Nothing to do with the Middle East conflict is particularly funny. But HBO’s adaptation of “Oslo” (8 p.m. Saturday, HBO, TV-MA) often feels like a drawing room comedy.
Playwright J.T. Rogers and director Bartlett Sher adapted their Tony-winning Broadway hit chronicling the back-channel peace talks between Israel and Palestine secretly organized by married Norwegian diplomats in 1993.
Directed by Sher, it condenses Rogers’ Broadway drama for the small screen. Based on remarkable historical events, it recalls the extraordinary efforts of married couple and Norwegian diplomats Mona Juul (Ruth Wilson) and Terje Rod-Larsen (Andrew Scott), who had the audacity to arrange sub-rosa meetings.
between Israelis and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) at a time when official negotiations, brokered by Americans, were going nowhere. Their efforts would bear fruit in fairly short order, resulting in the Oslo Accords signed at the White House Rose Garden with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the PLO’s chairman Yasser Arafat shaking hands. It marked the first time that either entity had recognized the existence of the other.
Viewers may recall Wilson from “The Affair” and “Luther,” as well as the real-life mystery “Mrs. Wilson,” seen on “Masterpiece” on PBS and based on the story of her own grandmother. Scott’s manic mannerisms give “Oslo” its comic touch. He was unforgettable as Moriarty in the recent “Sherlock” adaptation and indelible as “the hot priest” on “Fleabag.”
The whole point of the Norwegians’ exercise was to remove the icy formality of official diplomacy from the talks, allowing the representatives to become human to each other. They knew they may have been making history, but first they had to deal with house guests, making sure the drinks flowed and that the convivial dinner party remained friendly.
And since they were a married couple, they also bicker and flirt with each other. They come off as the Nick and Nora Charles of international diplomacy. These domestic touches turn what could have been a dry history lesson into an entertaining drama.
Sadly, “Oslo” arrives after yet another reminder that peace has not yet come for Israelis and Palestinians. It also airs right after the conclusion of the PBS “Masterpiece” effort “Atlantic Crossing,” another drama based on historical events about a Norwegian couple at the center of diplomatic maneuvering.
— “Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre” (8 p.m. Sunday, History, TV-14) is the first of several documentaries and reports to observe the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race riots of 1921.
By the 1920s, the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, had become a prosperous community of thriving churches and businesses. Known as the “Black Wall Street,” it seemed an inspiring example of how far Black Americans could progress, having been freed from slavery less than 60 years earlier.
Slavery and the Civil War were very much living memory at the time. To put this in some perspective, we are as far removed from the Mercury astronauts and the beginning of the space program as the summer of 1921 was from the Battle of Bull Run.
Notions of progress changed utterly that summer, when bands of resentful white citizens set the town ablaze, razing dozens of blocks of housing and killing hundreds, many of whom were hidden in mass graves.
More than bodies were buried. The Tulsa riots, and all they represented, were pretty much erased from America’s collective memory. The Tulsa story was revived in the recent surreal adaptation of “Watchmen,” seen on HBO, but it has not been given much coverage in the history books.
This centennial arrives at another time of racial reckoning and backlash, as some argue that Black Lives Matter while others declare that such a movement amounts to “terrorism.” And others still try to pass laws banning the discussion of racism in America’s textbooks and classrooms. Oklahoma has passed a law against teaching “Critical Race Theory,” a thinly veiled effort to ban any mention of past racism and events like the Tulsa massacre.
Tomorrow night, both CBS and PBS will air their own programs recalling the Tulsa massacre.
— Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise host the National Memorial Day Concert (8 p.m. Sunday, PBS, TV-PG, check local listings). Look for appearances by General Colin Powell, Gladys Knight, Vince Gill, Sara Bareilles, Alan Jackson, Denyce Graves, the Four Tops, Steve Buscemi, Joe Morton, Brian d’Arcy James, Kathy Baker, Mary McCormack, Bailee Madison and the National Symphony Orchestra. Mickey Guyton will sing the national anthem.
This year’s concert will pay special tribute to the nurses who served in Vietnam and the 20th anniversary remembrance of 9/11.
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Major League Baseball (7 p.m., Fox). Check listings for regional coverage.
— NHL hockey (8 p.m., NBC).
— An adopted adolescent becomes jealous of her foster father’s new love interest in the 2021 shocker “Daddy’s Perfect Little Girl” (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-PG).
— “China: Nature’s Ancient Kingdom” (8 p.m., BBC America) explores China’s national parks.
— A troubled daughter returns to her happy place in the 2018 romance “The Beach House” (9 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— NASCAR competition (6 p.m., Fox).
— Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): violent threats to judges; a pianist performs on Twitter to escape COVID restrictions; a town where many live well into their 90s.
— The Mets host the Braves in Major League Baseball action (7 p.m., ESPN).
— NHL hockey (8 p.m., NBC).
— For the second summer in a row, CBS will turn over its Sunday nights to films from the Paramount vault. Tonight: the 2000 epic “Gladiator” (8 p.m., TV-14), starring Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott.
— Uzo Aduba stars as Doctor Taylor on “In Treatment” (9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
— A college tour changes perspectives on “The Chi” (9 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
— “Death and Nightingales” (9 p.m., Starz, TV-MA) concludes.
— A former high school basketball celebrity (Kate Winslet) investigates a series of grim crimes in a tight-knit Pennsylvania community in the season finale of “Mare of Easttown” (10 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
— Papi lives up to his name on “Pose” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).
— Kevin tries to please his first professional painting client on “Flatbush Misdemeanors” (10:30 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
— Experimental filmmaker Bill Gunn used vampirism as a metaphor for problems arising from racism and colonialism in the 1973 shocker “Ganja & Hess” (9 p.m. Saturday, TCM), starring Duane Jones (“Night of the Living Dead”).
SATURDAY SERIES
A shocking discovery on “Magnum P.I.” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … “Celebrity Family Feud” (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-14) … Two episodes of “48 Hours” (9 p.m. and 10 p.m., CBS, r) … “The Chase” (9 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … An expectant mother battles cancer on “The Good Doctor” (10 p.m., ABC, r, TV-14).
SUNDAY SERIES
“Celebrity Family Feud” (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … Sara goes missing on “D.C.’s Legends of Tomorrow” (8 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG) … “The Chase” (9 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … Gotham’s drug addicts develop new cravings on “Batwoman” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) … “To Tell the Truth” (10 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG).
