‘Euphoria’ Returns, Finales of ‘DTF St. Louis’ and ‘American Classic,’ AMC’s ‘Audacity’

Euphoria

SUNDAY: Young adulthood is something less than euphoric for the characters in Sam Levinson‘s glossy, grody drama of drugs, sex and angst. Returning after a four-year hiatus, Euphoria puts high school in the rear-view mirror, though whether they’ve really moved on or, heaven forbid, grew up is a matter of debate. The key cast members who dominate the season opener are as starry as it gets: Zendaya, a two-time Emmy winner as Rue, the series’ voice and narrator, now smuggling drugs across the border as an indentured mule and seeking her own “slice of heaven,” while Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi as Cassie and Nate look ahead, if not forward, to their wedding. Nate struggles to keep his dad’s business going, while Cassie dreams of a lavish ceremony, insisting she can raise the $50,000 flower budget with some sexy OnlyFans videos: “It’s called monetization.” Isn’t it, though.

DTF St. Louis

SUNDAY: “Did we just team up to not solve a murder?” St. Louis County Detective Homer (a deadpan Richard Jenkins) wonders to his partner, Jodie Plumb (Joy Sunday), in the finale of writer-director Steven Conrad’s offbeat limited series. The more they learn as the truth unravels about the death of Floyd Smernitch (David Harbour, heartbreaking), the sadder it gets in this psychosexual fable of desire, male friendship, middle-aged malaise and the foibles of human nature. The tangled triangle involving the eager-to-please Floyd, dissatisfied local weatherman Clark (Jason Bateman) and Floyd’s frustrated wife Carol (Linda Cardellini) would be a fascinating case study for the next Dr. Ruth.

American Classic

SUNDAY: A backstage farce does nothing to dim the power of a true American classic, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, which provides an emotional centerpiece to the season finale of the delightful comedy about a struggling small-town theater company. Exiled Broadway star Richard Bean (Kevin Kline) is director and star as the Stage Manager, but even he can’t manage the fallout from a secret exposed during the cast’s latest “Circle of Truth” powwow. With a powerful New York critic arriving for opening night, the show must go on—but where will that leave the Bean family?

 

The Audacity

SUNDAY: It’s rather audacious for any show to put “audacity” in its own title. “Acidic” might be a tougher sell but is a more appropriate description of Jonathan Glatzer‘s (Succession, Better Call Saul) cynical drama about toxic tech titans who rule Silicon Valley. With eyes gleaming in ego-driven panic, Billy Magnussen stars as Duncan Park, the CEO of a data-mining company who we first meet mid-meltdown after the collapse of an acquisition deal he leaked too soon. Barry‘s Sarah Goldberg costars as his put-upon therapist JoAnne, who’s got her own ethical and personal issues. This is not the show to watch if you’re hoping for someone to root for.

The Comeback

SUNDAY: The show-biz satire hits its stride, and How’s That? star/executive producer Valerie Cherish (the brilliant Lisa Kudrow) hits the wall, when a debate over a replacement joke while filming the sitcom pilot leads to more disarray on the set. After the AI (which Valerie refers to as “Al” to keep its identity hidden) delivers a second episode that hits all the wrong notes, it’s up to Valerie to maintain a brave face and make it right, with no help from the showrunners or her producing partner Billy (Dan Bucatinsky) or the soulless network.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• The Masters: Final Rounds (Saturday and Sunday, 2 pm/ET, CBS): The prestigious golf tournament concludes in Augusta, Georgia, with early coverage starting at noon/ET on Paramount+ and livestream simulcasts on the streamer, CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app.
• Be My Guest with Ina Garten (Saturday, noon/11c, Food Network): Emmy and Oscar winner Allison Janney visits the celebrated “Barefoot Contessa” chef/author at her East Hampton home in the Season 8 opener.
• Fury vs. Makhmudov (2 pm/ET, streaming on Netflix): Two-time heavyweight world champ Tyson Fury faces Arslanbek Makhmudov in a match livestreamed from London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
• UFC 327 (Saturday, 8/7c, livestreamed on Paramount+): The marquee match in a night of UFC battle pits the Czech Republic’s Jiří Procházka against New Zealand’s Carlos Ulberg.
• A Little Park Music (Saturday, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel): A city manager (Laci J. Mailey) and a rookie cop (Beau Mirchoff) find harmony after a piano mysteriously appears in the town gazebo.
• Bee My Love (Saturday, 8/7c, Great American Family): A private chef (Ann Pirvu) falls for a beekeeper (Robin Dunne) while trying to impress a famous restaurateur.
• Philly Homicide (Saturday, 8/7c, Oxygen): Retired detective Chris McMullin explores the darker side of the City of Brotherly Love in the second season of the true-crime series.
• Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever (Saturday, 9/8c, CNN): The influential tech journalist explores the science and business behind new breakthroughs in longevity research in a six-part docuseries.
• 48 Hours (Saturday, 10/9c, CBS): Peter Van Sant reports on the decades-long search for answers in the 1999 disappearance of Texas mom Kimberly Langwell.
• Saturday Night Live (Saturday, 11:30/10:30c, 8:30 pm/PT, NBC): The versatile Colman Domingo makes his overdue debut as a guest host, with Anitta the first-time musical guest.
• Collector’s Call (Sunday, 6:30/5:30c, MeTV): Longtime game-show producer Bob Boden shares his treasure trove of memorabilia in the Season 7 premiere, with items including Gene Rayburn‘s Match Game skinny microphone, a Price Is Right Plinko chip and a giant “J” from the Jeopardy! Can game-show veteran Marc Summers get him to trade away any of these relics for what’s behind the door?
• Family Guy (Sunday, 8/7c, Fox): Peter Griffin is Quiet Burp in an Old West parody. Followed by the season finale of Universal Basic Guys (8:30/7:30c), a new American Dad (9/8c) and another Family Guy (9:30/8:30c), where Stewie walks taller after donning a new pair of boots.
• Marshals (Sunday, 8/7c, CBS): The Marshals guard the family of a federal judge after they’re targeted with a car bomb. Followed by Tracker (9/8c), where Colter (Justin Hartley) helps a pregnant woman find her missing husband, and Watson (10/9c), which goes inside the head of an injured Watson (Morris Chestnut) while he and Leila (Tika Sumpter) await rescue after their car accident.
• Call the Midwife (Sunday, 8/7c, PBS): A baby disappears from the maternity house, and Sister Catherine (Molly Vevers) blames herself. Followed by new episodes of The Forsytes (9/8c) and The Count of Monte Cristo (10/9c).
• Eva Longoria: Searching for France (Sunday, 9/8c, CNN): The Desperate Housewives star explores France’s cuisine and culture in a scrumptious eight-episode travelogue.
• Rooster (Sunday, 10/9c, HBO): Just renewed for a second season, the campus comedy finds Greg (Steve Carell) trying to keep his casual-sex fling a secret while opening his home to his neediest student, Tommy (Maximo Salas).