Shark Week Begins, Return to Walking Dead’s ‘Dead City,’ A New ‘Airbender,’ More ‘Dragon’ Intrigue

SUNDAY: Just when you thought it was safe to surf the waves of summer TV … Discovery Channel revives its most famous (or possibly infamous) franchise, Shark Week, for its 38th annual deep dive into the mystique and menace of the watery predators. Kicking things off is comedian/actor/Masked Singer panelist Ken Jeong, returning to his ancestral homeland of South Korea for a K-Pop Shark Heroes special, using K-Pop (courtesy of singer/rapper Rei Ami) to demystify the creatures prowling the East Asian waters. They’ve even come up with an “Om-a-Nom (Shark Week)” theme song. Opening night continues with the latest Air Jaws installment (9/8c), subtitled Red, White and Breach, as filmmakers explore an upsurge in great white sharks breaching in California. Last but not least, Invasion of the Mega Sharks (10/9c) travels to Nova Scotia in search of “Big Rose,” a mammoth great white rumored to be stalking the North Atlantic.

SUNDAY: “Choose the fight or choose the light.” That’s the philosophy of Renata (Aimee Garcia), a hopeful newcomer to the Walking Dead world who urges longtime hero Maggie (Lauren Cohan) to put aside her anger and help build a new metropolis in zombie-ridden New York City. The third season of the Dead spinoff once again asks us to believe Maggie would resolve her “differences” with reformed arch-villain Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who brutally murdered her husband and father of Hershel (Logan Kim), and become allies in their fight against the evil Dama (Lisa Emery) and the authoritarian New Babylon troops battling for control of the city. The Season 3 opener also introduces Raúl Castillo as Renata’s doctor brother Luis and Jimmi Simpson (Westworld) as Dillard, a wry bartender who’s somehow kept his spirits up through these dark times.

SATURDAY: Avatar Aang (voiced by Eric Nam) is now a young adult as the animated Last Airbender fantasy franchise returns in a lavish new film that picks up 13 years after the Hundred-Year War ended with the defeat of the Fire Lord. Turns out Aang has company when he discovers an ancient airbender, Tagah (Dave Bautista), frozen in ice, and together they search for a relic that could restore their lost culture. But first, they’ll need to take on a rebel group calling themselves The Denied, who seek the power this mysterious staff could bestow.

SUNDAY: All is not well in King’s Landing — so what else is new — as the Game of Thrones prequel assesses the latest chess moves in the war between Queen Rhaenyra’s (Emma D’Arcy) Blacks and the Greens supporting the still MIA King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) and his line of succession. While warrior Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) makes his last stand on the battlefield, the royals continue to stew in their separate keeps. “My patience has its bounds,” laments Rhaenyra as Ormund Hightower (James Norton) plots treachery from within the market town of Tumbleton. We know how she feels.

SUNDAY: With only one more episode remaining in the beloved British Masterpiece mystery series, disillusioned vicar Alphy Kottaram (Rishi Nair) is busy making amends to his nearest and dearest, and it’s not a moment too soon. His list includes recently promoted Detective Inspector pal Geordie Keating (Robson Green), who’s in his final days of fieldwork. His last case hits home when his wife Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth) and Mrs. C (Tessa Peake-Jones) are taken hostage in their boutique by armed robbers.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• Christmas in July! (Saturday, 1 pm/12c, Movies!): Ho-ho-ho and pass the sunscreen! Fans of holiday classics can snuggle up to a daylong marathon of yuletide treats, starting with 1971’s Oscar-winning animated short A Christmas Carol, followed by two more adaptations of the Dickens favorite: 1979’s Depression-era An American Christmas Carol (1:30/12:30c), starring Henry Winkler as the Scrooge-like Benedict Slade, and Albert Finney in the 1970 musical Scrooge (3:35/2:35c). Angela Lansbury stars in the 1996 made-for-TV musical Mrs. Santa Claus (6/5c) with an original Jerry Herman score, and TV’s favorite blended family gathers for 1988’s A Very Brady Christmas (8/7c).
• Love Under the Mistletoe (Saturday, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel): The holiday vibes continue in a romance between a small-town workaholic interior designer (Jen Lilley) and the big-city financial advisor and former high school crush (Nick Bateman) who comes home to sell his grandmother’s historic home.
• Girl in the Coffin (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): A grisly ordeal awaits Jasmine (Tahirah Sharif), who discovers too late that the kindly but obsessively smitten funeral director (Downton Abbey‘s Robert James-Collier) who helped bury her mother wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted to keep her close.
• WNBA All-Star Game (Saturday, 8:30 pm/ET, ABC): Marking the league’s 30th anniversary, teams of star players face off at Chicago’s United Center.
• Bugs Bunny Birthday Bash (Sunday, 6 am/5c, MeTV Toons): The rascally animated icon is turning 86 and celebrating with a 24-hour marathon of animated shorts and specials.
• The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (Sunday, 8/7c, CNN): Jake Tapper reports “Ben Sasse Is Going Home: Lessons of Life and Death,” interviewing the former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse and his wife Melissa as they confront the politician’s mortality while he contends with a terminal cancer diagnosis at age 54.
• Patience (Sunday, 8/7c, PBS): The team investigates the puzzling murder of a monk in a monastery, and this exposure to a faith community inspires Patience (Ella Maisy Purvis) to follow her heart — but first she’s being asked to go outside her comfort zone and speak in public.
• The Great Food Truck Race (Sunday, 9/8c, Food Network): The 19th season opens in Nashville, with eight trucks that specialize in sweet or savory treats competing for $50,000. The first challenge involves selling music-inspired dishes and hunting for Nashville-inspired ingredients in a honky-tonk taste challenge.
• The Westies (Sunday, 9/8c, MGM+): West Side mob boss Eamon Sweeney (J.K. Simmons) argues with deputy Jimmy Roarke (Tom Brittney) over the cocaine trade, unaware that John Gotti (Hamish Allan-Headley) has put a target on his back.
• President Curtis (Sunday, 11:30/10:30c, Adult Swim): The animated Rick and Morty spinoff features Keith David voicing the title role of President Andre Curtis, whose wacky crises are out of this world.