Intentionally uncomfortable, “The Curse” 10 p.m., Sunday, Showtime, TV-MA) blends television genres with disturbing results. Emma Stone (“La La Land,” “The Favourite”) and Nathan Fielder (“The Rehearsal”) star as Whitney and Asher Siegel, the recently married hosts of an HGTV-type series called “Flipanthropy.”
As on many reality shelter shows, the hosts of “Flipanthropy” make their home in a particular place, in this case a city in Northern New Mexico. In the breezy fashion of such series, it blends profit-driven house flipping and home makeovers with societal uplift and a passion for positive change.
The bromides flow rather easily until a subject of one of their on-air gimmicks lashes out and puts a curse on Asher. Suddenly their consumer-friendly exercise is awash with personal problems and an atmosphere of guilt about the very nature of capitalism and the appropriation of Native American lands and cultures.
“The Curse” was introduced at the New York Film Festival in October and has already begun streaming on the Paramount+ tier that includes Showtime content.
It’s interesting that this blend of reality and satire arrives on Showtime when its premium cable rival HBO is still wobbling through the difficult adjustment to its merger with the reality factory Discovery.
A shotgun marriage that only number-crunchers could love, the merger put “Dr. Pimple Popper” and “The Gilded Age” under the same roof, assuming that all content is the same and that viewer’s discernment is but a mere detail.
To compound matters, it jettisoned the name HBO, long synonymous with quality TV, and took the name MAX, more associated with its cheesier sub-brand Cinemax, home to racier fare.
Yet more proof that the suits running Max don’t know what they are doing arrived last week when it was revealed that they were so upset by the terrible reviews for the since-canceled series “The Idol” that they created fake accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter) to troll and torment TV critics.
This is beyond embarrassing. Anyone involved in running networks should know that the relationship between critics and programmers is one for the long haul. A critic might pan one series and then help build an audience for another show years later. The people who used to run HBO certainly used to know that. But it’s MAX now.
Showtime may be airing “The Curse,” but HBO/Max seems to be the place that’s been snakebit.
— The New York Jets and the Las Vegas Raiders meet in NFL Football action (8:15 p.m. Sunday, NBC). Look for a commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the infamous “Heidi Bowl,” when NBC cut away from a Jets-Raiders game on November 17, 1968, to air the regularly scheduled children’s movie “Heidi.”
At the time the network switched the action to the Swiss Alps, the Jets held the lead. But in the last few moments of the game, the Oakland Raiders scored twice and prevailed in the most exciting fashion. Outraged fans flooded the network’s switchboard with calls of protest.
The resulting media maelstrom convinced broadcasters that NFL games, once considered a mere Sunday afternoon pastime, were ready for prime time. In 1970, the prime time hit “Monday Night Football” was born. And the annual Super Bowl contest was moved from Sunday afternoons into prime time. Both cemented the game’s reputation for attracting consistently huge ratings, a tradition that continues more than a half-century later.
— Colleagues, friends and comedy disciples salute a veteran comic on “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” (8 p.m. Saturday, HBO, TV-14). Best known for directing such comedies as “Modern Romance,” “Lost in America,” and “Mother,” Brooks’ early works included short movies blending documentary and comedy.
He contributed a film to the very first episode of “Saturday Night Live” in 1975. Anticipating the “fake it till you make it” ethos of reality TV, the comedy short starred Brooks as an amateur surgeon attempting to operate on his friends.
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— College football action includes West Virginia at Oklahoma (7 p.m., Fox); Ole Miss at Georgia (7 p.m., ESPN); Mississippi State at Texas A&M (7:30 p.m., ESPN2); Michigan State at Ohio State (7:30 p.m., NBC/Peacock) and Texas at TCU (7:30 p.m., ABC).
— NY/NJ Gotham FC meet OL Reign in NWSL Soccer (8 p.m., CBS), live from San Diego.
— “Planet Earth III” (8 p.m., BBC America) profiles creatures of the deep.
— “Beyond the Battlefield” (8 p.m., History, TV-14) honors veterans of all branches of the military. Produced by Peyton Manning.
— A delivery dispatcher develops an unhealthy obsession with a social media influencer in the 2023 shocker “Devil on My Doorstep” (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
— After a winter storm diverts her maiden voyage, a pilot trainee must woo an air traffic controller to save her dream job in the 2023 holiday romance “Christmas Island” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— A celebrity baker turns a Hoboken, New Jersey, shop into a pastry empire on “Buddy Valastro’s Cake Dynasty” (10 p.m., A&E, TV-PG).
— Timothee Chalamet hosts “Saturday Night Live” (11:30 p.m., NBC, TV-14), featuring musical guest boygenius.
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— On”60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): Iran’s use of assassins to silence regime critics abroad; Russia’s war on Ukraine’s cultural legacy; cleaning up the horse racing industry.
— Established by Britain’s Prince William “The Earthshot Prize 2023” (7 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) recognizes individuals addressing environmental concerns. Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”) hosts.
— Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford star in the 1980 adventure “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Episode V)” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG), the very first sequel in the franchise that began in 1977.
— Bella stymies Cecil’s schemes on “Hotel Portofino” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings).
— Terry accentuates healthy living on “Shining Vale” (8:30 p.m., Starz, TV-MA).
— The latest from the “Yellowstone” team, the period Western “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” (9 p.m. and 10 p.m., CBS, TV-MA) is imported from Paramount+ and based on a real historical figure.
— A craftswoman named Heidi sells her wares at a legendary German Christmas market in the 2023 romance “A Heidelberg Holiday” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— Harry’s unit takes casualties in Tobruk on “World on Fire” on “Masterpiece” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings).
— Even loners need allies on “Fear the Walking Dead” (9 p.m., AMC, TV-MA).
— Bertha Russell’s (Carrie Coons) efforts to out-master Mrs. Astor in the opera wars are undercut by a sense of personal betrayal on “The Gilded Age” (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
— The sci-fi thriller “Beacon 23” (9 p.m., MGM+) debuts. Set on a “lighthouse” in deep space.
— There’s nothing like a stray corpse to ruin a vacation on “Annika” on “Masterpiece” (10 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings).
— Tim begins to suspect Hawk’s intentions as Roy Cohn goes out his way to change his friend’s draft status on “Fellow Travelers” (9 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA.)
CULT CHOICE
Director Sam Fuller depicts soldiers caught behind enemy lines in the 1951 Korean War drama “The Steel Helmet” (1:15 p.m. Saturday, TCM, TV-14), part of a daylong Veterans Day marathon of war movies.
SATURDAY SERIES
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit appear on “Austin City Limits” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings).
SUNDAY SERIES
John’s foes strike a deadly blow on “Yellowstone” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … A bad impression on “Krapopolis” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … Marge feels unappreciated on “The Simpsons” (8:30 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).
Bob caters a posh glamping trip on “Bob’s Burgers” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Peter’s manhood is questioned on “Family Guy” (9:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
