What to Watch on Tuesday: NCIS, This Is Us, and more return as Fall TV ramps up

We know TV has a lot to offer, be it network, cable, premium channels, or streaming platforms including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Facebook Watch, and elsewhere. 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: 8 p.m. on CBS

Season Premiere
Fans will not only learn why Ziva (Cote de Pablo) came back to protect Gibbs (Mark Harmon) from impending doom, they'll also discover where she's been hiding since the season 13 mortar attack that left her daughter Tali without a mom. "Whatever she has done has been obviously in secret," de Pablo tells EW. "She's been working in undercover operations, which has led her to run for years. By staying dead to the rest of the world, she's been able to really save her girl from potential harm." —Lynette Rice

Related content:

• NCIS trailer reveals why Ziva is back to help Gibbs
• Pauley Perrette confirms she has no plans to 'ever' return to NCIS

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 9 p.m. on NBC

Season Premiere
This Is Us returns with an extended season 4 premiere that features fresh starts for many of the Pearsons, oodles of new faces (hello, Jennifer Morrison, Omar Epps, and Tim Matheson!), and the early days of the courtship of Jack and Rebecca. Fresh off of their road trip to Los Angeles, Jack will break bread — and the ice, he hopes — with Rebecca's parents at a formal dinner. "Wouldn't you expect Jack to win anyone over?" Mandy Moore (Rebecca) rhetorically asks EW. "I would. But her parents can be a bit… tricky. They're a little protective." Creator Dan Fogelman is more than a little protective of season 4's secrets, so pay attention to the series known to twist expectations. "The goal is to never fall into a pattern where the show just becomes expected," he notes. "We're coming towards the midpoint of our series, saying, 'We're not just sitting back and taking it easy.'" Let the surprises (and tears) flow. —Dan Snierson

Related content:

• This Is Us star Chrissy Metz on Kate's fate in the future: 'She's probably at the dry cleaners'
• This Is Us star Chris Sullivan says that the show is 'going in a direction no one expects'
• This Is Us stars tease what happens when Jack meets Rebecca's parents

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 9 p.m. on ABC

Series Debut
The black-ish universe expands once again — this time with a prequel series that follows a young version of Tracee Ellis Ross' Rainbow. Narrated by Ross, mixed-ish stars Arica Himmel as young Bow, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tika Sumpter as her parents, and Gary Cole as her grandfather. In tonight's premiere, Bow and her two younger siblings adjust to suburban life after the commune they grew up on is raided by the government. "They're fish out of water," says showrunner Karin Gist. "We're telling a story about identity and trying to figure yourself out when you don't really know where you fit in." —Patrick Gomez

Related content:

• The Girlfriends cast reunites on black-ish — and EW has a first look at them back together
• Watch Mariah Carey (and her 8-year-old twins) sing the mixed-ish theme song
• Mariah Carey wants to guest star on ABC's mixed-ish

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 9 p.m. on Fox

Season Premiere
Prepare for a "big and dynamic" ending to Empire. Fox's groundbreaking series returns for a sixth and final season that showrunner Brett Mahoney promises will feel like "an event" every week. And after spending the back half of season 5 dealing with the controversy surrounding star Jussie Smollett, the Empire team is ready to move on, with Smollett no longer a part of the series and his character Jamal jettisoned to a life in London. But the focus can now be on the show, as Lucious (Terrence Howard) tries to clear his name, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) hopes to "save herself and love herself," and all of the family must decide once and for all, what is more important: the Lyons or Empire? —Derek Lawrence

Related content:

• Empire showrunner teases the 'big and dynamic' final season
• Cookie and Lucious reunite in first look at Empire final season premiere
• Empire star Taraji P. Henson on saying goodbye to Cookie: 'She gave me a second life in this industry'

8 p.m.
The Conners (season premiere) — ABC
The Resident (season premiere) — Fox
The Voice (season premiere) — NBC

8:30 p.m.
Bless This Mess (season premiere) — ABC

9 p.m.
Life Below Zero (season premiere) — Nat Geo
FBI (season premiere) — CBS

9:30 p.m.
black-ish (season premiere) — ABC

10 p.m.
Emergence (series debut) — ABC
Ink Master (season finale) — Paramount Network
Mayans M.C. — FX
NCIS: New Orleans (season premiere) — CBS
New Amsterdam (season premiere) — NBC

Streaming
Jeff Dunham: Beside Himself — Netflix

*times are ET and subject to change