Is the past prelude or playground? We seem to be living through a golden age, or perhaps a glut, of historical period pieces. From HBO’s “The Gilded Age” to Apple TV+ “Buccaneers,” there’s never been more chances to see a woman in a bustle.
Want mid-century Cold War intrigue? Showtime’s “Fellow Travelers” recalls the gay-hunting side of the McCarthy era. And (spoiler alert) the forthcoming second season of “Julia,” streaming on Max on Nov. 16, also recalls the chef’s time in the OSS, the precursor to the CIA.
Now entering its fourth season on Apple TV+, the historical fiction series “For All Mankind” not only plays with the past but with a future that is already in our rearview mirror. Granted, it’s a future that never really happened.
In this ambitious effort, we already have been to Mars, with the help of a Soviet Union that did not expire in the early 1990s. Maybe that’s because they beat us to the moon in 1969.
As season four begins, the colonization of Mars proceeds, allowing for some remarkable discoveries that whet the appetites of some corporate speculators. Perhaps one side of the 1980s has not been rewritten. Greed always has been good.
• Prime Video streams “007: Road to a Million.” This adventure reality series takes nine pairs of everyday people and sends them on a world-spanning scavenger hunt. At each pit stop, they must answer a new question and get through an obstacle course right out of a James Bond movie. There will be tarantulas.
The last pair left standing wins 1 million pounds sterling. Yes, this is a U.K. import. Brian Cox, fresh from “Succession,” is Charlie to these Angels. Just don’t call him “Dr. No.” He’s “The Controller.”
You don’t need to be a Bond buff to find this all pretty familiar. Strip away the Aston Martins and John Barry music and you’ve got a shaken-and-stirred remake of “The Amazing Race.”
• After a brief theatrical run after film festival exposure, Netflix streams the 2023 thriller “The Killer” about a globetrotting chase to capture a professional assassin (Michael Fassbender) after a hit goes awry.
Directed by David Fincher (“Fight Club,” “Seven,” “The Social Network,” “Mank”), it co-stars Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte, and Tilda Swinton. “Killer” has received praise for its soundtrack, composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
• Hulu welcomes another binge-worthy favorite from the past. In the last several weeks, they’ve begun streaming “Moonlighting” and “L.A. Law.” Now you can add “House” to the collection. Series star Hugh Laurie also can be seen in Netflix’s recent miniseries adaptation of “All the Light We Cannot See.”
• ABC correspondent Bob Woodruff returns to Iraq for the first time since a roadside explosive nearly killed him in 2006 in the hourlong special “After the Blast: The Will to Survive” (7 p.m., ABC).
After life-saving care by U.S. military doctors, Woodruff faced life with serious brain injuries and other ailments. His trauma and this account sheds light on the injuries sustained by countless surviving veterans of the Iraq war.
• Streaming on Shudder, the 2023 thriller “Birth/Rebirth” becomes the latest film to reimagine the “Frankenstein” story. In this case, it involves the reanimation of a young girl, kept alive by a rather grim harvest of nutrients.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
• Former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart hosts “Salute to Service: A Veterans Day Celebration” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings), featuring performances by musical artist Mickey Guyton, singer/songwriter Amanda Shires, and Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez.
• Drive-by shootings seem inspired by revenge on “Blue Bloods” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
An American tourist (Ethan Hawke) and a French woman (Julie Delpy) meet on a train to Venice and spend the night endlessly talking and falling in love in director Richard Linklater’s 1995 romance “Before Sunrise” (8:30 p.m., TCM, TV-14).
SERIES NOTES
“Let’s Make a Deal Primetime” (7 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) ... “The Wall” (7 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) ... “WWE Friday Night SmackDown” (7 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) ... “Raid the Cage” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) ... “Dateline” (8 p.m., NBC) ... “20/20” (8 p.m., ABC).
— 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).
LATE NIGHT
Jim Gaffigan and Caroline Polachek appear on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (10:35 p.m., CBS, r) ... Jimmy Fallon welcomes Eric Idle, Rick Ross and Meek Mill on “The Tonight Show” (10:34 p.m., NBC) ... David Duchovny and Renee Rapp visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (11:37 p.m., NBC, r) ... Ant, Andrew Norelli, Al Jackson and Sarah Colonna appear on “Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen” (11:37 p.m., CBS, r).