Searchers travel across Jim Crow America in ‘Lovecraft Country’
DON’T MISS: “Lovecraft Country” — This hotly anticipated adaptation of Matt Ruff’s 2016 novel follows pulp-fiction aficionado Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he travels with his friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) and uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) on a road trip from Chicago across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father (Michael Kenneth Williams). Their journey turns into a struggle to survive and overcome both the threat of racial violence and monstrous, bloodthirsty creatures that could be ripped from an H.P. Lovecraft paperback. Jordan Peele (“Get Out” and “Us”) is an executive producer on the 10-episode series. (9 p.m. Sunday, HBO).
Other bets:
SUNDAY: Just in time for the run up to a monumental presidential showdown, the insightful documentary series “The Circus” returns. Co-hosts John Heilemann Alex Wagner, and Mark McKinnon take viewers behind the scenes of the Donald Trump and Joe Biden campaigns, with new episodes airing through the election. (8 p.m., Showtime).
MONDAY: After a lengthy hiatus caused by the coronavirus crisis, and then a successful restart to the regular season, the NBA Playoffs — originally scheduled to tip off in April — finally tip off. A primetime game from the “bubble” in Disney World is among today’s openers. (6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, ESPN).
TUESDAY: The new series “Dead Pixels” focuses on a young woman (Alexa Davies) who is obsessed with the online game “Kingdom Scrolls” — often to the detriment of her love life. When the hot new guy at work (David Mumeni) shows some interest in her, she invites him into her online world and things quickly go awry. (8 p.m., The CW).
TUESDAY: In “What’s It Worth?” comedian and collector Jeff Foxworthy scours the country for hidden treasures held by everyday people who are hoping to strike it big.
From the comfort of their homes, Foxworthy and a team of experts examine prized possessions to help people determine if they are sitting on a gold mine — or not. (9 p.m., A&E).
WEDNESDAY: The new competition series “Dodgeball Thunderdome” takes the nerve-rattling game out of the middle-school gym and gives it a whole new epic look and feel — complete with crazy obstacles. Our host is YouTube star David Dobrik, who, as a kid, was probably always picked last. (9 p.m., Discovery).
THURSDAY: The largely virtual Democratic National Convention is expected to wrap up tonight with Joe Biden formally accepting the nomination and delivering his acceptance speech remotely from his home in Delaware. (Check listings for times and networks.)
FRIDAY: As “Lucifer” returns for the first half of its fifth season, our title character’s twin brother
Michael secretly takes the devil’s place on earth while he’s back in Hell. Eventually, Lucifer must return and face the mess his brother made with his life — and finally confront his feelings for Chloe. (Netflix).
FRIDAY: In the unscripted series “100 Days Wild,” seven strangers from completely different backgrounds leave the comforts of home to try and build a self-sustaining Alaskan community. Making the task even tougher: They need to get it up and running before the brutal, arctic freeze sets in. (9 p.m., Discovery).
SATURDAY: “Love in the Time of Corona” is a two-night comedic miniseries that follows four interwoven stories about characters searching for love, sex and connection while quarantined. The show was filmed with remote technologies while using the actors’ real living spaces as the backdrop for the stories. (8 p.m., Freeform).