Conan Hosts the Oscars, ‘Mayfair Witches’ Finale, a ‘Lost’-Style Whodunit With Nine Bodies, Winter Chill in ‘1923’

The Oscars

SUNDAY: Capping off the winter awards season, the ceremony that set the gold standard for awards shows is back for its 97th year, with Conan O’Brien joining the tradition of late-night hosts (most famously, Johnny Carson; most recently, Jimmy Kimmel; most infamously, David Letterman) to accept the thankless challenge of steering this mammoth live broadcast. Streaming live for the first time, Oscars coverage starts early on most ABC stations with a pre-show at 3:30 pm/ET and the official Red Carpet show, hosted by Julianne Hough and Jesse Palmer, at 6:30 pm/ET. Among the scheduled performers: Wicked costars and Oscar nominees Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, with Queen Latifah, Doja Cat, LISA of Blackpink and RAYE also booked to celebrate the film industry and pay tribute to the late Quincy Jones. The best song nominees will not be performed live, and details are scarce on who’s singing what — but we can only hope the producers won’t muck up the In Memorial segment. Unlike in recent years, the winners in top categories including Best Picture, Actor and Actress aren’t foregone conclusions, potentially making for a more suspenseful show than usual.

Mayfair Witches

SUNDAY: After one of the silliest supernatural weddings in recent TV memory, between last living Taltos creatures Lasher (Jack Huston) and the ancient Emaleth (Hennesi Schmidt), the anemic adaptation of Anne Rice’s witchy chronicles wraps its second season with Rowan (Alexandra Daddario) desperate to wrest Lasher from the influence of the malign Scottish Mayfairs. Unaware that her supposed ally Cortland (Harry Hamlin) is possessed by the spirit of his scheming father Julien (Ted Levine), Rowan may have to turn to Talamasca agent Ciprien (Tongayi Chirisa) to keep Julien from executing (literally) his diabolical master plan to seize power from the Taltos bloodline.

Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue

SUNDAY: From the fertile mind and pen of Anthony Horowitz (Moonflower Murders, Foyle’s War) comes an intriguing whodunit thriller that blends the exotic survival drama of Lost with the encroaching paranoid doom of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) leads an ensemble cast as one of nine survivors of a small-plane crash in the remote Mexican jungle. As they seek rescue with minimal supplies, suspicion among the group builds when one by one they begin mysteriously dying.

1923

SUNDAY: The narrator of the grueling Yellowstone prequel isn’t kidding when she warns, “Hell is winter … and winter is here to ravage all of us.” It’s especially tough on the Duttons stranded in Montana during a fearsome blizzard, with Jacob (Harrison Ford) and his traveling party stuck without proper shelter, while Cara (Helen Mirren) tends to distraught daughter-in-law Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph), who moans after her latest setback, “This isn’t living. This is surviving.” Elsewhere, Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) makes landfall in Texas, and though impatient to get back to his struggling family, he is delighted to discover a new food sensation. His wife Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer), stuck in steerage on a vessel bound for America, has a much rougher ride.

 

The White Lotus

SUNDAY: A Thailand vacation is anything but stress free for a traveler like Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs), whose world back home in North Carolina is falling apart, so maybe unplugging with “tech detox” is the right move after all. But when Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) pressures her mysteriously morose boyfriend Rick (Walton Goggins), “Are we ever going to have fun again?” their outing to a bizarre tourist attraction has her realizing one should always be careful what you wish for.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• I Am Luke Perry (Saturday, 8/7c, The CW): A biographical documentary profiles the 90210 heartthrob and Riverdale star who died in 2019 at 52 after a stroke.
• Killing the Competition (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): Melissa Joan Hart stars in a fact-based melodrama as a vengeful mom who takes action after her daughter (Lily Brooks O’Briant) is cut from the high school dance team.
• 48 Hours (Saturday, 10/9c, CBS): Correspondent Anne-Marie Green explores the investigation into the 2023 death of Davis McClendon in South Carolina, at first thought to be the victim of a hit-and-run until a trail of evidence led to his girlfriend’s soon-to-be ex.
• Saturday Night Live (Saturday, 11:30/10:30c, 8:30 pm/PT, NBC): Having recovered from the 50th-anniversary celebrations, the late-night comedy show returns with comedian Shane Gillis guest-hosting for the second time, with Tate McRae the second-time musical guest. A pity there’s so little recent news for them to satirize.
• The Americas (Sunday, 7/6c, NBC): In back-to-back episodes, the wide-ranging nature series explores America’s Wild West, then heads to South America and the exotic Amazon region.
• Abducted in the Everglades (Sunday, 8/7c, Lifetime): Tori Spelling headlines as a mom who scours Florida’s Everglades for her college-age daughter after she goes missing in Miami during her spring break.
• Tracker (Sunday, 8/7c, CBS): Colter (Justin Hartley) lands in the middle of a Mafia war while seeking the missing son of a famous cupcake-chain founder. Followed by Watson (9/8c), where a medical cadaver Sasha (Inga Schlingmann) dissected back in med school could provide a clue to a current patient’s puzzling case; and The Equalizer (10/9c), with McCall (Queen Latifah) helping a family who lost everything in a suspicious fire.
• Tournament of Champions (Sunday, 8/7c, Food Network): Host Guy Fieri‘s popular all-star cooking competition returns for a sixth season, with 32 top chefs vying to win the ToC title and $150,000.
• Grimsburg (Sunday, 8:30/7:30c, Fox): Recent SAG Award winner Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building) guests on the animated comedy as the voice of Otis the Kid Detective, whose arrival on the squad prompts Flute (Jon Hamm) to engineer the upstart’s early exit.
• Suits LA (Sunday, 9/8c, NBC): Having lost half the firm after former friend Stuart’s (Josh McDermitt) betrayal, Ted (Stephen Amell) leans on Erica (Lex Scott Davis) to stop Rick (Bryan Greenberg) from poaching a key new client. Followed by Grosse Pointe Garden Society (10/9c), where Alice (AnnaSophia Robb) investigates her dog’s murder, Catherine (Aja Naomi King) becomes a victim of emotional blackmail, and in the future, wacky Birdie (Melissa Fumero) turns to an unusual source for help in covering up the dead body.
• Malawi Wildlife Rescue (Sunday, 9/8c, National Geographic WILD): Dr. Amanda Salb leads a team of vets in as they rescue, rehab and return animals to the African wildlife. In back-to-back episodes, they go on a baboon rescue mission, then treat a sick bush baby.
• No Taste Like Home With Antoni Porowski (Sunday, 9/8c, National Geographic): The Queer Eye culinary expert takes Justin Theroux (currently in Netflix‘s Running Point) to Italy and Paradise star James Marsden to Germany to explore the roots of their family’s favorite dishes.
• American Idol (Sunday, approximately 10/9c, 7 pm/PT, ABC): After the Oscars, a Season 23 preview of the long-running music competition introduces Carrie Underwood to the judging panel alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie.