Shark Week Begins, Dragons at War, Dr. Pol Signs Off, More of ‘Three Wise Men and a Baby’

Special

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SUNDAY: Just when you thought it was safe to settle in front of your TV … Shark Week returns for its 36^th deep dive into all things fin-related. The weeklong stunt begins with a return engagement for one of last year’s most popular specials. New Zealand provides a new location for cameraman Kina Scollay to be joined by marine biologist Dr. Austin Gallagher and marine scientist Liv Dixon as they embed inside the belly of a 29-foot whale decoy. What better way to get a first-hand look at a feeding frenzy among 18-foot “breeder” sharks. Three more specials follow: Jaws vs. Leviathan (9/8c), also featuring Scollay, joined by marine specialists to recreate epic battles between orcas and Great Whites; Makozilla (10/9c), which captures the search for a massive predator off the California coast; and Sydney Harbor Shark Invasion (11/10), in which shark conservationist Paul de Gelder returns to the scene of his own 2009 shark attack, in which he lost his right hand, to investigate a fatal Great White shark attack near Australia’s Sydney Harbor.

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SUNDAY: “A terrible war is looming, and even victory may be so bloody as to be counted a loss,” predicted Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) as last week’s episode of the solemn Game of Thrones prequel ended on a characteristic note of foreboding. Which was swiftly followed by a teaser trailer suggesting the dragons from both sides of the Targaryen civil war will be getting busy soon, with young King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) particularly itching for war. (About time, some of the show’s more impatient viewers might well say.) Gird your loins, because conflict in this fantasy world is never pretty.

Series Finale

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SATURDAY: After 24 seasons, Michigan veterinarian Jan Pol is signing off, joined by wife Diane and son Charles for a retrospective celebration of, as they say, all creatures great and small. The series finale gives the Pols to reflect on the many animal lives they’ve saved as well as family milestones since the series began in 2011. Fans won’t want to miss it.

Special

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SATURDAY: Couldn’t get enough of the Brenner brothers tending to that adorable infant in the heartwarming 2022 holiday film Three Wise Men and a Baby? Good news. As part of Hallmark’s “Christmas in July” festival, the film is being repeated in an extended edition (previously only available on the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service) with 10 additional minutes of oohs and ahs, including a scene of the baby ice-skating. Even better news, a sequel (Three Wiser Men and a Baby) is planned to air during the regular holiday-movie onslaught, with Paul Campbell, Andrew Walker and Tyler Hynes reprising their title roles, joined by Margaret Colin as their mom, Barbara.

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SUNDAY: Well, this didn’t take long. New vicar Alphy Kottaram (Rishi Nair) quickly finds out just what it means to make oneself at home in this Cambridge-area village when he accepts an invitation to a party at a posh country manor. Like Jessica Fletcher with a pastor’s collar, Alphy stumbles upon a gardener’s dead body, obviously stabbed, while playing a round of hide and seek. Called to the scene, a blessed respite from turmoil at home between wife and willful daughter, Detective Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green) is rather pleased to have his new acquaintance on hand for the investigation. But when he learns that Alphy is expecting a church for donation from the estate’s shady family, Geordie warns, “Nothing comes for free in this world.” Hey, who’s giving the sermons here?

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• Amish Affair (Saturday, 8/7c, Lifetime): Mackenzie Cardwell stars as Hannah, an Amish woman helping a community leader (Ryan McPartlin) care for his sick wife when they succumb to a mutual attraction—which backfires when the wife dies and Hannah must prove her innocence after being framed for murder.
• Sanjay Gupta Reports: The Last Alzheimer’s Patient (Sunday, 8/7c, CNN): In the wake of FDA approval of a second Alzheimer’s drug that may slow the disease, the medical correspondent tracks patients through treatments during what Dr. Gupta considers a “most hopeful” era.
• Orphan Black: Echoes (Sunday, 9/8c, AMC and BBC America): Human “printout” Jules (Amanda Fix) begins to realize that everything she’s been told about her mysterious past is a fiction. As if adolescence weren’t already hard enough.
• Mayor of Kingstown (Sunday, streaming on Paramount+): Mike (Jeremy Renner) gets an ultimatum after an attack hits close to home.