‘The Chosen’ Returns to The CW, Mayhem Aboard ‘Snowpiercer,’ College Football in Prime Time, ‘Hollywood Black’ Finale

Season Premiere

8/7c

SUNDAY: The popular drama about the life of Jesus Christ (Jonathan Roumie) returns to The CW for its fourth season, opening on a dark note, with Salome preparing her infamous dance for stepfather Herod. This is not good news for John the Baptizer (David Amito), and the rest is biblical history.

9/8c

SUNDAY: In a pivotal episode of the post-apocalyptic thriller setting up the series finale in several weeks, Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) returns to the train after her sobering research mission, finding only chaos. “I don’t know what’s happening here, but I don’t like it,” she says, and it’s hard to argue. While Layton (Daveed Diggs) and his unlikely ally Wilford (Sean Bean) plot against Admiral Milius (Clark Gregg), revelations begin to spill out regarding who’s responsible for the experiments performed on Layton’s daughter Liana and even more shocking, who caused the world to freeze. Back on the road, Big Alice and its crew are blocked from returning to New Eden by the bombs booby-trapping the bridge.

SATURDAY: The season officially opens on Labor Day weekend, with a Saturday night takeover of prime time on multiple networks. A prime-time sampling: NBC begins its weekly Big Ten coverage with Fresno State at Michigan (7:30 pm/ET), The CW opens the Pac-12 season with Idaho State at Oregon State (6:30 pm/ET), ABC presents Notre Dame at Texas A&M (7:30 pm/ET), ESPN follows Alabama vs. Western Kentucky (7 pm/ET) with Arizona vs. New Mexico (10:30 pm/ET), and CBS gets in the game with UCLA at Hawaii (8/7c). For a complete schedule, go to collegefootballnetwork.com.

10/9c

SUNDAY: Justin Simien’s (above) excellent survey of the history of Black cinema concludes with an appreciation of the movies that followed the election of the USA’s first Black president, Barack Obama. Simien’s query, “What stories do we choose to tell now that we have the choice?” leads to Oscar winners Moonlight and 12 Years a Slave, while also recounting the “Oscars So White” furor that ensued in 2015 when the year’s 20 acting nominations all went to white performers. The episode also salutes breakthroughs including Jordan Peele’s 2017 horror hit Get Out and 2018’s blockbuster Black Panther.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• Head Over Heels (Saturday, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel): Good Witch’s Rebecca Dalton stars as an intern in the glamorous world of high-end fashion footwear whose socks are knocked off by Olivier Renaud.
• CBS News Sunday Morning (Sunday, 9 am/ET, check local schedules): CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell profiles Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who’s written her memoir (Lovely One), and Luke Burbank chats with new Wheel of Fortune anchor Ryan Seacrest.
• Snapped: Behind Bars (Sunday, 7/6c, Oxygen): A second season of the true-crime spinoff visits convicted women in prison whose cases were covered in previous seasons of Snapped.
• 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days (Sunday, 8/7c, TLC): The seventh season introduces eight new international couples, meeting in person after establishing online relationships. Locales include Nigeria, the Philippines, Ghana, Poland, Brazil, Jordan, South Africa and Croatia.
• OceanXPlorers (Sunday, 9/8c, National Geographic): The OceanXPlorer team heads north — first to icy Norway to see how polar bears are adapting to climate change, then to the Arctic ice cap to observe bowhead whales.
• Industry (Sunday, 9/8c, HBO): An excruciating episode follows unstable trader Rishi (Sagar Radia) on a stomach-churning rollercoaster spiral of gambling addiction, both inside the office — where his risk level is off the charts — and at play, risking his marriage and possibly more.
• Blue Ridge: The Series (Sunday, 9/8c, INSP): Just renewed for a second season, the rural crime drama wraps its first with Sheriff Justin Wise (Johnathon Schaech) surrendering his gun to help rescue his ex-wife and daughter when they’re held hostage.
• Chimp Crazy (Sunday, 10/9c, HBO): While actor Alan Cumming matches a $10,000 reward for news about the missing chimp Tonka (with whom he once performed), the filmmakers confront an ethical dilemma regarding their footage of and relationship with Tonka’s captor, Tonia Haddix.
• SEAL Team (Sunday, streaming on Paramount+): Things get heated among the bros of Bravo Team during a mission to sweltering Malaysia, where newbie Drew (Beau Knapp) finally opens up about why he keeps his distance.