Billboard Music Awards, Remembering JFK, ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Finale, ‘Party of Five’ Holiday Reunion

Mariah Carey leads a roster of performers at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards, where Taylor Swift is the most nominated finalist. A three-night History Channel docuseries depicts the key moments in the life and presidency of John F. Kennedy. Fear the Walking Dead ends its eight-season run with a two-episode finale. Party of Five siblings Scott Wolf and Lacey Chabert reunite in a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie set in Scotland.

Opening Night of Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Billboard Music Awards

Special

SUNDAY: Don’t even pretend to be shocked that Taylor Swift leads the pack of finalists at this year’s fan-driven awards show from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. She’s the winningest female artist already with 29 wins and could surpass current record-holder Drake’s 34 wins this year if she triumphs in all or most of her 20 categories, five alone for “Anti-Hero.” (Drake, however, is also a top contender, up for another 14 awards.) Other top finalists include Morgan Wallen, SZA, The Weeknd and first-time competitor Zach Bryan. Among the scheduled performances, Mariah Carey delivers an Aspen-inspired version of her perennial hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which receives the Billboard Charts Achievement Award. She’s joined by Wallen, David Guetta, Bebe Rexha, Karol G, NewJeans, Peso Pluma, Tate McRae and Stray Kids.

John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy-'The Day that Shook America'
Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Kennedy

Documentary Premiere

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY: Unfolding in eight parts over three nights (concluding Monday), a new docuseries narrated by Ken Burns favorite Peter Coyote details the critical moments that defined the life, presidency and legacy of John F. Kennedy, the youngest president ever elected, whose Camelot era ended tragically 60 years ago with his assassination in Dallas. Archival materials and more than 70 new interviews give new perspective on Kennedy’s WWII experience, the Cuban Missile Crisis, his relationship with wife Jackie Kennedy and brother/attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and his influence on the space race and the civil-rights movement.

Colman Domingo as Victor Strand, Kim Dickens as Madison Clark
Lauren "Lo" Smith/AMC

Fear the Walking Dead

Series Finale

SUNDAY: After eight seasons and seemingly countless reinventions (I admit I pretty much gave up after the nuclear blast), the zombie thriller spinoff finally hangs it up with a two-episode finale. Enemies will become allies—good luck figuring out who’s on whose side anymore—as Madison (Kim Dickens) tries to stop yet another back-from-the-dead character, Troy (Daniel Sharman), from taking down PADRE.

Scott Wolf and Lacey Chabert in 'A Merry Scottish Christmas'
Hallmark

A Merry Scottish Christmas

Movie Premiere

SATURDAY: Well versed in tugging at the heart during their time on the classic tearjerker Party of Five, Scott Wolf and Lacey Chabert reunite as estranged siblings Brad and Lindsay Morgan, who learn a deep family secret upon arriving at a Scottish castle at the behest of their mom, Jo (Fiona Bell). As the Morgans deal with their emotional issues, they also take in the sights (and sips) of Scotland, where the movie was filmed (as well as in parts of Ireland).

Niall Matter and Emily Tennant in Hallmark's 'Holiday Hotline'
Hallmark Channel

Holiday Hotline

Movie Premiere

The Yule Log: The Christmas-movie parade continues. Also on Hallmark: Holiday Hotline (Sunday, 8/7c), starring Emily Tennant as a woman who makes a connection with a single dad (Niall Matter) over a cooking hotline. On Lifetime: Christmas Plus One (Saturday, 8/7c) stars Emily Alatalo as Cara, who loses the number of the perfect plus-one (Andrew Bushell) she plans to take to her sister’s wedding, but may not need it when a magazine writer (Corey Sevier) offers to help her. Sunday’s feature, Planes, Trains and Christmas Trees (8/7c), stars Kathryn Davis and Olivier Renaud as an event planner and sports agent whose travel plans are disrupted by a snowstorm stranding them in Redwood, Ohio, home of Christmas magic. On Great American Family: Santa, Maybe (Saturday, 8/7c) features Aubrey Reynolds as a theater director staging a Christmas ballet and finding her Secret Santa along the way; and in a sequel to last year’s The Christmas Waltz, Jen Lilley and Glee’s Matthew Morrison star in A Paris Christmas Waltz (Sunday, 8/7c) as a dance novice and a pro who enter a dance competition in the City of Lights. On UPtv: Country Hearts Christmas (Sunday, 7/6c) stars wrestling’s Chris Jericho as the head of the Jameson family, where two sisters decide whether to be on a live Christmas show in Nashville or spend the holiday back on the farm.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV: