CBS uses Sunday’s highly anticipated AFC Championship game to launch its prime-time midseason lineup, led by the premiere of Watson, starring Morris Chestnut as Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick, who returns stateside to solve contemporary medical mysteries. Sunday TV will be dominated by the NFC and AFC Championship games on Fox and CBS. BBC America launches a nature series exploring the wildlife and terrains of Asia. Turner Classic Movies marks the 100th birthday of screen legend Paul Newman.
Watson
SUNDAY: There’s nothing elementary about the medical mysteries tackled by a certain Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut) and his young team of crack specialists at a Pittsburgh clinic named after Watson’s mentor, the presumably late (and unseen) Sherlock Holmes. The procedural series (unrelated to the CBS hit Elementary) opens with Holmes’ apparent death at Reichenbach Falls—you know what they say about TV shows where you never see the body—and six months later, Watson is back in doctor mode, unknowingly still a target of arch-villain Moriarty’s malign influence. Watson hopes to win back his soon-to-be ex-wife and medical director Mary (Rochelle Aytes), but first, there’s a puzzling case of a patient suffering with potentially fatal familial insomnia.
NFL Playoffs
SUNDAY: NFL Conference Championships, the games deciding who moves on to the Super Bowl in two weeks present classic matchups. First, on Fox, NFC East rivals No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles take on the resurgent No. 6 Washington Commanders, their third contest this year (each won their respective home game during the regular season). Then on CBS, the AFC’s No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs aims for a three-peat, once again facing No. 2 Buffalo Bills, their fourth post-season battle in the last five years, with the Bills hoping once and for all to take down the elusive Chiefs. (We know who Taylor Swift will be rooting for.)
Planet Earth: Asia
SATURDAY: The vast continent of Asia offers an equally sprawling array of fascinating wildlife in an eight-part nature series narrated by the indefatigable Sir David Attenborough, who promises, “There’s nowhere else on earth with so many untold stories.” Adorable red pandas, Arctic polar bears, Himalayan wolves and Nepalese tigers are just a few of the marvels on display, but the series kicks off “Beneath the Waves” of the planet’s longest coastline, with highlights including glow-in-the-dark squid and relentless sharks hunting a school of Moorish idols in the Western Pacific.
Rachel, Rachel
SUNDAY: Paul Newman 100th Birthday Tribute starts at noon/11c, Turner Classic Movies. Few movie stars of the 20th century had the charisma and staying power of Paul Newman (1925-2008), celebrated on his 100th birthday with a daylong marathon that begins with his 1968 feature-film directorial debut, Rachel, Rachel, starring his wife Joanne Woodward. The lineup includes Newman’s breakthrough role as boxer Rocky Graziano in the 1956 biopic Somebody Up There Likes Me (2 pm/1c) and iconic Oscar-nominated performances in 1958’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (4 pm/3c), 1963’s Hud (6 pm/5c), and 1967’s Cool Hand Luke (8 pm/7c).
All Creatures Great and Small
SUNDAY: The heartwarming drama’s latest episode is titled “Homecoming,” which tips off the unexpected return of a beloved character just in time for baby Jimmy’s christening. It’s an especially emotional episode for Siegfried (Samuel West), the infant’s godfather, who mitigates his joy with irritation over a particularly aggravating client. And Helen (Rachel Shenton) hopes to use the happy occasion to win over her mother-in-law (Imogen Clawson), a challenge that requires some canine intervention.
INSIDE WEEKEND TV:
- From Roger Moore with Love (Saturday, 8/7c, The CW): Friends, family, and co-stars salute the former James Bond in a biographical portrait.
- Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): The third installment of the Blige-produced movie series follows Kendra (Ajiona Alexus) and Ben (Da’Vinchi) as they face new relationship challenges after moving out of the city for a fresh start.
- The Perfect Setting (Saturday, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel): Laci J. Malley is Abby, an ambitious jewelry designer who heads to Belgium to compete in a Valentine’s Day Diamond Contest but finds a real gem in the handsome Alexander (David Eisendoorn).
- True Crime Watch: Oxygen True Crime’s Prosecuting Evil with Kelly Siegler (Saturday, 8/7c) returns for a second season, with the former Texas prosecutor revisiting one of her most difficult cases, involving the 1999 murder of Belinda Temple and her unborn child. On 48 Hours (10/9c, CBS), Anne-Marie Green reports on the 2021 “Ivy League Murder” of Yale grad student Kevin Jiang.
- Kobe: The Making of a Legend (Saturday, 9/8c, CNN): A three-part biographical docuseries profiles the late NBA superstar Kobe Bryant.
- Saturday Night Live (Saturday, 11:30/10:30c, 8:30 pm/PT, NBC): Don’t be surprised if Timothée Chalamet lookalikes invade the Studio 8H stage when the Oscar-nominated star of A Complete Unknown returns for his third time as guest host and first time as musical guest, presumably channeling Bob Dylan. (The feature film Saturday Night, dramatizing the launch of the late-night series in 1975, begins streaming on Netflix on Saturday.)
- The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (Sunday, 8/7c, CNN): In “Operation Panda,” senior national correspondent David Culver goes behind the scenes with giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao as they leave China for the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
- Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches (Sunday, 9/8c, AMC): Where’s Lasher (Jack Huston)? That’s what Rowan (Alexandra Daddario) and Talamasca agent Sip (Tongayi Chirisa) both desperately need to know, now that the spirit in human form has been snatched and taken to parts unknown.
- Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Sunday, 11:35 pm/ET, CBS): The late-night show presents its first-ever show on AFC Championship night, with scheduled guests including Deion Sanders and a performance by Kane Brown.