Lifetime observes Easter weekend with a biography of the queen of gospel music. "Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia" (8 p.m. Saturday) stars Danielle Brooks as the soaring vocalist who sold more than 20 million records in the mid-20th century. Brooks is best known for her role on Netflix’s "Orange Is the New Black."
Jackson’s fame coincided with the rise of the modern civil rights movement, and her role in rallies is part of this profile. Unlike artists including Sam Cooke, who left the popular gospel group The Soul Stirrers to record many pop hits, Mahalia Jackson never strayed from the gospel music fold.
But her voice did "cross over" to enter many homes that owned no other records by gospel artists. At the peak of her popularity, she appeared in movies including "Imitation of Life" in 1959 and the brilliant concert documentary "Jazz on a Summer’s Day," where she’s seen performing gospel favorites on a musical roster that included Chuck Berry, Dinah Washington, Anita O’Day and Louis Armstrong, among others.
"Mahalia" is the latest in a recent spate of films and documentaries celebrating legendary black female vocalists, including HBO’s Tina Turner biography "Tina," National Geographic’s Aretha Franklin miniseries "Genius: Aretha" and Netflix’s adaptation of the Broadway musical "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom."
The title of this production has become a bit of a mouthful and a sign of a lamentable showbiz trend. Apparently, Robin Roberts was so determined to honor Mahalia as the queen that she had to insert her own name into the production. And put it first. For decades, everybody knew "The Ten Commandments" (7 p.m. Saturday, ABC, TV-G) was a Cecil B. DeMille production. But even he didn’t see fit to name it "Cecil B. DeMille Presents The Ten Commandments." Sadly, we live in the time of "Zac Snyder’s Justice League."
— The newest "Masterpiece" (9 p.m. Sunday, PBS, TV-14, check local listings) makes the most of a historical footnote, exploring the dramatic implication of wartime refugees who just happened to have been royalty. Set during World War II, "Atlantic Crossing" stars Sofia Helin and Tobias Santelmann as Crown Princess Martha and Crown Prince Olav of Norway.
They’re first seen in 1939, visiting President Franklin Roosevelt (Kyle MacLachlan) and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Harriet Sansom Harris) at Hyde Park at the end of a triumphal tour of the United States.
The 1940 German invasion of their country sends the royal family into exile in the United States, where they form a close attachment to the Roosevelts and, when Martha comes into her own, offer advice to the wartime commander in chief.
MacLachlan, best known for "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks," and Harris, who played Frasier’s bossy agent Bebe on "Frasier," may seem odd choices to play the Roosevelts, but they do a good job presenting them in both public and private as a long-married pair who never allowed a romantic estrangement to conflict with their official roles or get in the way of an abiding affection.
And is it any stranger to cast "Twin Peaks" agent Cooper in the role than have Bill Murray play Roosevelt in "Hyde Park on Hudson"? A variety of talents has been cast as Roosevelt. Before he was the patriarch on "Gilmore Girls," Edward Herrmann played Roosevelt in "Annie," as well as two TV adaptations of "Eleanor and Franklin." The list of cinematic FDRs includes Jon Voight ("Pearl Harbor"), Christopher Plummer ("Winchell") and Kenneth Branagh ("Warm Springs"). Like Herrmann, Ralph Bellamy became a kind of professional Roosevelt, playing him in "Sunrise at Campobello" and "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance." John Lithgow played FDR in the NBC movie "World War II: When Lions Roared." He also played Winston Churchill in "The Crown." So, if he ever gets to play Joseph Stalin, he can sit beside himself at his very own Yalta Conference.
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— The brackets tighten at the 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament (8 p.m., CBS).
— A couple recall their first encounter with a big celebration in the 2021 romance "One Perfect Wedding" (9 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— Daniel Kaluuya hosts "Saturday Night Live" (11:30 p.m., NBC, TV-14), featuring St. Vincent.
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Scheduled on "60 Minutes" (7 p.m., CBS): Florida’s COVID vaccine distribution comes under scrutiny; the president of the Ford Foundation calls for shared sacrifices; shipwrecked as teens and stranded for 15 months, six look back at their ordeal after half a century.
— Mel goes undercover as a volunteer on a political campaign on "The Equalizer" (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— Angela Bassett narrates the National Geographic natural history documentary "Malika the Lion Queen" (8 p.m., Fox).
— Ryan Seacrest hosts "American Idol" (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (9 p.m., TBS, TNT, TV-14).
— "Q: Into the Storm" (9 p.m. and 10 p.m., HBO, TV-MA) concludes.
— Lucy’s corpse raises concerns on "Good Girls" (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
— A missing infant sparks an Amber Alert on "The Rookie" (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— The mysterious death of a crime boss scrambles a family hierarchy on "Gangs of London" (10:10 p.m., AMC, TV-MA), seen earlier on the premium streaming service AMC+.
— Adult Swim presents "Birdgirl" (midnight, Cartoon Network, TV-14), a sequel of sorts to the legendary "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law," featuring the voices of Paget Brewster, Rob Delaney, Tony Hale and others.
CULT CHOICE
Fred Astaire and Judy Garland star in the 1948 musical "Easter Parade" (8 p.m. Sunday, TCM, TV-G), featuring songs by Irving Berlin.
SATURDAY SERIES
Benson hedges her bets on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14) … "The Masked Singer" (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14) … Chris Meloni stars on "Law & Order: Organized Crime" (9 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14) … "Game of Talents" (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … A vintage helping of "Saturday Night Live" (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
SUNDAY SERIES
"Ellen’s Game of Games" (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … "World’s Funniest Animals" (8 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG) … All heck breaks loose on "NCIS: Los Angeles" (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … The big three-oh on "Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist" (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14) … "Masters of Illusion" (9 p.m., CW, r, TV-14) … Pride’s bar gets torched "NCIS: New Orleans" (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
