‘Barry’ Back Behind Bars, Mourning and Scheming on ‘Succession,’ Waco Aftermath, Mangia Italiano in ‘Ciao House’

Barry

SUNDAY: Emmy winner Bill Hader’s brilliantly dark and twisted black-comedy farce returns for a fourth and final season, with the professional hit man and wannabe actor now in prison. “Are you mad at me? Because I love you,” Barry (Hader) entreats his mentor and Judas, narcissistic acting coach Gene Cousineau (the great Henry Winkler), whose interaction with a nosy reporter has to be seen to be disbelieved. Everyone’s spiraling after Barry’s high-profile arrest: his ex-girlfriend Sally (Sarah Goldberg), whose homecoming to Joplin doesn’t ease her panic attacks; his former handler Fuches (Stephen Root), who begins to believe his “Raven” persona while incarcerated; and the weirdly chipper Chechen mobster Noho Hank (Anthony Carrigan), who hero-worships Barry while plotting a new scheme with his ex-cartel soulmate Cristobal (Michael Irby). The audacious final season continues to explore whether someone who’s done as many awful acts as Barry can be, or deserves to be, redeemed. It’s riveting. (See the full review.)

Succession

SUNDAY: The mighty has fallen. “History is happening, can you smell it?” remarks Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) with his typical clumsy enthusiasm—just a sample of the delicious awkwardness and avarice that ensues in the wake of last week’s game-changing event: the death of media mogul and Roy family patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox). In yet another episode that exceeds expectations, the family gathers—ostensibly to mourn, but mostly to scheme and obsess over the topic that has obsessed this series from the beginning: Who will take over the Waystar RoyCo conglomerate, and how will Logan’s death affect the sale to Lukas Mattson’s (Alexander Skarsgård) GoJo enterprise? As siblings and executives jockey for position, no alliance is safe, and the bad behavior is as appalling as it is amusing.

Waco: The Aftermath

SUNDAY: Michael Shannon (George & Tammy) returns to the scene of the tragedy in a five-part docudrama sequel to 2018’s Waco, which dramatized the disastrous siege and destruction of the Branch Davidian cult compound in Waco, Texas in 1993. Shannon once again plays FBI hostage negotiator Gary Noesner, dealing with PTSD from the botched standoff while the surviving members of the cult face trial. In flashbacks, Succession’s J. Smith Cameron portrays Lois Roden, an early leader and prophetess of the cult, who welcomes the young man who will become the infamous David Koresh (Keean Johnson as then-Vernon Howell).

Ciao House

SUNDAY: Who wouldn’t want to go to Tuscany to savor the cuisine and Italian culture? Filmed on location, an eight-episode competition series sends 10 rising U.S. chefs to the region, where they’ll live together in a luscious villa while mastering techniques and classic Italian dishes for hosts/judges Alex Guarnaschelli and Gabriele Bertaccini. While working as individuals and in teams, interpersonal relationships also play a key role in who stays and who goes, when each episode concludes with the losing team voting off one of its members. The ultimate winner will get the dream prize of an “immersive culinary education” across Italy, training with master chefs. (Fans of Guarnaschelli can watch her take on three James Beard award-winning chefs in the Season 3 premiere of Alex vs America, Sunday at 8/7.)

Drunk, Driving, and 17

SATURDAY: Every so often, Lifetime veers from the woman-in-peril and romcom formulas to dramatize a social issue—in this case, with a story “inspired by true events,” the repercussions of parents hosting parties for their teenage kids where alcohol is served with adult supervision. This backfires for Martha (ER’s Michael Michele) when she lets her son Dan (Antonio Davis) throw a party to celebrate his college acceptance, and his girlfriend Kim (Savannah Lee Smith) overreacts to his wandering eye by getting wasted and taking her hosts’ car with serious consequences.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship Final (Saturday, 4 pm/ET, ABC and ESPN+): Collegiate stars advance to the final rotation, with Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke as lead commentators.
• 48 Hours (Saturday, 10/9c, CBS): The true-crime series revisits an ugly 2021 incident in which two young women were dumped outside two different L.A. hospitals in 2021—one already dead and one near death.
• Saturday Night Live (11:30/10:30c, 8:30 pm/PT, NBC): Blonde Oscar nominee Ana de Armas hosts for the first time, with Karol G the first-time musical guest.
• 60 Minutes (Sunday, 7/6c, CBS): A double-length segment sends Scott Pelley to Google’s Mountain View campus in California and an AI lab in London to explore the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and their implications.
• 100 Foot Wave (Sunday, 8/7c, HBO): Winner of an Emmy for cinematography, the surfing documentary returns for a second season, with big wave pro Garrett McNamara and his fellow adventurous surfers converging on Nazaré, Portugal in October 2020, in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (8/7c, CNN): A new series opens with a dispatch from Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton, who traveled the entire grueling 66-mile Darien Gap with desperate migrants making their way to the U.S. border.
• Love Is Blind: The Live Reunion (Sunday, 8/7c, 5 pm/PT, streaming on Netflix): Nick and Vanessa Lachey host a recap, the streamer’s first live reunion special, featuring couples from Season 4 of the hit hookup show.
• A Spy Among Friends (Sunday, 9/8c, MGM+): The fact-based spy drama concludes with Elliott (Damian Lewis), six months after his interrogation, surprised by a letter from traitor Kim Philby (Guy Pearce) inviting him to a meeting in East Berlin.
• Very Scary People (Sunday, 9/8c, ID): Blue Bloods’ Donnie Wahlberg returns as host of the true-crime docuseries, opening with a report on “The Trailside Killer” David Carpenter, who brought murder to Northern California hiking trails from 1979 to 1981.
• NCIS: Los Angeles (Sunday, 10/9c, CBS): Christopher Gorham was chilling in his against-type role last week as a vindictive ex-husband on Fox’s Accused. He’s on more familiar turf as Alex, Kilbride’s (Gerald McRaney) estranged son, as they attempt to reconcile.
• Marie Antoinette (Sunday, 10/9c, PBS): An insecure Louis (Louis Cunningham) may be the new King of France, but he’s getting no respect—and a petulant, willful Marie (Emilia Schüle) isn’t helping matters any, making enemies throughout the French court.