothers — Maybe

Apple TV premieres Brothers today with its first two episodes, and the premise basically takes that long-running joke about Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson possibly being related and says, “Fine, let's make an entire television show about it.” The longtime friends play fictionalized versions of themselves whose relationship gets considerably more complicated when a family secret raises the possibility that they really could be brothers.

The eight-episode comedy also stars Holland Taylor, Natalie Martinez and Brittany Ishibashi, with new episodes arriving Wednesdays through November 4. It's a wonderfully ridiculous premise that works precisely because McConaughey and Harrelson have spent years convincing everyone this might actually be true.

America’s Got Talent Crowns a Winner

After the Top 10 performed Tuesday night, America's Got Talent Season 21 concludes tonight at 9 PM ET on NBC with the results of America's vote. The finale will also feature guest performances before the season's winner is finally revealed.

NBC is pairing the finale with another hour of The Voice Blind Auditions at 8 PM, completing the singing competition's special three-night premiere run. So if CBS's two straight hours of Survivor aren't your thing, NBC has essentially counterprogrammed with three hours of people waiting nervously for somebody to say their name.

The Love Hypothesis Hits Prime Video

The Love Hypothesis premieres today on Prime Video, adapting The Love Hypothesis with Lili Reinhart starring opposite Tom Bateman. Reinhart plays Ph.D. candidate Olive Smith, whose impulsive decision to convince her friend that she's moved on from a crush turns into a fake relationship with professor Adam Carlsen.

Yes, we're doing fake dating again, and romance readers know exactly where this is going. The fun isn't necessarily wondering whether two people pretending to date will develop actual feelings; it's watching two supposedly intelligent scientists take an unnecessarily long time to recognize the extremely obvious evidence directly in front of them.

And that's before Toy Story 5, Wonka's The Golden Ticket, The Floor, 99 to Beat, Slow Horses and a special late Big Brother enter the conversation. Wednesday is one of the first genuinely overloaded nights of the fall season, so choose wisely or accept that Thursday morning is going to involve spoilers.