What to Watch on Thursday: The West Wing walks and talks again in HBO Max reunion special

We know TV has a lot to offer, be it network, cable, premium channels, or streaming platforms including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Facebook Watch, and others. So EW is here to help, guiding you every single day to the things that should be on your radar. Check out our recommendations below, and click here to learn how you can stream our picks via your own voice-controlled smart-speaker (Alexa, Google Home) or podcast app (Spotify, iTunes, Google Play).

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on HBO Max

It's time to return to the Bartlet administration with HBO Max's highly-anticipated West Wing reunion. The cast of Aaron Sorkin's iconic political drama have gotten back together for A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, highlighting the importance of voting with a one-time-only stage presentation of the season 3 episode "Hartsfield's Landing." Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Rob Lowe, and Dulé Hill have recreated the fan-favorite episode in a unique way shot at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, with Sterling K. Brown stepping in as Leo McGarry, the role played by the late John Spencer. The special also features guest appearances during act breaks from When We All Vote co-chair Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as musical performances by composer W.G. Snuffy Walden, who will play the iconic West Wing theme song on guitar, and folk rock band the Avett Brothers, who will close out the special. —Sydney Bucksbaum

Related content: 

• The West Wing cast has reunited and wants you... to vote
• Watch The West Wing cast's emotional plea to vote: 'We have to stay engaged'
• Rob Lowe remembers how The West Wing cast was 'treated like the Beatles' in Washington

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Netflix

Series Debut

If you're feeling fed up about your quarantine reality, Netflix is here to show you how others have been faring during this weird, terrible time with Social Distance, an eight-part anthology series set in the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The drama comes from the team behind Orange Is the New Black and features eight standalone episodes that show how families, friends, and couples were forced to come to terms with the "new normal," telling stories all through a virtual lens. The new series was conceived, cast, and executed entirely remotely during quarantine, and captures the emotional experience of being forced apart by circumstance and having no choice but to communicate remotely and rely on technology. Now that the showrunners have proven that it is possible to make a quarantine-themed series during quarantine, the real question becomes: do we really want or even need to watch a show about how all we can do right now is Zoom with the people we love? —SB

Related content: 

• First trailer for Netflix's Social Distance showcases the highs and lows of quarantine
• Get a first look at Netflix's 8-part anthology series Social Distance
• Netflix gets rid of 30-day free trials for new U.S. subscribers

8 p.m.

Big Brother — CBS

Supernatural — The CW

Connecting — NBC

9 p.m.

Latin Music Queens — Facebook Watch

The Outpost — The CW

Flip or Flop (season premiere) — HGTV

Streaming

Star Trek: Discovery (season premiere) — CBS All Access

The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special — HBO Max

A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting (movie) — Netflix

Mr. Mercedes (season premiere) — Peacock

Freedia Got a Gun (doc) — Peacock

DES (U.S. series debut) — Sundance Now

One Story Up (series debut) — Topic

Nehama (series debut) — Topic

*times are ET and subject to change