‘Walking Dead’ Invades New York, PBS Mystery Men (‘Endeavour,’ ‘Ridley), ‘Gemstones,’ ‘1883’ Linear Debut

Series Premiere

9/8c

SUNDAY: The zombie apocalypse has not been kind to New York City, largely abandoned to hordes of the dead—and the undying species of rats, roaches and pigeons. But a bad apple known as “the Croat (Željko Ivanek) has kidnapped Maggie’s (Lauren Cohan) son and sequestered him somewhere in the Big Apple, so she enlists her sworn enemy Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to help her rescue the offspring of the man he once so brutally slaughtered. Dead City, the first spinoff following the end of The Walking Dead, plays at times like Negan’s redemption tour. And if you buy that, I have a bridge into Manhattan I’d like to sell you.

Season Premiere

9/8c

SUNDAY: The past is present as the Masterpiece mystery, a prequel to the iconic Inspector Morse, returns for a final season of three episodes. As the young Sergeant Endeavour Morse, Shaun Evans (who directs the opener) rejoins his unit in spring 1972 after taking a mental-health break, plunging into a case in the world of classical music (his fave). But another crime investigated by Morse and DCI Fred Thursday (Roger Allam) carries troubling echoes of the unresolved Blenheim Vale child-abuse scandal from Season 2 which ended badly for both detectives. Expect the shock waves to continue all season.

Series Premiere

8/7c

SUNDAY: Always on the lookout for new British crime drama, PBS presents a showcase for Adrian Dunbar (Line of Duty), who reveals an unexpected gift for singing as the title character, newly retired Detective Inspector Alex Ridley. When he’s not serving as consultant to his protégée Carol Farman (Bronagh Waugh) on tricky murder cases, he exercises his vocal jazz chops at a local pub in his bleak Northern England district as an escape from dwelling on the tragic loss of his wife and daughter. (Their deaths by arson hang over the first season.) The two-part puzzles unfold at a slow and steady pace, enriched by Dunbar’s craggy and unusually lyrical persona.

Season Premiere

10/9c

SUNDAY: Danny McBride’s raucous comedy about a dysfunctional family of celebrity televangelists veers into Succession territory in Season 3. Patriarch Eli (John Goodman) has retired, leaving his three off-kilter offspring—blustery Jesse (McBride), neurotic Judy (Edi Patterson) and resentful runt Kelvin (Adam Devine)—in charge of the lucrative megachurch, each trying in their own way to emerge from Eli’s considerable shadow. New scene-stealers this season include Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) as a rowdy race-car driver, Stephen Dorff as a rival preacher and Steve Zahn (The White Lotus) as Eli’s militia-leading doomsday-prepping brother-in-law, who calls out the TV pastors as “charlatans.” He’s not wrong.

Series Premiere

8/7c

SUNDAY: For the many non-streaming Yellowstone fans who lamented when the spinoffs weren’t made available on “regular” TV, some good news. The acclaimed prequel, starring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as the pioneering James and Margaret Dutton, and Isabel May as their willful daughter Elsa (also the show’s narrator), begins airing weekly on cable. The adventure begins when James arrives in Texas and the young family joins a wagon train led by Civil War veteran Shea Brennan (the great Sam Elliott, who won a Screen Actors Guild Award for the role).

SUNDAY: As if being knocked around by anti-hunting eco-activists wasn’t humiliating enough, Wyoming game warden Joe (Michael Dorman) is now saddled with playing second fiddle to a blowhard “master tracker” and radio star (Patrick Garrow) who tries to take over the hunt for the killer. Complications ensue. Elsewhere, fugitive Nate Romanowski (Mustafa Speaks) tempts fate by reaching out to Deputy Cricket (Aadila Dosani), making her a target as well.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): A follow-up to last week’s Real Love movie continues the story of Kendra (Ajiona Alexus) and Ben (Da’Vinchi) 15 years later, when she’s trapped in a bad marriage and Ben presents a possible way out.
• The Wedding Contract (Saturday, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel): Things are much lighter in a romcom about soon-to-wed Rebecca (Becca Tobin) and Adam (Jake Epstein), whose Jewish wedding is threatened by his latest job opportunity and the inevitable clash of their mothers.
• Exposing Parchman (Saturday, 8/7c, A&E): Rapper Jay-Z lends his voice to the activists and grieving families seeking reform at Mississippi’s Parchman Prison, infamous for its inhumane living conditions and high death rate.
• AEW Collision (Saturday, 8/7c, TNT): The All Elite Wrestling franchise expands to a second night with a live two-hour in-ring show.
• John Early: Now More Than Ever (Saturday, 10/9c, HBO): The Search Party star headlines an attention-grabbing stand-up special in Brooklyn, fusing comedy, music and mock backstage drama.
• Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper (Saturday, 10/9c, Nat Geo WILD): The Central Park bird enthusiast goes far afield in a new series exploring the wonderful world of avian diversity, starting in the caves, waterfalls and rainforests of Puerto Rico.
• The Great Food Truck Race: David vs. Goliath (Sunday, 8/7c, Food Network): As the title suggests, rookies take on pros in the latest season of the food-truck battle, opening with a faceoff on the baseball field as they serve Little League players—and the L.A. Dodgers’ Mookie Betts. Later, on the season premiere of Beachside Brawl (10/9c), teams from the East and West coasts show what they’ve got as they on new twists in boardwalk fare.
• Search Party with Brandon Jordan (Sunday, 9/8c, Weather Channel): The urban treasure hunter and YouTube sensation takes deep dives into oceans, lakes, rivers and canals to find lost items, braving underwater conditions and surprising wildlife.
• Loudmouth (Sunday, 10/9c, Showtime): Lightning-rod activist Rev. Al Sharpton speaks truth to power in a biographical portrait of the irrepressible firebrand.