What to Watch this weekend: The Widow, Good Girls, American Idol
FRIDAY
The Widow
A plane crash in the Congo; a man presumed dead; a grieving widow (Kate Beckinsale) with distractingly fantastic hair: These are the promising outlines of Amazon’s latest flagship series, a slow-boil eight-episode thriller created by British brothers Harry and Jack Williams (The Missing). For all its exotic locations, flashbacking subplots, and international intrigue, though, there’s a vaguely generic airport-paperback feel to the whole thing — just one more way to click and escape the brown-gray dregs of late winter, 47 moderately compelling minutes at a time. B —Leah Greenblatt
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Chiwetel Ejiofor — the British actor best known for his Oscar-nominated turn in 12 Years a Slave — wrote and stars in this moving Netflix film, which also marks his feature directorial debut, about a brilliant and resourceful 13-year-old boy (Maxwell Simba) who saves his poor, drought-stricken village in Malawi by constructing a windmill out of junkyard scraps and bicycle parts. Based on the undeniably inspiring true story of William Kamkwamba, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind slowly builds to a feel-good climax that’s impossible to resist. B+ —Chris Nashawaty
SATURDAY
The Pioneer Woman
Cock-a-doodle-do check out these chicken dishes that are all easy and quick to make — 16 minutes, to be exact. Join Ree Drummond on the ranch for her Buffalo Chicken Burgers, Tex-Mex Pulled Chicken, 16 Min-estrone, and Balsamic Chicken. Wattle the Pioneer Woman make next?!
The Kitchen
The hosts are making dishes with viewers’ favorite flavors and recipes in this special two-hour episode — including Viewers’ Choice Chili, Thanksgiving Pot Pie, a pizza crust using chickpeas, a baked and loaded pancake with lemon maple glaze (mmm!), and Hot Chocolate Floats (SAY WHAT?!).
Just Add Romance
The fun with food continues in this movie as polar opposites Kelly and Jason compete against each other on a popular cooking show for a chance at getting their own restaurant. Love is in the air… and on the menu.
8 p.m.
The Killer Downstairs — Lifetime
11:30 p.m.
Saturday Night Live (host John Mulaney, musical guest Thomas Rhett) — NBC
SUNDAY
Family Food Showdown
Food Network competitions have featured chefs both professional and amateur, cook-offs both savory and sweet, contestants both old and young. But never before have audiences seen families pit against other families. Until now. “I think we’re the first ones out of the gate, so hopefully people will fall in love with this show,” says actress turned cookbook author and culinary show host Valerie Bertinelli. In each episode, two families, most of whom own restaurants, face off in three rounds. During the second of those, Bertinelli introduces some “really fun” but “a bit shocking” twists and turns. “It wouldn’t be a competition show if it was easy, would it?” she laughs, stopping short of giving anything away. “When each of the families found out what would happen, they were all blown away.” Adding to the excitement? The chance to win $10,000. “Most families were dying to do this!” —Gerrad Hall
Good Girls
They might be suburban moms, but there’s nothing Ruby (Retta), Annie (Mae Whitman), and Beth (Christina Hendricks) won’t do for their family, which they proved when they robbed a grocery store in the Good Girls pilot. But that was only the beginning. Before you check out season 2 of this tale of three women discovering the appeal of the criminal world, showrunner Jenna Bans recommends a few season 1 highlights: Episode 2 involves a complicated captive situation; episode 3 takes the women on a road trip; and episode 8 sees the women return to their robbing ways. As for what comes next, Bans says, “[Season 2 is] a little darker and a little edgier. We really went for it in terms of pushing the boundaries of what the tone of the show is.” —Sam Highfill
11 a.m.
Super Soul Sunday (guest Bradley Cooper) — OWN
8 p.m.
American Idol (season premiere) — ABC
Leaving Neverland – Part 1 — HBO
*times are ET and subject to change
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