The Vampire’s Interview Continues, Kevin Hart Receives the Mark Twain Prize, ‘Tracker’s Brother, Lisa Rinna Is ‘Mommy Meanest’

AMC’s dazzling adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire relocates to post-WWII Paris for its second season. Kevin Hart accepts the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in an all-star ceremony. Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles guests on the CBS hit Tracker as Colton Shaw’s estranged brother. Lisa Rinna takes on a classic Lifetime madwoman role as a mom secretly cyberbullying her own daughter in Mommy Meanest.

Jacob Anderson as Louis De Point Du Lac and Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt in 'Interview With the Vampire' Season 2 Episode 1 - 'What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned'
Larry Horricks / AMC

Interview With the Vampire

Season Premiere

SUNDAY: Horror takes a backseat to passion in the seductive second season of AMC’s voluptuous adaptation of the Gothic masterpiece. Literate and elegant even at its most ghastly, the interview continues with Louis (suave Jacob Anderson) recounting his adventures in post-WWII Paris with eternally young Claudia (the spirited Delainey Hayles, taking over from Bailey Bass), as they find macabre community with a garish theatrical troupe that stages its bloody feedings as a form of snuff pageantry. The group’s manager, the ancient Armand (Assad Zaman), becomes Louis’ new undead lover, though the specter of Lestat (Sam Reid) is never far from Louis’ mind. The season opens with a harrowing journey through war-torn Europe as Louis and Claudia seek others of their kind in their ancestral land. (See the full review.)

Kevin Hart speaks on stage during the 25th Annual Mark Twain Prize For American Humor at The Kennedy Center on March 24, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Paul Morigi / Getty Images

Kevin Hart: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize

Special

SATURDAY: After a week of memorable live comedy programming, including John Mulaney’s buzzy Everybody’s in LA talk show and an overstuffed live roast of Tom Brady, Netflix caps its Netflix Is a Joke Fest with a filmed tribute to Brady’s roast host, the indefatigable Kevin Hart. He’s the 25th comedy superstar to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The 2019 recipient, Dave Chappelle, is among the celebs who gather to needle and celebrate Hart, with a roster including Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Jimmy Fallon, Tiffany Haddish, Regina Hall, Chelsea Handler, J.B. Smoove, Keith Robinson, Dave “Lil Dicky” Burd and more.

Nikki Glaser in 'Nikki Glaser: Someday You'll Die' HBO special
Jennifer Clasen / HBO

Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die

Special

SATURDAY: The comedian who stole last Sunday’s Tom Brady roast with her killer set takes the stage of Seattle’s Moore Theater for an hourlong special, where she regales a sold-out crowd with her unsparingly blunt observations on sex, aging, sex, suicidal thoughts and sex. Her extended opening riff reflects on her decision not to have children. (When urged to freeze her eggs, she quips, “Con I burn them? Is that an option?”) Obviously not for all tastes, Glaser is a fearless performer who dares you to try to cancel her.

Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw and Jensen Ackles as Russell Shaw in 'Tracker' - Season 1, Episode 12 - 'Off the Books'
Sergei Bachlakov / CBS

Tracker

SUNDAY: As the first season of the hit crime drama nears its end, lone wolf Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) is getting caught up in troubling family affairs. Last week he crossed paths with his sister (Manifest’s Melissa Roxburgh), a professor who confronted him over ducking calls from his older brother Russell. This week the bros come face to face, with Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles assuming the role of the sibling who Colter believes may have been responsible for their father’s mysterious death. Russell comes to Colter for his special tracking gifts, hoping he can find a former Army buddy who vanished after showing signs of paranoid behavior. The case plunges them into a world of conspiracy theories and off-the-books Special Forces mission, but underlying the search is their family’s dark past.

Lisa Rinna and Briana Skye in 'Mommy Meanest'
Lifetime

Mommy Meanest

Movie Premiere

SATURDAY: Forget wire hangers. This mom makes Joan Crawford look like June Cleaver. Real Housewives alum Lisa Rinna takes on a classic Lifetime madwoman role as divorced mom Madelyn, who goes to extremes when she fears she’s losing control of her college-bound daughter Mia (Briana Skye). After Mia becomes the target of cyberbullying through pernicious and harassing texts, the young woman is horrified to realize the culprit is her own mom. Rinna’s own daughter, Delilah Hamlin, co-stars as Mia’s friend, Summer.

Lynn Whitfield as Alicia in 'The Chi' Season 6 Episode 14
Elizabeth Sisson / Paramount+ with Showtime

The Chi

Midseason Premiere

SUNDAY: Series creator Lena Waithe’s homage to Chicago’s South Side returns with the second half of its sixth season, already renewed for Season 7. In the opener, Victor (Luke James) and Emmett (Jacob Latimore) face the consequences of taking on powerful, vengeful Douda (Curtiss Cook), while matriarch Alicia (Lynn Whitfield) cashes in a big favor.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

  • Full Court Press (Saturday, 1 pm/12c, Sunday, 12:30 pm/11:30c, ABC): A four-part sports docuseries relives the thrills of a groundbreaking season in NCAA women’s basketball by following the journeys of breakout Iowa superstar and No. 1 WNBA draft pick Caitlin Clark, South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso and UCLA sophomore Kiki Rice.
  • 48 Hours (Saturday, 10/9c, CBS): Correspondent Peter Van Sant interviews Nicki Myers Bates, who was 7 when her mom Tammy disappeared in 2006, and while her killer was eventually brought to justice, Nicki hasn’t given up her search for her mom’s remains.
  • ABBA: Against the Odds (Saturday, 8/7c, The CW): A two-hour documentary follows the Swedish supergroup’s rise over the 50 years since their victory at Eurovision. Thank you for the music.
  • Saturday Night Live (Saturday, 11:30/10:30c, 8:30 pm/PT, NBC): Returning to the show for her third time as guest host, former cast member Maya Rudolph (Loot) is joined by four-time musical guest Vampire Weekend.
  • Snapped (Sunday, 6/5c, Oxygen True Crime): The lurid true-crime series about women driven to murder marks its 20th anniversary with a two-hour retrospective. Followed by the premiere of Sins of the South (8/7c), which explores bad deeds below the Mason-Dixon line, including the story of a Tennessee family rocked when one of their own goes missing on the day of a big party.
  • Collector’s Call (Sunday, 6:30/5:30c, MeTV): A Survivor-themed episode brings host Lisa Whelchel (who tied for 2nd in 2012’s Survivor: Philippines season) and Survivor legend Ethan Zohn to view the impressive memorabilia collection inherited by Jamie Knoll O’Neill from her late father, a superfan.
  • 60 Minutes (Sunday, 7/6c, CBS): Lesley Stahl reports from Israel on multiple war fronts, and Sharyn Alfonsi interviews Christopher Ahn, a former Marine who’s fighting his extradition to Spain over his 2019 attempt to free North Korean embassy workers.
  • American Idol (Sunday, 8/7c, ABC): The Top 5 head to Walt Disney World with guest mentor Kane Brown to deliver two classic Disney songs each in hopes of making it into the Top 3. Jenifer Lewis (black-ish) also performs.
  • Naked and Afraid XL (Sunday, 8/7c, Discovery): A dozen brave survivalists return for another grueling exercise, upping the stakes with a 40-day challenge that includes a 40-mile trek through the scorching Colombian terrain with no food, water or clothing.
  • Grimsburg (Sunday, 9:30/8:30c, Fox): Detective Marvin Flute’s (Jon Hamm) obsessive search for the culprit who stole his boysenberry Danish sends him to the local Institute for the Criminally Insane in the Season 1 finale of the animated crime spoof. While locked up with those he helped put away, Flute discovers a larger conspiracy afoot.
  • Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes (Sunday, 10/9c, Discovery): Culling from hundreds of hours of archival footage, a docuseries (opening with two episodes) tracks the bonkers 2012 expedition led by tyrannical special forces vet Mickey Grosman over 5,000 miles of South American and Amazonian jungle. In the opener, one of the amateur adventurers gets lost and runs out of water. And they’re just getting started.
  • CSI: Vegas (Sunday, 10/9c, CBS): The team’s next-to-last case involves a shooting that’s missing a critical piece of evidence: the bullet.
  • Time 100: The World’s Most Influential People (Sunday, 10/9c, ABC): Taraji P. Henson hosts a gala celebration of world leaders and celebs from sports and the arts, with performances by Dua Lipa and Fantasia Barrino.