What to watch this weekend August 23, 2024: TV awards contenders

You’re going to want to cancel your Friday night plans for this one. More than two years after its acclaimed freshman season captured viewers’ hearts, Apple TV+’s generation-spanning family drama “Pachinko” returns for its highly anticipated sophomore outing, losing none of what made it special in the intervening years. 

The intimate series from Soo Hugh, which is adapted from Min Jin Lee’s 2017 novel of the same name, again stands out for the way it uses multiple timelines to tell the story of a Korean family living in Japan during the 20th century. In the new season — the first episode of which is now streaming — the timelines creep ever closer, and we see how Sunja’s (Minha Kim in the earlier timeline, and Oscar winner Yuh-jung Youn in the latter) life during the end of World War II connects with and compares to the lives of her family, including her grandson Solomon (Jin Ha), in the 1980s. It’s yet another captivating chapter in one of TV’s finest series, making “Pachinko” the awards contender to watch this weekend.

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However, it’s not the only show worth watching. Other contenders include:

• “Evil”: In a perfect world we’d refer to this week’s episode as a season finale. But we don’t live in a perfect world, so for now “Fear of the End” is the final stop for the beloved supernatural series, which started out on CBS before moving to Paramount+. Creators Robert and Michelle King and star Katja Herbers have all expressed a desire to continue the story beyond this week’s climactic VR-themed adventure, so if someone out there is listening and wants to get in on one of the best shows on TV before it’s too late, now’s your chance. Until then, you can find the series finale streaming on Paramount+.
• “That ‘90s Show”: If you can’t wait for more of Netflix’s charming follow-up series to the beloved sitcom “That ‘70s Show,” you’re in luck because the debut of Part 3 (actually the second half of Season 2, if you want to get technical about it) has been moved up from its original October date. The new batch of episodes find Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty’s (Debra Jo Rupp) granddaughter Leia (Callie Haverda) making some monumental life choices, and reveal some surprising news about Eric (Topher Grace) as well. All eight episodes are streaming now on Netflix.
• “Bad Monkey”: With each new episode comes another twist in this entertaining comedy about a former police detective (Vince Vaughn) in the Keys determined to get his job back by solving a case involving a boating accident, a severed arm and a not-so-grieving widow. In this week’s episode, “Nobody Said He Was Alvin Einstein,” Yancy and Rosa (Natalie Martinez) dive headfirst into their investigation into Nick, the owner of the aforementioned arm, while Nick’s daughter accuses her stepmom (Meredith Hagner) of killing her dad, leading to a pretty surprising discovery. The episode is now streaming on Apple TV+.

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