ET Obsessions: Dame Judi Dench, ‘This Is Us’ and More!

ET Obsessions 0925
NBC / Focus Features / NBC / CBS

Here’s what ET is obsessing over this week!

Here at ET, we’re obsessed with a lot of things – and this is what we’re most excited about this week:

Why We’re Obsessed With Judi Dench

For the second time in 20 years, Dame Judi Dench is tasked with portraying Queen Victoria—this time in Stephen Frears’ Victoria and Abdul, an unofficial sequel to her Oscar-nominated turn in Mrs. Brown, about the friendship between an Indian Muslim functionary and the monarch of England. Her portrayal is earning her rave reviews, which will certainly mean more of Dench during awards season as she promotes the Oscar-bait film and the upcoming star-studded mystery, Murder on the Orient Express, which is in theaters on Nov. 10. Already, she’s rapped with British grime star Lethal Bizzle and been quite cheeky in interviews, revealing she’s mooned Harvey Weinstein, has a tattoo on her bum and that she’s crushing on Johnny Depp. Bow down!

Victoria and Abdul is now in theaters. 

Why We’re Obsessed With Iain Armitage on ‘Young Sheldon’

After stealing scenes as the (slightly) creepy but sweet Ziggy Chapman on Big Little Lies, budding actor Iain Armitage has been popping up everywhere, including The Glass Castle and Netflix’s Our Souls at Night. But his big breakthrough moment comes as the star of the Big Bang Theory spinoff, Young Sheldon, taking over the titular role as the 9-year-old version of Sheldon Cooper. And Armitage comes fully approved by Jim Parsons, who says the actor’s audition tape was “mind-blowing.” “There was a natural-ness with it and a spirit with it, and an understanding of [the charater],” he told ET.

Young Sheldon premieres Sept. 25 at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

Why We’re Obsessed With ‘This Is Us’  

The hit drama, starring Sterling K. Brown, who recently won an Emmy for playing Randall Pearson, may have been on hiatus for over six months, but our unanswered questions are still fresh in our minds. We can barely wait to see what the season premiere has in store for us. What clues will be dropped on how the Pearson patriarch died? Why does Kate claim it was her fault? How is Randall coping with the loss of his father, sadly for the second time in his life? While we know we’ll need to keep a tissue box close by, we really just can’t wait to see the family and their milestone moments back on our small screen.  

This Is Us premieres Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Why We’re Obsessed With the Return of ‘Will & Grace’  

While it’s easy to get cynical or overwhelmed by all the current and upcoming reboots and revivals, Will & Grace probably has us the most excited since Gilmore Girls returned with a mini-season on Netflix. The continuation, which has already been renewed for a second season, sees the return of Will (Eric McCormack), Grace (Debra Messing), Jack (Sean Hayes) and Karen (Megan Mullally), as the gang picks up where things left off—well, sort of. The show will ignore the debated series finale and focus on a reset timeline that now includes Donald Trump in the White House, a feminist Grace and more sexualized gay characters. “We're back to the four of us, which is really where it all began and where the magic sort of lives,” Messing recently told ET. On top of that, fans can now catch up on the entire series—all 194 episodes—before the new episodes air thanks to Hulu. After years in syndication, Will & Grace is finally streaming online.

Will & Grace premieres Sept. 28 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Why We’re Obsessed With ‘Make Up or Break Up’

As Facebook cranks out new, original series on the platform Watch,  a few have caught our eye, including the scripted dramedy Strangers, the docuseries Humans of New York  and the real-time dating show Make Up or Break Up. Hosted by Shan Boodram, the show uses the “wisdom of the crowd,” with viewers weighing in to determine if couples should stick it out or let it go. And so far, in the show’s first three episodes (of its six-episode run), two of the couples have been advised to break up. Maybe the audience is scorned by love or all those engagement photos on their feed, or maybe those couples just weren’t right for each other. Either way, it’s not the craziest dating show we’ve seen.

Make Up or Break Up streams live Thursdays on Facebook Watch.

--Additional writing by Rachel Maresca