Helena Bonham-Carter is ‘Nolly,’ Paul Simon’s Life Through Music, Bad Behavior on Kids’ TV Shows, NAACP Image Awards

Nolly

Helena Bonham-Carter (The Crown) is a riot as TV diva Noele “Nolly” Gordon, who for nearly 20 years was a fixture on TV as the star of the soap opera Crossroads. A delicious three-part Masterpiece drama, written by the inimitable Russell T. Davies (Doctor Who), depicts the furor when Nolly’s character of motel proprietor Meg Mortimer is written out of the show in 1981, effectively sacking its biggest star, who rules the set like a queen. (“I am making this show better if I have to haul it out of the grave, line by line,” she declares during a rehearsal.) Nolly won’t go out quietly, but what will the next act be for this actress of a certain age?

Alice & Jack

Masterpiece also launches a most unconventional and very modern love story, starring Andrea Riseborough (currently in HBO’s The Regime) and Domhnall Gleeson as the title characters, whose first meeting via a dating app ignites an uneasy yet fierce bond that refuses to end despite their lives diverging over the years (and six episodes) that follow. Alice is a mercurial being, whose avoidance of commitment puzzles the more openly emotional Jack. She’s like a whirlwind who keeps (as he puts it) blowing a hole in his soul. Their story is intimate, funny and sometimes heartbreaking.

In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon

Told over two parts (“verses”) over two Sundays, Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (Going Clear) profiles the legendary musician Paul Simon as he records his latest album, Seven Psalms, in his Austin studio, while reflecting on his iconic career. The film traces his rise from a childhood in Queens and early partnership with Art Garfunkel as a hit-maker whose tunes include “The Sounds of Silence,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Mrs. Robinson” (with The Graduate as the soundtrack for a generation) through his acclaimed solo career.

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV

A generation of kids laughed at the. offbeat and sometimes off-color antics of hit Nickelodeon shows like All That and The Amanda Show in the 1990s and 2000s. What they didn’t realize was that behind the scenes, a toxic environment of sexism, racism and abuse soured the environment on the set and in the writers’ room. A two-part exposé, concluding Monday, alleges that creator Dan Schneider’s family-TV empire was not as family friendly as it looked.

NAACP Image Awards

Queen Latifah hosts the ceremony, telecast live and simulcast on Paramount networks including BET, BET Her, VH1, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Paramount Network, Pop, Smithsonian Channel, TV Land and streaming live on the Paramount+ CBS network feed. Poet laureate Amanda Gorman receives the Chairman’s Award, with New Edition honored with the Hall of Fame Award. Andra Day performs.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

When a friend from the club suffers a setback, Larry (Larry David) finds himself trapped in what Freddy (Vince Vaughn) calls “the lowest form of human communication”: the text chain. Larry starts a farcical chain of his own when he suggests Jeff (Jeff Garlin) and Freddy use his patented “dream scheme” to avoid unpleasant duties. And is there such a thing as a “threshold of returnability” when it comes to being served an unsatisfactory dessert?

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• Friday Night Sext Scandal (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): This cautionary tale exposes the sordid practice of teenage boys posting nude pictures of female classmates on a website where the images are bartered like trading cards.
• Critter Fixers (Saturday, 9/8c, Nat Geo WILD): The sixth season of the docuseries about the docs at the Critter Fixer Veterinary Hospital in rural Georgia opens with a case involving 15 celebrity chihuahuas.
• 60 Minutes (Sunday, 7/6c, CBS): Scott Pelley travels to Lithuania, where many dissidents who defied Russia president Vladimir Putin fled for their own safety. In a two-part segment, Lesley Stahl profiles the Healing Justice organization, which brings together crime victims and those who were wrongly convicted to try to reconcile by sharing their stories.
• 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? (Sunday, 8/7c, TLC): The honeymoon is over, and nine returning couples turn up the drama as they speak up about in-laws, cultural differences and other hurdles to happiness.
• Call the Midwife (Sunday, 8/7c, PBS): Season 13 brings the East London midwives to 1969 with Trixie (Helen George) training newbies Joyce (Renee Bailey) from the West Indies and privileged Rosalind (Natalie Quarry). Befitting the progressive times, the nurses campaign for better pay and conditions, leading to division.
• The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (Sunday, 8/7c, CNN): The network’s chief legal analyst Laura Coates reports on the mystery surrounding the disappearance of two men of color in Naples, Florida in 2003, each last seen in the patrol car of former deputy sheriff Steven Calkins, who maintains his innocence.
• The Equalizer (Sunday, 8/7c, CBS): Comedian Mike Epps (The Upshaws) guests as a reformed gambling addict enlisted to help Team Robyn rescue detective Dante’s (Tory Kittles) training partner, taken hostage while undercover at an illegal casino. Followed by Tracker (9/8c), where Colter (Justin Hartley) is hired by the daughter of a convicted murderer to find a witness who could prove her dad is innocent. On CSI: Vegas (10/9c), an explosion traps Allie (Mandeep Dhillon) in the basement of an abandoned hospital.
• Krapopolis (Sunday, 8:30/7:30c, Fox): The ancient city reels during a solar eclipse. More animated comedy follows, with The Great North (9/8c) presenting a windfall to the Tobins in the form of their yearly oil dividend checks, a rare perk for Alaska living. On Grimsburg(9:30/8:30c), a murder-mystery party gets real when the wealthy host dies.
• The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (Sunday, 9/8c, AMC): Suddenly free from the Civic Republic Military, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira, who wrote the episode) take shelter in a smart house, working out their tortured relationship and future in what feels like a powerful one-act play. With zombies lurking.