The Dragons Are Back, Clint Eastwood on TCM, ‘Abbott’ to the Max, Parker Posey ‘Dead’ Toxic

House of the Dragon

SUNDAY: Taking place some 200 years before the action of Game of Thrones, HBO’s long-awaited prequel (based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood) is basically Succession in chain mail and armor, substituting wicked wit with fiery displays of power. Palace intrigue and gossip swirl as the kingdom, ruled by the dragon-riding Targaryen dynasty, obsesses over who will one day succeed weak-willed King Viserys (a poignant Paddy Considine): his bad-boy brother (Matt Smith), his first-born daughter (Milly Alcock, later Emma D’Arcy) or one of his younger male heirs. As the king’s cousin (Eve Best), “The Queen Who Never Was,” puts it: “Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne.” Maybe it’s time for a change? (Read the full review.)

The Outlaw Josey Wales

SUNDAY: The monthlong “Summer Under the Stars” initiative turns its attention for 24 hours to the long and varied career of Clint Eastwood, starting at 6 am/5c with a few comic curiosities from his early years as a contract player. The 1976 revenge Western Josie Wales, the fifth film he directed, is the marathon’s prime-time centerpiece, with other highlights including the popular 1978 comedy Every Which Way but Loose (11:15 am/10:15c) and 1973’s Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force (12:30 am/11:30c).

Abbott Elementary

SATURDAY: Nominated for seven Emmys, and recent winner of four Television Critics Association Awards including Program of the Year, ABC’s breakthrough comedy expands its streaming reach beyond Hulu, now presenting its freshman season on HBO Max. Quinta Brunson’s warm and funny mock-doc about life in an underfunded Philadelphia grade school has one of TV’s best ensembles, including nominees Sheryl Lee Ralph as a veteran kindergarten teacher who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and scene-stealer Janelle James as the school’s biggest fool, the proudly clueless principal. It’s worth a rewatch before the new term begins.

Tales of the Walking Dead

SUNDAY: When’s the last time any version of The Walking Dead made you laugh—intentionally? In a wacky installment of the Dead anthology, Parker Posey camps it up as a toxic insurance-agency boss who can’t make sense of the emerging zombie apocalypse in 2010. Jillian Bell is her most disgruntled employee, and with “Crazy” on the soundtrack, they both get caught up in a fantastical time loop where the only way to come out the other side alive may be to work together.

Inside Weekend TV:

• MLB Little League Classic (7 pm/ET, ESPN and ESPN2): The sports network takes a break from the ongoing Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., to welcome two pro teams—the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles—for the yearly “classic” from Historic Bowman Field. But the youth aren’t entirely taking a back seat. An alternate “KidsCast” presentation is available on ESPN2, with young students from the Bruce Beck Sports Broadcasting Camp calling the game. Max Wallace (18) and Leo Roth (14) provide the commentary, with Pepper Presley (11) reporting.
• Identical Love (Saturday, 8/7c, 5/PT, Great American Family): The most original twist among this weekend’s romantic movie offerings features Shae Robins as a doctor who volunteers at a tropical country’s health clinic after being left at the altar. Who might she meet-cute among her fellow volunteers but the jerk groom’s identical twin (Mason D. Davis), a dentist.
• More TV romance: Rachel Boston stars in Hallmark Channel’s Dating the Delaneys (Saturday, 8/7c), a multigenerational love story in which a divorcee’s mom and daughter also get in on the action; and on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, Groundswell (Sunday, 9/8c) stars channel favorite Lacey Chabert as an unhappy chef who finds her bliss in Hawaii with an aloof surf instructor (Ektor Rivera). Boston also appears in UPtv’s The Engagement Plot (Sunday, 7/6c) as a teacher who finds happiness with Trevor Donovan when she returns to Colorado after being humiliated on a Bachelor-like TV dating show.
• The $100,000 Pyramid (Sunday, 9/8c, ABC): One of my favorite entertainers, Community alum Yvette Nicole Brown, spreads her infectious enthusiasm for all things pop-culture by appearing on TV’s best prime-time game show. She competes against comedian Pete Holmes. The night’s other match-up pits comic Jo Koy opposite Boyz II Men’s Wanya Morris.
• Ghosts of Devil’s Perch (Sunday, 9/8c, Travel Channel, streaming on discovery+): The latest paranormal series digs deep into the spooky history of historic mining town Butte, Montana, where investigator Dave Schrader, psychic Cindy Kaza and tech expert K.D. Stafford seek out spirits in the so-called “Devil’s Perch,” starting with a creepy Gilded Age mansion.
• The Killer Nanny (Sunday, 9/8c, Investigation Discovery, streaming on discovery+): A three-part true-crime docuseries revisits the 1997 trial of British au pair Louise Woodward, accused of shaking an 8-month-old boy so violently that he died. Witnesses, members of the jury and the defense and prosecution teams look back 25 years later at the trial that transfixed viewers when it aired live in the U.K.
• Flatbush Misdemeanors (Sunday 11/10c, Showtime): In the Season 2 finale of the Brooklyn buddy dramedy, Kevin (Kevin Iso) learns about his art fellowship, while Dan (Dan Perlman) is in trouble with the drug dealer they helped put behind bars.