It’s back to the future for network TV. One night after CBS aired two repackaged “I Love Lucy” repeats from 1954, ABC offers its traditional broadcast of the 1956 biblical epic “The Ten Commandments” (6 p.m. Saturday). The Cecil B. DeMille-directed adaptation of the Exodus story always scores respectable ratings for ABC. It’s as close the Easter-Passover weekend gets to the evergreens trotted out every year as Christmas approaches.

TCM spends Sunday afternoon and evening with other Bible-based epics, including “The Silver Chalice” (11 a.m., TV-G) from 1954, featuring a young Paul Newman. After the secular 1948 holiday favorite “Easter Parade” (7 p.m., TV-G), starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire, TCM returns to the Good Book with the 1961 adaptation of “King of Kings” (9 p.m., TV-PG), directed by Nicholas Ray (“Rebel Without a Cause”), and the 1927 silent version of “The King of Kings” (12 a.m., early Monday), also directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Much controversy attended the release of the silent “Kings.” In some ways, the phenomenon paralleled the reception for Mel Gibson’s 2004 epic “The Passion of the Christ,” which can be streamed for free on the Roku channel, if you have that device.

A master showman, DeMille promoted his 1956 “Ten Commandments” by placing giant replicas of Moses’ tablets in cities all over America. In some places, schools and even courthouses have kept the tablets to tout a biblical basis for American traditions of justice. This marks a curious fate for a marketing gimmick, a bit of Hollywood hoopla used to increase box office for a very expensive movie.

• Having turned over a large swath of its prime-time programming to Christmas movies, the Hallmark Channel manages to eke out one romance for Easter weekend. Facing plummeting profits, the heir to a confection fortune finds a fetching chocolatier with all of the right ingredients in the 2019 romance “Easter Under Wraps” (8 p.m. Saturday, TV-G).

Hallmark has become synonymous with formulaic romances, but for decades, the Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie franchise showcased many well-received films. Its 1961 Easter offering “Give Us Barabbas” aired for years and starred James Daly, Kim Hunter and a pre-”2001” Keir Dullea. It was directed by George Schaefer, who helmed more than 100 television films, many of them adaptations of classics.

The year after Hallmark’s film, Hollywood churned out a big-screen “Barrabas” (1:30 p.m. Sunday, TCM), starring Anthony Quinn as the thief freed by Pontius Pilate before Christ’s crucifixion.

— OK, that was weird. The least expected story of the week was the scandal involving Felicity Huffman (“Desperate Housewives”) and Lori Loughlin, star of “When Calls the Heart” (7 p.m. Sunday, Hallmark, TV-G), in a bribery/cheating plot to get their respective daughters into elite universities.

This is obviously an ongoing case, and all sides must have their say, or day, in court. But the motivation at the center of this story is worth discussing. It involves some overwhelming need to do anything to get children into elite schools. As if anything “lesser” were unthinkable.

Television plays no small role in this insecurity. I can’t remember how many times I’ve had to describe an ABC legal drama where every single character hails from only the most exclusive Ivy and spends most of the pilot bragging about it.

There was a time, not that long ago, when John Grisham wrote best-selling books about young, barely accredited lawyers from no-name institutions who took on impossible cases against massive corporations and eventually won. And got the girl, to boot.

So, our current era’s neurotic obsession with elitism and inequality is hardly hard-wired.

If anything comes of this sordid affair, it’s an appreciation that shoddy efforts at snobbery are always essentially pathetic. Or on classic TV, comedic. Watching “Gilligan’s Island,” we identified with Mary Ann and the Skipper, and pitied the millionaire and his wife.

— CNN launches the four-hour documentary “Tricky Dick” (8 p.m., Sunday), profiling the life and times of Richard Nixon’s public career, which spanned the decades from the dawn of the Cold War to the Clinton years.

SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

— An anxious new mother joins a group for solidarity and support, only to discover that it has darker plans on its agenda in the 2019 shocker “Mommy Group Murder” (7 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).

— The Thunder and Warriors meet in NBA action (7:30 p.m., ABC).

— An old kidnapper returns to form on “Ransom” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14).

SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

— Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (6 p.m., CBS): Embassy workers in China and Cuba complain of mysterious ailments; AOL founder Steve Case and his plans to invest in the future of overlooked American small towns and cities; a visit to Monaco.

— The duels begin on “World of Dance” (7 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).

— Auditions continue on “American Idol” (7 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).

— Lex Luthor is on the loose on “Supergirl” (7 p.m., CW, TV-PG).

— Mr. Wednesday prepares for battle on “American Gods” (7 p.m., Starz, TV-MA).

— After learning about her royal lineage, an adopted 10-year-old becomes a little tyrant in the 2019 shocker “Mommy’s Little Princess” (7 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).

— A secret room holds dangers on “Charmed” (8 p.m., CW, TV-14).

— Hidden secrets revealed on “The Walking Dead” (8 p.m., AMC, TV-MA).

— A new trial is pursued on “The Case Against Adnan Syed” (8 p.m., HBO, TV-14).

— Axe is determined to destroy Taylor on the fourth season premiere of “Billions” (8 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).

— Ulysses pursues a conspiracy theory on “Now Apocalypse” (8 p.m., Starz, TV-MA).

— “Unsung” (8 p.m., TVONE) profiles the Jets.

— Pacific overtures on “Madam Secretary” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).

— Tensions rise on “Good Girls” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).

— Mo’s past is revealed on “Black Monday” (9 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).

CULT CHOICE

— St. Patrick’s Day inspires many traditions. Syfy offers a marathon of “Leprechaun” movies, from “Leprechaun 5: In the Hood” (4 p.m. Saturday, TV-14) to “Leprechaun 2” (8 p.m.). TCM takes the traditional approach, ladling out the Technicolor blarney of director John Ford’s 1952 romance “The Quiet Man” (7 p.m. Sunday, TV-PG).

SATURDAY SERIES

“Dateline” (7 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) ... “NBA Countdown” (7 p.m., ABC) ... The kids are all right on “MasterChef” (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) ... “48 Hours” (9 p.m., CBS) ... A vintage helping of “Saturday Night Live” (9 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).

SUNDAY SERIES

A visit from an old friend inspires Miles on “God Friended Me” (7 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) ... Homer can’t leave Bart’s virtual realm on “The Simpsons” (7 p.m., Fox, TV-14) ... Empathy for all things on “Bob’s Burgers” (7:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14).

A walk down the aisle on “NCIS: Los Angeles” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) ... On two episodes of “Family Guy” (Fox, TV-14), Meg’s winter Olympics (8 p.m.), fighting over a dowager (8:30 p.m., r) ... Aches and pains on “Shark Tank” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).