Ewan McGregor Is ‘A Gentleman in Moscow,’ Giancarlo Esposito Is ‘Parish,’ ‘Walking Dead,’ ‘Way Home’ and ‘Nolly’ Finales

Series Premiere

8/7c

SUNDAY: Adapted by Ben Vanstone (All Creatures Great and Small) from Amor Towles’ beloved novel, Moscow stars a warmly witty Ewan McGregor as Count Alexander Rostov, confined after the Russian Revolution to an attic grotto in the posh Hotel Metropol, where he’ll spend the remainder of his life under an unusual form of house arrest. Over the years, unfolding over eight poignant episodes, Rostov makes the most of his surroundings, creating a new family from the staff and fellow guests, including a precocious young girl (Alexa Goodall) who offers him a passkey to the hotel’s secrets, and a glamorous actress (McGregor’s wife, Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who keeps alive the deposed nobleman’s passion for love and life. (See the full review.)

Series Premiere

9/8c

SUNDAY: Famous last words in any crime chronicle: “After this job, I am out.” When said by Giancarlo Esposito, the terrific character best known as Breaking Bad’s implacable Gus Fring, you know he means it. But fate has other plans for Gracian “Gray” Parish, who thought he’d left the criminal world behind when he started a luxury car service in New Orleans, taking advantage of his prowess behind the wheel. But when an ex-con friend (Skeet Ulrich at his skeeviest) offers Parish’s struggling business a lifeline, asking him to be the wheelman for a heist on behalf of a sinister crime organization led by a Zimbabwean family, he reluctantly agrees. From there, in classic anti-hero fashion, a good man begins to break bad, putting him and his family (Ray Donovan’s Paula Malcomson as his long-suffering wife, mixed-ish star Arica Himmel as his confused daughter) in peril. Derivative for sure, but suspenseful and grounded in another excellent and intense performance from Esposito.

Season Finale

9/8c

SUNDAY: “This is the s**t we do,” both Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) concede as they get to work in the explosive climax to their story, the best of the Walking Dead spinoffs to date. Reunited and reconciled to their mission to take down and expose the Civic Republic Military, the soulmates return to the military base (Michonne in the shadows), where we’ll finally learn the extent of the CRM’s ambitions, further fueling the Walking Dead heroes in their crusade. But will they ever get back home to the family they left behind?

Season Finale

9/8c

SUNDAY: The popular time-travel fantasy wraps its second season—already renewed for a third—with spoilers galore in the past and present. Suffice it to say that Del (Andie MacDowell), her daughter Kat (Chyler Leigh) and granddaughter Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow) will have plenty to process from the revelations they learn, even as the future of the Landry farm hangs in the balance.

Series Finale

9/8c

SUNDAY: The conclusion of Russell T Davies’ all-too-brief show-biz dramedy addresses the question that continues to hound soap-opera star Noele “Nolly” Gordon (the sublime Helena Bonham Carter) no matter where she goes or what role she plays: Why was she fired from the hit series Crossroads at the height of her and the show’s success in 1981? She’s now making a go of it on stage with intermittent success—her Mama Rose in Gypsy is not, however, one for the ages—but it takes a road tour to Bangkok, of all places, for Nolly to learn the truth, which leads to a confrontation back home and a possible comeback just when she needs it most.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• The Ten Commandments (Saturday, 7/6c, ABC): Settle in for the traditional annual screening of Cecil B. DeMille’s colorful Oscar-winning 1956 epic, starring Charlton Heston as Moses, leading the Jewish people out of slavery under the cruel rule of Rameses II (Yul Brynner). And then contemplate why Heston’s Ben-Hur from 1959 doesn’t have quite as high a profile.
• Beyond the Aggressives (Saturday, 9/8c, Showtime; streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime): Filmmaker Daniel Peddle revisits four of the subjects of his groundbreaking 2005 documentary about queer people of color, with updates on their challenges and triumphs.
• 48 Hours (Saturday, 10/9c, CBS): Eric Moriarty returns to a case she has reported on for nearly a quarter-century with an update on Jane Dorotik, who spent nearly 20 years in prison maintaining her innocence of the murder of her husband.
• Saturday Night Live (Saturday, 11:30/10:30c, 8:30 pm/PT, NBC): Comedian-actor Ramy Youssef, whose recent HBO special earned raves, makes his debut as SNL guest host, with Travis Scott the second-time musical guest.
• 60 Minutes (Sunday, 7/6c, after NCAA Elite Eight coverage, CBS): Scott Pelley returns to his ongoing investigation of attacks on U.S. government officials with the condition known as Havana Syndrome, and Bill Whitaker explores the Native American phenomenon of bareback high-speed “Indian Relay” horse racing.
• American Idol (Sunday, 8/7c, ABC): It’s Hollywood Week, when the singers who made it through auditions have one more chance to impress the judges before they make what’s being called “the biggest cut in Idol”
• The Equalizer (Sunday, 8/7c, CBS): Robyn (Queen Latifah) helps Mel’s (Liza Lapira) brother turn whistleblower, while her Aunt Vi (Lorraine Toussaint) tries to salvage her relationship with Trish (Gloria Reuben), damaged by her keeping Robyn’s identity a secret. Followed by Tracker (9/8c), with Colter (Justin Hartley) and his team on the lookout for a missing MMA fighter.
• The Real Housewives of Potomac (8/7c, Bravo): The ladies rehash Season 8 with Andy Cohen in the first of a three-part reunion.