Billboard Music Awards, Remembering JFK, ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Finale, ‘Party of Five’ Holiday Reunion

Billboard Music Awards

Special

SUNDAY: Don’t even pretend to be shocked that Taylor Swift leads the pack of finalists at this year’s fan-driven awards show from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. She’s the winningest female artist already with 29 wins and could surpass current record-holder Drake’s 34 wins this year if she triumphs in all or most of her 20 categories, five alone for “Anti-Hero.” (Drake, however, is also a top contender, up for another 14 awards.) Other top finalists include Morgan Wallen, SZA, The Weeknd and first-time competitor Zach Bryan. Among the scheduled performances, Mariah Carey delivers an Aspen-inspired version of her perennial hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which receives the Billboard Charts Achievement Award. She’s joined by Wallen, David Guetta, Bebe Rexha, Karol G, NewJeans, Peso Pluma, Tate McRae and Stray Kids.

Kennedy

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY: Unfolding in eight parts over three nights (concluding Monday), a new docuseries narrated by Ken Burns favorite Peter Coyote details the critical moments that defined the life, presidency and legacy of John F. Kennedy, the youngest president ever elected, whose Camelot era ended tragically 60 years ago with his assassination in Dallas. Archival materials and more than 70 new interviews give new perspective on Kennedy’s WWII experience, the Cuban Missile Crisis, his relationship with wife Jackie Kennedy and brother/attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and his influence on the space race and the civil-rights movement.

Fear the Walking Dead

SUNDAY: After eight seasons and seemingly countless reinventions (I admit I pretty much gave up after the nuclear blast), the zombie thriller spinoff finally hangs it up with a two-episode finale. Enemies will become allies—good luck figuring out who’s on whose side anymore—as Madison (Kim Dickens) tries to stop yet another back-from-the-dead character, Troy (Daniel Sharman), from taking down PADRE.

A Merry Scottish Christmas

SATURDAY: Well versed in tugging at the heart during their time on the classic tearjerker Party of Five, Scott Wolf and Lacey Chabert reunite as estranged siblings Brad and Lindsay Morgan, who learn a deep family secret upon arriving at a Scottish castle at the behest of their mom, Jo (Fiona Bell). As the Morgans deal with their emotional issues, they also take in the sights (and sips) of Scotland, where the movie was filmed (as well as in parts of Ireland).

Holiday Hotline

The Yule Log: The Christmas-movie parade continues. Also on Hallmark: Holiday Hotline (Sunday, 8/7c), starring Emily Tennant as a woman who makes a connection with a single dad (Niall Matter) over a cooking hotline. On Lifetime: Christmas Plus One (Saturday, 8/7c) stars Emily Alatalo as Cara, who loses the number of the perfect plus-one (Andrew Bushell) she plans to take to her sister’s wedding, but may not need it when a magazine writer (Corey Sevier) offers to help her. Sunday’s feature, Planes, Trains and Christmas Trees (8/7c), stars Kathryn Davis and Olivier Renaud as an event planner and sports agent whose travel plans are disrupted by a snowstorm stranding them in Redwood, Ohio, home of Christmas magic. On Great American Family: Santa, Maybe (Saturday, 8/7c) features Aubrey Reynolds as a theater director staging a Christmas ballet and finding her Secret Santa along the way; and in a sequel to last year’s The Christmas Waltz, Jen Lilley and Glee’s Matthew Morrison star in A Paris Christmas Waltz (Sunday, 8/7c) as a dance novice and a pro who enter a dance competition in the City of Lights. On UPtv: Country Hearts Christmas (Sunday, 7/6c) stars wrestling’s Chris Jericho as the head of the Jameson family, where two sisters decide whether to be on a live Christmas show in Nashville or spend the holiday back on the farm.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (streaming on Apple TV+): The animated classic, marking its 50^th anniversary, is available to stream live on Saturday and Sunday.
• Miss Universe (Saturday, 8 pm/ET, The Roku Channel and Telemundo): Women from more than 90 countries compete in the 72^nd ceremony from El Salvador.
• Prosecuting Evil with Kelly Siegler (Saturday, 8/7c, Oxygen True Crime): Former prosecutor Kelly Siegler (Cold Justice) hosts a new docuseries chronicling some of the cases she successfully prosecuted as chief of special crimes at the busy Harris County courthouse.
• 48 Hours (Saturday, 10/9c, CBS): Natalie Morales reports on the 30-year search for the killer of 16-year-old honor student Sarah Yarborough, murdered on her way to drill team practice at a high school near Seattle.
• Saturday Night Live (Saturday, 11:30/10:30c, 8:30 pm/PT, NBC): Jason Momoa returns as guest host for the second time, with Tate McRae the first-time musical guest.
• 60 Minutes (Sunday, 7:30/6:30c, 7 pm/PT, CBS): A 90-minute edition features four reports: Cecilia Vega on children kidnapped from Ukraine during the ongoing conflict, Sharyn Alfonsi with new details of the devastating Lahaina wildfire in Hawaii, Jon Wertheim profiling musician Steven Van Zandt and Anderson Cooper in a double-length segment revisiting the Alabama community of Africatown, founded by formerly enslaved men and women from the slave ship Clotilda.
• Hotel Portofino (Sunday, 8/7c, PBS): The period drama ends its second season with Bella (Natascha McElhone) hoping to salvage her investment in the hotel after her shady husband (Mark Umbers) tries to take control. Followed by the season finales of Masterpiece’s World on Fire (9/8c) with Harry’s (Jonah Hauer-King) return to Manchester from the North African warfront, and the mystery Annika (10/9c), tackling a murder in Glasgow’s canals.
• The Elf on the Shelf: Sweet Showdown (Sunday, 8/7c, Food Network): Duff Goldman hosts a baking competition inspired by the impish Christmas character, with six teams creating holiday desserts that tell the story of Santa’s fleet of eavesdropping elves. First challenge: edible shelves.
• Sunday Night Football (8:15 pm/ET, NBC): The prime-time matchup pits the Minnesota Vikings against the Denver Broncos.
• Fellow Travelers (Sunday, 9/8c, Showtime): As the government continues to persecute homosexuals during the McCarthy-led purge, closeted Hawk (Matt Bomer) takes a polygraph test while publicly courting Lucy (Allison Williams).
• Incredible Animal Journeys (Sunday, 9/8c, National Geographic): Jeremy Renner narrates a nature docuseries focusing on animal migrations, including in back-to-back episodes the journey of a protective humpback whale with her newborn calf, and on land, animals chasing the rain on the African savanna.
• The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (Sunday, 9/8c, CNN): Chief International Investigative Correspondent Nima Elbagir returns to her war-torn home country with a very personal dispatch, “Going Home: The War in Sudan.”
• Liberty or Death: Boston Tea Party (Sunday, streaming on Fox Nation): Rob Lowe hosts and is executive producer of a four-part docudrama reliving the uprising of 1773.