NHL All-Star Game and NFL Pro Bowl, Winter Olympics, Tom Brady Documentaries, ‘Claws’ Finale, ‘Power Book’ Transition
In a big weekend for TV sports fans, pro hockey stars gather for the NHL All-Star Game and pro football stars sitting out the Super Bowl head to Las Vegas for the Pro Bowl, all while the Winter Olympics continues in Beijing. Having just announced his retirement, NFL living legend Tom Brady is the focus of an ESPN docuseries that previously aired on its streaming platform, and also figures in a 30 for 30 special about the controversial “tuck rule.” TNT’s Claws bows out with an explosive series finale. As Starz wraps the second season of Power Book II: Ghost, the network premieres a new spinoff, Power Book IV: Force.
The team event in Figure Skating is the main attraction Saturday and Sunday during NBC’s live prime-time coverage, along with Alpine and Freestyle Skiing. Other weekend events streaming live and available for replay on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app include Speed Skating, Luge, Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping, Short Track, Women’s Ice Hockey (U.S. vs. the Russian team on Saturday, then playing Switzerland on Sunday) and Mixed Doubles Curling. USA Network and CNBC also carry sports action. For a complete listing, by sports, of what’s happening when and where to watch, go to nbcolympics.com/schedule.
NHL All-Star Game
SATURDAY: If you’re not watching events in Beijing, Las Vegas is where it’s happening this weekend for sports fans. First up at the T-Mobile Arena is the classic three-game, 3-on-3 tournament pitting the NHL’s four divisions against one another. Team captains, chosen by fans, are the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin (Metropolitan), the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid (Pacific), the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews (Atlantic) and the Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan McKinnon (Central). Machine Gun Kelly performs during the second intermission.
NFL Pro Bowl
SUNDAY: They didn’t make it into the Super Bowl, which is a week away, but such NFL superstars as Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, LA Chargers’ QB Justin Herbert, Saints running back Alvin Kamara and Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs are among the gridiron elite expected to participate in the exhibition game played at Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium. A new twist: No kickoffs, instead using a “spot and choose” option for the winner of the coin toss.
Man in the Arena: Tom Brady
SUNDAY: After a successful streaming run on ESPN+, the 10-part docuseries profile of the newly retired star quarterback moves to the home channel. In each episode, Brady reflects on a single Super Bowl appearance, of which there were many in his unparalleled career. Other colleagues and opponents weighing in along the way include Rob Gronkowski, Peyton Manning, Michael Strahan, Drew Bledsoe and hiw wife Gisele Bündchen. An hour earlier, ESPN’s 30 for 30 presents The Tuck Rule (Sunday, 8:30/7:30c, ESPN), in which Brady and his former college teammate Charles Woodson (now a Hall of Famer) look back at the controversial 2002 ruling that led to a breakthrough success in Brady’s career during a pivotal AFC Championship Playoff game between the Patriots and the Oakland Raiders.
Claws
SUNDAY: Sharpen those talons one last time for the series finale of the outrageous crime drama, with a showdown between gangster queen Desna (Niecy Nash) and her nemesis, Quiet Ann (Judy Reyes). But it wouldn’t be Claws if there weren’t a final twist or two.
Power Book II: Ghost
SUNDAY: In what amounts to a handoff between spinoffs of the hit crime-drama franchise, Ghost wraps its second season with Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) helping Monet (Mary J. Blige) save her family, which means a standoff with Mecca (Daniel Sunjata). Before the gunpowder residue settles, a new spinoff immediately follows: Power Book IV: Force (Sunday, 9/8c, Starz), focusing on Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora), formerly the late drug kingpin Ghost’s white lieutenant. The series follows Tommy as leaves New York for unfinished business in Chicago, working his way back into the deadly game.
Remembering Howard Hesseman:
- Nostalgia network Decades devotes its weekend schedule to late actor Howard Hesseman, who passed away last weekend at 81, with a marathon of the classic WRKP in Cincinnati (starts Saturday at noon/ET) continuing through early Monday morning (at 6 am/ET). Hesseman earned two Emmy nominations as supporting actor for playing the irreverent Dr. Johnny Fever in the beloved 1970s-’80s ensemble comedy. MeTV will also honor the star with an hour of back-to-back WRKP repeats on Sunday (4 pm/ET).
Inside Weekend TV:
- Single Black Female (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): Aspiring talk-show host Monica (Raven Goodwin) becomes rightfully concerned when her new personal assistant Simone (Glee’s Amber Riley) becomes not just her bestie, but her neighbor, apparently obsessed with taking over Monica’s life.
- 48 Hours (Saturday, 10/9c, CBS): Erin Moriarty revisits the 30-year-old tragedy of four teenage girls murdered in an Austin, Texas yogurt shop. New DNA evidence could finally help crack the case.
- 60 Minutes (Sunday, 7/6c, CBS): Reports include Lesley Stahl’s investigation of the rising number of accidents, some fatal, during military training involving armored vehicles.
- Around the World in 80 Days (Sunday, 8/7c, check local listings at pbs.org): Fogg (David Tennant) is going to have get over his spat with Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma), because he’ll need the valet’s help to get over their latest hurdle in their around-the-world race when they’re stuck on a desert island. Followed by new episodes of All Creatures Great and Small (9/8c, check local listings at pbs.org) and Vienna Blood (10/9c, check local listings at pbs.org), which begins a new two-part mystery when a religious Jew is accused of an allegedly anti-Semitic monk’s murder.
- Love & the Constitution (Sunday, 10/9c, MSNBC): A documentary special profiles Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, who led the second impeachment trial of the former president and juggled professional duties with personal tragedy when he lost his son to suicide days before the Jan. 6 insurrection.
- Somebody Somewhere (Sunday, 10:30/9:30c, HBO): Happy news that Bridget Everett’s lovably quirky heartland comedy was just renewed for a second season. In this episode, Sam (Everett) finds a solution for the upcoming corn harvest and finally confronts her brother-in-law Rick (Danny McCarthy).