CBS airs the fourth and final episode of Pen Densham’s sci-fi series Space Rangers starring Jeff Kaake, Marjorie Monaghan, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, and Linda Hunt. Pat Morita (The Karate Kid), Wings Hauser, and Sally Elise Richardson guest star in the show’s pilot episode, inexplicably aired last. The series is cancelled with two episodes left unaired. 
In the best tradition of Orson Welles’ infamous War Of The Worlds radio broadcast, CBS airs a made-for-TV movie, Without Warning, depicting a slow-building attack on Earth as a series of newscasts. Starring real-life news personalities Sander Vanocur, Bree Walker and Warren Olney, mixed in with obvious actors such as John de Lancie, Gina Hecht and Jane Kaczmarek, Without Warning tricks many viewers – despite extensive on-screen notification that they are not viewing a real news event – into thinking that a real national emergency is underway. Welles would’ve been proud.
The first episode of Supergirl premieres on CBS, starring Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks and Chyler Leigh. Dean Cain and Helen Slater guest star. The show is produced by Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, producers of Arrow and The Flash on the CW, another CBS-owned network. 
CBS premieres the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery, the first new Star Trek TV series in 12 years, starring Sonequa Martin-Green (The Walking Dead) and Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Marco Polo). The second episode also premieres on this date, but instead of airing on CBS, it streams on CBS’ fledgling CBS All Access paid streaming service. Despite the unusual distribution arrangement for a two-parter, the premiere is watched by over nine million viewers.