Something ‘Evil’ This Way Comes, ‘Us’ on Masterpiece, Juneteenth Programming, The Return of ‘Rick and Morty’

Season Premiere

Weird and witty, creepy and kooky, like a spiritual X-Files with a demonic sense of humor, one of TV’s most original series returns, bypassing its original network—CBS, where it was always an odd fit—for streaming, after temporary exposure on Netflix between seasons revealed it had a better chance at a longer life in the digital world. Katja Herbers is perfectly prickly as Kristen, a skeptical forensic psychologist (who teams with tormented priest-in-training David (Mike Colter) to assess possible miracles or devilish possessions. Their mission is complicated when their psychopathic nemesis Leland Townsend (a gleefully perverse Michael Emerson) requests an exorcism. He’s obviously putting them on, but to what purpose? (See the full review.) (SUNDAY)

Series Premiere

9/8c

You’ll want to book your own European grand tour after watching this bittersweet four-hour Masterpiece (airing over two Sundays), adapted by David Nicholls from his acclaimed novel, about long-married Douglas and Connie (Tom Hollander and Saskia Reeves), who decide to take their brooding 17-year-old son (Tom Taylor) on a long-planned six-country, three-week European excursion. This despite Connie’s sudden announcement that she intends to leave Douglas. Can their marriage be saved? Either way, the scenery (Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Barcelona) can’t be beat. (See the full review.) (SUNDAY)

Season Premiere

11/10c

As if the triumphantly bizarre animated comedy wasn’t already out there enough, Adult Swim is touting that the fifth season’s opener is being premiered in outer space with the launch of Rick’s Space Cruiser 150,000 feet into the atmosphere. An appropriately gonzo stunt as the channel declares Sunday “Rick and Morty Day” to welcome a new season of wacky and inappropriate cosmic misadventures for mad scientist Rick and his nerdy grandson, Morty (both voiced by series co-creator Justin Rolland). (SUNDAY)

Documentary Premiere

8/7c

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an executive producer of a documentary, timed to acknowledge Juneteenth, that examines America’s long history of social protest movements that forged change. From the Revolutionary War onward through the labor movement of the 1880s, women’s suffrage and civil rights, LBGTQ battles and the Black Lives Matter uprising, citizens seeking justice and equality have always fought to be heard. (SATURDAY)

A sampling of more programs reflecting our newest federal holiday:

• 6th Annual Black Music Honors (Saturday, 1 pm/ET, Bounce TV; also syndicated, check local listings): Loni Love hosts the annual special, airing nationwide during Black Music Month and to commemorate Juneteenth. Honorees include R&B legend Angie Stone, Grammy-nominated singer/actor Ginuwine, gospel vocalist Marvin Sapp and jazz virtuoso Ramsey Lewis.
• Marathons on FX and FXX: A daylong movie marathon on FX, celebrating excellence in Black filmmaking, starts at 7 am/6c and includes Selma (also airing as a CBS Sunday Night Movie Sunday at 8/7c), The Hate U Give, BlacKkKlansman, Green Book and Hidden Figures. FXX fills the day with a nine-hour marathon of provocative episodes from black-ish (starts at 7 am/6c), including Season 4’s prescient “Juneteenth.”
• Turner Classic Movies Juneteenth Celebration: The classic movie channel takes a musical approach to the day’s programming, with a series of films about Black music and musicians starting at noon/11c with 1982’s Say Amen, Somebody-The Good News Musical, and continuing with Shake!: Otis at Monterey, Jazz on a Summer’s Day, Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser, 1973’s Jimi Hendrix documentary and, at 8/7c, the 1976 Supremes-inspired drama Sparkle.

Inside Weekend TV:

• Secrets of a Marine’s Wife (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): Mom’s Sadie Calvano stars as a U.S. Marine corporal’s pregnant 19-year-old wife who suddenly disappears in 2014. (A documentary about the actual events follows at 10/9c).
• Bad Dad Rehab 2: The Next Session (Sunday, 8/7c, TV One): A sequel to the 2016 comedy introduces a new batch of fathers who all have some atoning to do with their offspring.
• To Catch a Spy (Sunday, 8/7c, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries): Real-life spouses and Broadway veterans Colin Donnell and Patti Murin (Chicago Med) star in a light thriller filmed in Malta. He’s an FBI agent who helps a travel writer (Nathalie Kelley) and photographer (Murin) solve a mystery when someone falls from a balcony but no body is discovered.
• America’s Funniest Home Videos: Animal Edition (Sunday, 8/7c, Nat Geo WILD): A spinoff of the long-running clip show doubles down on the ever-popular videos featuring our furry and feathered friends doing remarkable and hilarious things.
• Fox Farewells: Say goodbye forever to two short-lived Fox series: the animated Bless the Harts (Sunday, 7:30/6:30c), with Law & Order: Organized Crime’s Christopher Meloni as a guest voice; and the dysfunctional family comedy The Moodys (9:30/8:30c), when they all gather for a wedding.
• You, Me & My Ex (Sunday, 10/9c, TLC): Three (and sometimes four) is a crowd in a new reality relationship series that profiles five couples challenged by a third-wheel ex who remains close to their former partner.
• Desus & Mero (Sunday, 11/10c, Showtime): The acclaimed late-night hosts emerge from lockdown, where they’ve been filming remotely at their homes since last March, and return to a revamped studio for new episodes. Their first in-person guest: Lil Nas X.