‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Returns, ‘Queens’ of Nature, Baby Talk on ‘Abishola,’ ‘Bachelor’s Hometown Visits

The 18^th season of TV’s most exacting dance competition returns for the first time since the summer of 2022, adopting a docu-style format that follows the contestants on and off stage. The challenges are designed to reflect the realities of a diverse dance career, including participating in a music video or a football halftime show. But first, the auditions, with the effervescent Cat Deeley returning as host and Dancing with the Stars alum Maksim Chmerkovskiy joined by SYTYCD all-stars Allison Holker and Comfort Fedoke as judges during the first rounds. (JoJo Siwa joins Maks and Allison as a judge as the show continues.)

All hail the queens of the jungle, ocean and other habitats in a seven-part nature series, narrated by Angela Bassett, that focuses on the females of several species. A nearly all-female crew of filmmakers spent four years making the ambitious series, which opens with three episodes (four more, including a behind-the-scenes special, air next Monday). In the opener, a sisterhood of lions clashes with hyenas in Tanzania, a female bonobo struggles to survive in the Congo rainforest, and things get microscopic in a study of two insect queens.

Christina (Maribeth Monroe) surprises the family with news that she’s going to have a baby on her own. This prompts her brother Bob (Billy Gardell) and wife Abishola (Folake Olowofoyeku) to debate whether it’s time to start their own family. In a second episode (8:30/7:30c), Abishola is skeptical when her ex-husband Tayo (Dayo Ade) comes to town, charming everyone but her.

It’s time to meet the parents, and siblings, and besties when bachelor Joey Graziadei heads to the hometowns of his four remaining prospective soulmates to learn about their roots and make deeper connections. The itinerary includes Minnesota (for Daisy Kent), New Orleans (for Kelsey Anderson), Honolulu (for Rachel Nance) and Ontario, Canada (for Maria Georgas).

INSIDE MONDAY TV:

• Reality Competition Roundup: A busy night for reality TV contests includes a new season of Fox’s MasterChef Junior (8/7c), with 12 precocious chefs ages 8-11; more tasty treats on the season premiere of Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship (8/7c); the continuation of Blind Auditions on NBC’s The Voice (8/7c), followed by Deal or No Deal Island (10/9c); and HGTV stars returning to compete in a new season of the network’s Rock the Block (9/8c).
• Studio C (8/7c, 5 pm/PT, BYUtv): The sketch comedy marks its 200^th episode with an hourlong Season 18 premiere.
• NCIS (9/8c, CBS): NCIS: L.A. alum Daniela Ruah directs an episode in which the team seeks an officer who went missing during hiss wedding proposal. Followed by NCIS: Hawai’i (10/9c), where the Aloha team goes undercover after a Navy pilot is murdered at a local military resort.
• The Resident (streaming on Netflix): All six seasons of Fox’s medical drama are available for binge-watching. Will a new audience discover the show on the mammoth streaming platform?