What to Watch This Week: October 13 to 19

From superhero returns to slasher movie classics, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week

1. Halloween – Sunday, October 14, 2:29 p.m., AMC

In 1978, a burgeoning horror auteur by the name of John Carpenter arrived on the scene with the definitive masked-maniac slasher. Forty years later, the tale of a teen (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her promiscuous friends being stalked by knife-wielding spectre of death Michael Myers remains unmatched.

2. Supergirl – Sunday, October 14, 5 p.m. & 8 p.m., Showcase; 8 p.m., The CW | Season Premiere

There’s lots of high-flying superheroics in store for Kara and her DEO cohorts in season four—and more than a few changes. On the plus side: she’s got a kickass new suit! On the negative, trusted allies Winn (Jeremy Jordan) and Mon-El (Chris Wood) are both departing (though they may pop back in on occasion). In their wake, we’ll see lots more of Brainy (Jesse Rath), and new cub reporter Nia? Nal (Nicole Maines), who will go on to become Dreamer—television’s first-ever transgender superhero.

As for the Big Bads, get ready to meet popular DC villain Mercy Graves (The? Last Ship‘s Rhona Mitra),? Lex Luthor’s lethal former bodyguard; plus, a radical anti-alien activist named Agent Liberty (Being Human‘s Sam Witwer) and telepathic British antihero Manchester Black (David Ajala of Doctor Who fame).

3. Charmed – Sunday, October 14, 9 p.m., W Network & The CW | Season Premiere

It’s been 20 years and a week since the debut of the iconic, campy series about a trio of sister witches, but The CW is still hoping this reboot casts a spell on you. This time, the action centres on three Latinx sisters living in a college town as they uncover their powers and work to solve their mom’s mysterious death. Mel (Melonie Diaz) is the “firebrand social justice warrior,” Maggie (Sarah Jeffery) is the party girl and Macy (Madeleine Mantock) is the sister they never knew they had, a brilliant geneticist. An unlikely reunion takes place thanks to Harry Greenwood (Rupert Evans), chair of Hilltowne University’s women’s studies department, but in reality a deceased British Secret Service agent resurrected as a Whitelighter—the guardian tasked with helping the Charmed Ones stand against the demons that walk among us.

4. Eli Roth’s History of Horror – Sunday, October 14, 9:14 p.m., AMC | Series Premiere

Fans who can’t get enough of getting scared to death would do well to check out a very informative documentary series debuting this week on AMC.?In Eli Roth’s History of Horror, a limited series premiering Sunday, the filmmaker behind such fright fests as Cabin Fever, Hostel and this fall’s far-less-gory The House With? a Clock in Its Walls, explores horror’s most enduring themes as well as its inspirations and the struggles faced by the genre in?the past and present. Similar in tone to last year’s James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction, the program has Roth speaking to the practitioners of the craft, including Stephen King, Quentin Tarantino, Rob Zombie, Robert Englund, Linda Blair, Tippi Hedren, Greg Nicotero, Jamie Lee Curtis and John Landis, to reveal where their ideas come from and what keeps fans coming back for more.

5. Arrow – Monday, October 15, 5 p.m. & 10 p.m., Space; 8 p.m., The CW | Season Premiere

There are some new arrivals in Star City in season seven. Chief among them is erstwhile Shadowhunters star Katherine McNamara playing a streetfighter who’s basically “Buffy the Superhero Slayer,” in addition to Michael Jonsson, Miranda Edwards and Holly Elissa as villainous archers the Longbow Hunters.

6. Cultureshock: Chris Rock’s Bring the Pain – Monday, October 15, 7 p.m. & 11:03 p.m., A&E

Sure, these days Chris Rock is recognized as one of the comedy world’s most brilliant, innovative standups, but that wasn’t always the case. In fact, back in the mid-1990s, Rock had recently been fired from Saturday Night Live after an inauspicious two-year stint, worrying his career might be over as he struggled to find his comedic voice. As this documentary directed by comedian W. Kamau Bell (United Shades of America) attests, he found it—and then some—in his seminal 1996 HBO special Bring the Pain, the result of Rock’s efforts to push himself harder creatively than he ever had before, leading to the development of personal, provocative material that he honed relentlessly in comedy clubs.

The doc goes behind Rock’s process in creating a truly iconic standup special that is still revered for its bold, warts-and-all approach to race. In addition to new interviews with Rock, the film also features Oprah Winfrey, Conan O’Brien, Trevor Noah and others.

7. The Resident – Monday, October 15, 8 p.m., CTV & Fox

Following a stampede at a music fest, Conrad and Nic tackle the perplexing case of an adventure guide whose long list of prior injuries complicates treatment. Meanwhile, Devon deals with a musician whose claims of sobriety don’t match his toxicology report.

8. The Conners – Tuesday, October 16, 8 p.m., CTV & ABC | Series Premiere

Even if The Conners is new, most people already know what the show is: Roseanne without Roseanne.

After the sudden cancellation of last season’s enormously successful revival, prompted by a controversial tweet sent by title star Barr, ABC decided to continue the series (in a sense) with? the other cast regulars and behind-the-scenes staff. The resulting offshoot premieres this Tuesday, focusing on the relationships of such family members as Dan, Darlene and Jackie (still played by John Goodman, executive producer Sara Gilbert and the recently Emmy-nominated Laurie Metcalf).

9. The Rookie – Tuesday, October 16, 10 p.m., CTV & ABC | Series Premiere

After eight seasons as Rick? Castle, the mystery author who helped the LAPD crack cases, Edmonton-born actor Nathan Fillion treads somewhat familiar ground in ?The Rookie, considering that he is,? once again, tasked with solving crime ?in the City of Angels. Fillion portrays John Nolan, a small-town guy with the gift of gab, who pursues a career in law enforcement as LAPD’s oldest rookie police officer. But playing a running-and-gunning cop at the age of 47 has come with humorous challenges that Fillion rarely faced as Rick Castle. “Kneeling is a stunt for me,” quips the actor. “I’m at the point in my life where, if I can have ?a stunt guy run down the street for me, these knees will appreciate it… but I like that it’s rough for John Nolan. That is not far away from my truth.”

10. Making a Murderer – Friday, October 19, Netflix | Season Premiere

In 10 new episodes, filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos return to update the shocking story of Steven Avery and co-defendant/nephew Brendan Dassey, continuing the twist- and turn-filled true-crime docuseries that kept viewers on the edge of their seats.