Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is vast. Here are some of the shows, specials, and movies coming to television this week, March 21-27. Details and times are subject to change.
Monday
THE WISH (2012) 6:15 p.m. on Showtime. Channing Tatum returns to theaters this week in “The Lost City,” a big-budget comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Daniel Radcliffe. It’s Tatum’s second major film of the year, following “Dog” in February. Tatum was also booked in 2012: He starred in two Steven Soderbergh films (“Haywire” and “Magic Mike”), a remake of “21 Jump Street” and “The Vow,” a romantic drama starring Rachel McAdams on a marriage derailed by amnesia. In his review for The New York Times, A.O. Scott wrote that the film itself was a lackluster adaptation of the true story it was based on, but the chemistry between Tatum and McAdams stood out. “When they’re on screen together here,” Scott wrote, “there’s enough physical charm and emotional warmth to distract from the worn setting and very fine plot.”
AMERICAN SONG CONTEST 8 p.m. on NBC. The Eurovision Song Contest, a TV show, has been held overseas every year since before the British invasion. “American Song Contest” finally brings a version of it to the United States. This musical competition, with Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson as hosts, brings together dozens of artists from all 50 states and has them perform original songs. There are no genre boundaries, which should make for some interesting juxtapositions.
Tuesday
THE 2022 IHEARTRADIO MUSIC AWARDS 8 p.m. on Fox. LL Cool J will host this year’s edition of the iHeartRadio Music Awards, which will be broadcast live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The lineup of performers includes Jennifer Lopez, Megan Thee Stallion, Jason Aldean and John Legend. Competing for the top prize, Song of the Year, will be Olivia Rodrigo, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, Silk Sonic, Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Kid Laroi.
SHACKLETON’S ENDURANCE: THE LOST ICE BOAT FOUND 10 p.m. on History. Freezing water and a merciful lack of wood-eating marine organisms helped explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship remain recognizable in the century between its sinking in 1915 and the discovery of its wreck earlier this month at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, east of the Antarctic Peninsula. The discovery involved a multi-million dollar hunt and the use of underwater drones. This new special will look at the importance of discovery.
Wednesday
BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018) 5:20 p.m. on FXM. John David Washington and Adam Driver play a pair of police detectives who infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s in this Spike Lee joint. They make a bit of an odd couple for this particular job. Washington’s character, Ron Stallworth, is the first African-American officer hired by the Colorado Springs Police Department; The driver character is a Jewish officer named Flip Zimmerman. (Stallworth is a real person – the film is based on his memoir of a similar name.) When the film was released in 2018, AO Scott called it “the best non-documentary feature in over a decade and the ‘one of his greatest’.
Thursday
ATLANTE 10 p.m. on FX. What will “Atlanta” look like outside of Atlanta? The third season of Donald Glover’s surreal comedy series is mostly set outside of Georgia. Outside the US, actually: Alfred, the fictional rapper known as Paper Boi (played by Brian Tyree Henry), is going on a European tour, taking Earn (his cousin and manager, played by Glover), Darius ( their enigmatic friend played by Lakeith Stanfield) and Van (Earn’s girlfriend, It’s Complicated, played by Zazie Beetz. The change of location should make for a series of surprising episodes – not that the show missed out of stylistic twists. Wesley Morris, in a 2018 Times column, summed up the second season by saying, “No episode looked or felt the same as the one that came before it.”
GREAT PERFORMANCES: THE MASTERPIECE (2022) 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). Marin Alsop became the first woman to conduct a major orchestra in the United States when she took over the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2007. This documentary, directed by Bernadette Wegenstein, looks back on Alsop’s career through the memories of the conductor and interviews with musicians who were either students of Alsop or otherwise affected by his work. While Alsop’s story is outstanding, the documentary itself takes a “pretty standard approach,” Ben Kenigsberg said in his review for The Times. “The most engaging parts,” he wrote, “involve the musical creation itself.”
Saturday
THE GODFATHER (1972) 6 p.m. on Paramount Network. Since its theatrical release 50 years ago this month, the original “Godfather” has aired on TV more times than it has shot Sonny on the pavement. Here’s a chance to see him again on his birthday alongside his equally acclaimed sequel, THE GODFATHER PART II (1974), airing on Paramount Network at 10 p.m. Watch them together to see Francis Ford Coppola’s growth as a director. “You have to understand that as a filmmaker, I didn’t really know how to do ‘The Godfather,'” Coppola said in a recent interview with The Times. “I learned to do ‘The Godfather’ by doing it.”
Sunday
THE 94TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS 8 p.m. on ABC. You can count on a handful of unpredictable things at any given Oscar ceremony. This year, we know when one of them will come: right now the best winning actress is announced. The race for this honor is exceptionally open this year, with no obvious favorite among the nominees: Jessica Chastain, Olivia Colman, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Kristen Stewart. (As Times awards season columnist Kyle Buchanan recently wrote, nearly every ceremony this season has offered a different lineup of women.) The race for the highest honor, best picture, goes to ” Belfast”, “CODA”, “Don’t Look Up”, “Drive My Car”, “Dune”, “King Richard”, “Licorice Pizza”, “Nightmare Alley”, “The Power of the Dog” and “West Side Story”. Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer are the hosts.