Sunday brings two notable series: a documentary on a celebrated American music scene and a series about a celebrated pop culture phenomenon that passed America by.
AMC debuts “Quiz” (10 p.m. Sunday, TV-14) from director Stephen Frears. Set at the turn of the century, it recalls the development of the prime-time game show hit “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” by British broadcaster ITV.
Michael Sheen plays host Chris Tarrant, a smooth personality who helped turn the series into a worldwide phenomenon. Soon after its U.K. success, ABC would rescue itself from the ratings cellar by buying the rights to “Millionaire” and airing it five nights a week during the summer of 1999.
This three-part drama recalls the true-life scandal that touched the game show when a contestant, Charles Ingram (Matthew Macfadyen, “Ripper Street”), was accused of cheating after seeming to win the million-pound prize. The makers of the series put Ingram on trial, along with his wife, Diana (Sian Clifford, “Fleabag”), and an accomplice, Tecwen Whittock (Michael Jibson).
Ingram was accused of listening for coughs from his accomplices, alerting him that he was about to submit a wrong answer. Their trial became a media sensation, with the tabloids treating them like monsters who had sullied a sacred institution. The show examines the passionate (some might say obsessive) world of pub quiz fans and shows how they were driven into a frenzy by the prospect of the show’s enormous prize.
It also shows why this scandal never really resonated in the United States. Police are seen bringing charges on September 11, 2001. So the British media trial was eclipsed by other concerns in the American media.
Much like Frears’ recent work “A Very English Scandal” and “Philomena,” “Quiz” does a great job of exploring the complexity of complicated characters, particularly those swept up in media maelstroms much larger than themselves. Highly recommended.
— For music fans of a certain age and sensibility, the two-part documentary series “Laurel Canyon” (9 p.m. Sunday, Epix) is required viewing. It’s far better than the recent “Echo in the Canyon,” which was basically an extended product placement for a recording of contemporary artists covering classics from the late 1960s.
Filled with period footage, some never before seen, “Laurel” captures a special moment in music history, when folk musicians picked up electric guitars and infused Top 40 pop with a poet’s sensibility. Influenced by Bob Dylan and the Beatles, the artists who would form the Mamas and the Papas, the Byrds, the Doors and the Eagles found refuge in the hills above Sunset Boulevard, a relatively rural enclave that allowed them to form a creative community while still being close enough to the “action” to come and go from nightclubs at a moment’s notice.
The makers of “Laurel Canyon” made the conscious decision to blend contemporary reminiscences of still-living stars like David Crosby and Linda Ronstadt with recorded observations from departed musicians accompanying vintage footage of the artists in their prime. In this way, we don’t see the superannuated Crosby or Nash, and Mama Cass is just as “alive” as the rest of them and just as “present” as Joni Mitchell, whose song and album “Ladies of the Canyon” helped define the era. As the old Dylan song goes, they remain “Forever Young.”
If I have a quibble, it’s with the scant attention paid to Frank Zappa. The series notes his role as a pioneer resident of the canyon and one of the reasons many musicians moved there. But he’s never heard from. Zappa’s perspective might have provided a needed counternarrative to standard 1960s history. He was that rare musician to savagely lampoon “flower power” culture even as it was happening. As early as 1967, he was singing about “phony hippies” and “psychedelic dungeons,” and he generally condemned the deadening conformity of the burgeoning drug scene.
More than just musical nostalgia, “Laurel Canyon” captures a critical moment in cultural history as a communal vibe is destroyed by a nervous competition fueled by dangerous white powders. It ends in the mid-1970s, as so many Laurel Canyon artists moved on to their own gated mansions. You can literally hear “California Dreamin’” give way to the “Hotel California.”
Part two airs next Sunday.
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— ESPN2 glances back at the boys of summers past, presenting the Little League World Series from 2014 (7:30 p.m.) and 2012 (9:30 p.m.).
— The voice of Steve Carell animates the 2013 sequel “Despicable Me 2” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
— ABC continues ESPN’s documentary series “The Last Dance” (8 p.m. and 9 p.m., TV-14).
— A live-in childcare provider discovers that her employer’s security obsession may be a tad unhealthy in the 2020 shocker “The Captive Nanny” (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
— Natalie Portman and Jon Hamm star in the 2019 drama “Lucy in the Sky” (8 p.m., HBO).
— A bookstore owner clashes with an ambitious urban planner in the 2020 romance “The Story of Us” (9 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): using plasma therapy to treat COVID-19; a look at the new Mars Rover.
— Harrison Ford and Sean Connery star in the 1989 sequel “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (8 p.m., CBS).
— “Vice” (8 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA) examines Mississippi’s Parchman prison.
— Jackie reenters rehab on “Hightown” (8 p.m., Starz, TV-MA).
— Obsessive behavior looms large on the third season finale of “Killing Eve” (9 p.m., AMC, BBC America, TV-14).
— The “30 for 30” (9 p.m., ESPN, TV-MA) profile “Lance” concludes.
— Layton explores the train’s shadowy black market on “Snowpiercer” (9 p.m., TNT, TV-MA).
— Dominick rejects medical advice on “I Know This Much Is True” (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
— Axe comes to grips with his past on “Billions” (9 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
— Issa and Lawrence catch up on “Insecure” (10 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
— Tiago and Lewis grill Diego on “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” (10 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
A brilliant, buxom professor (Mamie Van Doren) teaches a curriculum designed by a robot in the 1960 exploitation comedy “Sex Kittens Go to College” (2:15 a.m. Sunday, TCM, TV-PG). Mijanou Bardot (Brigitte’s little sister) and Tuesday Weld co-star.
SATURDAY SERIES
“Flirty Dancing” (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … “48 Hours” (9 p.m., CBS, r, and 10 p.m.) … “Lego Masters” (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … A vintage helping of “Saturday Night Live” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
SUNDAY SERIES
Springfield swoons for the cool new preacher on “The Simpsons” (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … “Celebrity Family Feud” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … A brush with the wrong league on “DC’s Stargirl” (8 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG) … Public art sparks debate on “Bless the Harts” (8:30 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14).
“America’s Got Talent” (9 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG) … Private screenings on “Bob’s Burgers” (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … “Press Your Luck” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … A new perspective on “Supergirl” (9 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG) … Torturing the substitute teacher on “Family Guy” (9:30 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … “Match Game” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
