What to Watch

What to Watch this Weekend: It's the (very) beginning of the end for The Walking Dead

Plus, Hugh Jackman journeys through the past in Reminiscence, Sandra Oh is The Chair in Netflix's new comedy, and Stand Up to Cancer's biennial telecast is back.

By EW Staff

Published on August 20, 2021 09:05AM EDT

FRIDAY

Reminiscence

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on HBO Max

Hailing from writer-director Lisa Joy (Westworld), this kinetic sci-fi thriller follows Hugh Jackman's Nick Bannister, a war vet living on the fringes of the sunken Miami coast in the not-too-distant future who helps people access their lost memories. When new client Mae (Rebecca Ferguson) goes missing, he becomes obsessed with the mystery of what happened to her. To say much more would be to spoil the fun, but viewers can expect a mix of mind-bending sci-fi, noir, action, and romance to boot from Joy's feature directorial debut. Or, as Jackman put it in a recent interview with EW: "Whatever you think the movie is going to be, it's going to pivot constantly and keep you on your toes." —Lauren Huff

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The Chair

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Netflix

Series Debut
Actress Amanda Peet created, wrote, and was showrunner of The Chair. Peet is married to David Benioff, who co-created and was co-showrunner of Game of Thrones. The Chair ... Game of THRONES. A throne is a chair....... see where I'm goin' here?

Anyway, Sandra Oh stars in this six-episode series as Dr. Ji-Yoon Kim, the new chair of the English department at Pembroke University. She has a problematic professor on her hands, a dean who'd love to get rid of some of the many tenured professors, a seven-year-old daughter she's raising on her own — point is, Ji-Yoon is being pushed to her limits in every way possible. She's doing the best she can, but is it enough? And does it even matter? More so, why does David Duchovny have a cameo where he sports a red speedo à la The X-Files? —Gerrad Hall

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Hear more on all of this weekend's must-see picks, plus Lauren Cohan on what awaits in The Walking Dead's final season, in EW's What to Watch podcast, hosted by Gerrad Hall.

What Else to Watch

Streaming

Truth Be Told (season premiere) — Apple TV+

Ted Lasso — Apple TV+

Movies

Annette — Amazon Prime Video

Sweet Girl — Netflix

Paw Patrol: The Movie — Paramount+

Bring Your Own Brigade — Paramount+

Demonic — Digital/VOD

Risen — VOD

8 p.m.

Secret Celebrity Renovation — CBS

Burden of Truth — The CW

9 p.m.

Cold Case Files (season premiere) — A&E

20/20 — ABC

The Greatest #AtHome Videos (season premiere) — CBS

Dynasty — The CW

10 p.m.

American Justice (season premiere) — A&E

Dateline ("Abducted") — NBC

SATURDAY

Stand Up to Cancer

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Check local listings

Stand Up to Cancer's biennial telecast is back to once again raise funds and awareness for cancer research and treatment, with a star-studded live TV event airing across numerous networks and platforms. (Check the organization's website for tune-in info.) Hosted by Anthony Anderson, Sofia Vergara, and Ken Jeong and his wife Tran Ho, the 2021 special will feature first-hand stories from cancer patients and survivors, musical performances by Brittany Howard, Common, and Stevie Wonder, and a dance challenge by cancer patient and TikTok star Orli Halpern. —Tyler Aquilina

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What Else to Watch

Streaming

Burger Truck Brawl (series debut) — Discovery+

8 p.m.

Eden: Untamed Planet — AMC/BBC America

Do You Trust Your Boyfriend? (movie) — Lifetime

Say Yes to the Dress — TLC

9 p.m.

A Little Daytime Drama (movie) — Hallmark

SUNDAY

The Walking Dead

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 9 p.m. on AMC

Season Premiere
Sunday's season premiere will be the show's last. But don't worry: season 11 of the zombie drama will be a looooooooong one, with 24 episodes split into three batches of eight. Regardless, the show starts off with a silent bang courtesy of a scene with plenty of action, yet not a lot of noise. Intrigued? Also expect to see lots of tension as Lauren Cohan's Maggie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan are forced to work together on a subterranean mission that will put their uneasy truce to the ultimate test. Oh, and there are zombies. Lots and lots of zombies. —Dalton Ross

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What Else to Watch

Streaming

Naked and Afraid of Love (series debut) — Discovery+

8 p.m.

Celebrity Family Feud — ABC

The Real Housewives of Potomac — Bravo

Big Brother — CBS

DC's Legends of Tomorrow — The CW

NYC Epicenters 9/11 -> 2021 1/2 (docuseries debut) — HBO

Gossip (docuseries debut) — Showtime

9 p.m.

The Chase — ABC

History of the Sitcom (season finale) — CNN

Wellington Paranormal — The CW

Godfather of Harlem — Epix

UFO — Showtime

Heels — Starz

9:30 p.m.

Dead Pixels (season finale) — The CW

10 p.m.

To Tell the Truth — ABC

Chapelwaite (series debut) — Epix

100 Foot Wave (season finale) — HBO

The L Word: Generation Q — Showtime

11 p.m.

Work in Progress (season premiere) — Showtime

*times are ET and subject to change

We know TV has a lot to offer, be it network, cable, premium channels, or streaming platforms including Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and others. So EW is here to help, guiding you every single day to the things that should be on your radar. Be sure to listen/subscribe to our What to Watch podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Player FM, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, or via your own voice-controlled smart-speaker (Alexa, Google Home).