Blood and cruelty, spectacle and power, “entertainment” as politics, the Roman arena contained them all. During eight episodes, the documentary and reenactment series “The Colosseum” (8 p.m., Sunday, History, TV-14) will profile the emperors who built and maintained the stadiums, the crowds that flocked to the gruesome events and the gladiators who provided the “games.”
We learn early on many of the gladiators were taken from the fringes of the empire. Their capture and domestication were in themselves symbols of imperial might. Massive brutes from the forests of what then was called Germania were chosen for their size and fearsome nature. Once captured and virtually enslaved, they were stripped of their names and identities and rebranded with suitably Latin monikers so they could become sports heroes and fan favorites. The owners and trainers of these fighters spent years cultivating their physiques, images and “brands.” They were a big investment. “Colosseum” makes it clear from the outset that gladiators simply were too expensive to kill. How do we know? Evidence of gladiator cemeteries. So the notion of battles to the death and “thumbs down” executions occurring on a regular basis is pretty much the stuff of legend and Hollywood.
Filled with brief reenactments and interviews with authors and historians, “Colosseum” serves to remind us how director Ridley Scott’s 2000 drama “Gladiator” continues to resonate after about 25 years. Its meditation on the intersection of spectacle and power politics seems more relevant with each passing year. It remains one of the more powerful epic films of the young-ish century. A Ridley Scott epic of a very different kind, the 2021 melodrama “House of Gucci,” now is streaming on Prime Video.
• After launching a series focused on the Roman empire, the History Channel launches “History’s Crazy Rich Ancients” (9 p.m.). As the title implies, it will attempt to show that a lust for bling, ostentatious parties and living large are not unique to our era.
You don’t need to be a history nerd to recoil at the contemptuous carelessness at work here. It’s commonly held that the “ancient” period concludes with the disintegration of the Roman Empire in the fifth century. But “Crazy” begins with a breathless account of the lavish parties thrown at the Congress of Vienna, held in 1814-15 when the maps of Europe were redrawn to reflect Napoleon’s downfall. To refer to this event as “ancient” is beyond sloppy. It implies that words and historical terms are either meaningless or interchangeable and that the audience is either too lazy, incurious or unread to notice or care.
• Haunted by the death of her mother and besotted with the music and fashions of the Carnaby Street scene, a 21st-century fashion designer finds herself time traveling back to the 1960s in the 2021 psychological thriller “Last Night in Soho” (7 p.m., Saturday, HBO).
Don’t go looking for “Austin Powers” in this dark horror tale. A game cast includes Thomasin McKenzie (“The Hobbit”), Anya Taylor-Joy (“Queen’s Gambit”) and Matt Smith (“The Crown”). It also features actors who were part of the 1960s scene the film evokes, including Rita Tushingham (“The Knack” and “A Taste of Honey”), Terence Stamp (“Billy Budd”), Margaret Nolan (“Goldfinger”) and Diana Rigg (“The Avengers”). This marked the final films for Nolan and Rigg, who both died in 2020; it is dedicated to their memory.
Regional coverage of MLB (6 p.m., Fox) action.
• Auto racing (7 p.m., CBS) live from Pevely, Mo.
• Olivia’s story continues in the second part of the 2022 shocker “Flowers in the Attic: The Origin” (7 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
• A family plans to say goodbye to their traditional summer home with a holiday-themed party in the 2022 romance “A Campfire Christmas” (7 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
• “What on Earth” (7 p.m., Science) explores images taken from an aerial survey that reveal a pattern of circles in a Northern California swamp that point to a gruesome history.
• Track and Field (8 p.m., NBC) events from the World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Ore.
• A standup comedian discusses intimate matters in the special “Nikki Glaser: Good Clean Filth” (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
• Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (6 p.m., CBS): Rwanda’s dwindling population of mountain gorillas; California’s Deep Springs College, where academic coursework includes life on a working ranch; a profile of Alessandro Michele, creative visionary behind the House of Gucci.
• “James Webb Telescope: Secrets of the Universe Revealed” (7 p.m., Science) reviews the latest images of distant galaxies whose light traveled vast oceans of time to reach our eyes.
• Under house arrest, the princess faces inquisition on “Becoming Elizabeth” (7 p.m., Starz).
• Just nominated for an Emmy for his turn in “Dopesick,” Michael Keaton plays a manic concierge to the underworld in the 1988 comedy “Beetlejuice” (7 p.m., Vice).
• A businessman’s death reveals dark truths about his life on “Grantchester on Masterpiece” (8 p.m., PBS).
• A showdown with the Buffalo Society calls for stark choices on the season finale of “Dark Winds” (8 p.m., AMC, TV-MA).
• Abused playthings rebel on “Westworld” (8 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
• Track and Field (9 p.m., NBC) events, live from the World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Ore.
• “United Shades of America” (9 p.m., CNN) explores a long-established black community in a remote corner of Appalachia.
• Extreme libertarians gather in a faded Mexican resort on “The Anarchists” (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
The late James Caan appears in the 1966 Western “El Dorado” (7:45 p.m., Saturday, Sundance) starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum.
Bash has a point to prove on “Transplant” (7 p.m., NBC, TV-14) … “America’s Funniest Home Movies” (7 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
“The Final Straw” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … “48 Hours” (9 p.m., CBS) … “Shark Tank” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
“Big Brother” (7 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … “America’s Got Talent” (7 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … Beyond endurance on “The Simpsons” (7 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Celebrity Family Feud” (7 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Out of Percival’s past on “Riverdale” (7 p.m., CW, TV-PG) … Judy’s secret society on “The Great North”(7:30 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Foreign intrigue on “The Equalizer” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … A secret sauce on “Bob’s Burgers” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … “The Final Straw” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … A date for the reunion on “Family Guy” (8:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … Art heists galore on “NCIS: Los Angeles” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … “The $100,000 Pyramid” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— OK, that was weird. The least expected story of the week was the scandal involving Felicity Huffman (“Desperate Housewives”) and Lori Loughlin, star of “When Calls the Heart” (7 p.m. Sunday, Hallmark, TV-G), in a bribery/cheating plot to get their respective daughters into elite universities.
This is obviously an ongoing case, and all sides must have their say, or day, in court. But the motivation at the center of this story is worth discussing. It involves some overwhelming need to do anything to get children into elite schools. As if anything “lesser” were unthinkable.
Television plays no small role in this insecurity. I can’t remember how many times I’ve had to describe an ABC legal drama where every single character hails from only the most exclusive Ivy and spends most of the pilot bragging about it.
There was a time, not that long ago, when John Grisham wrote best-selling books about young, barely accredited lawyers from no-name institutions who took on impossible cases against massive corporations and eventually won. And got the girl, to boot.
So, our current era’s neurotic obsession with elitism and inequality is hardly hard-wired.
If anything comes of this sordid affair, it’s an appreciation that shoddy efforts at snobbery are always essentially pathetic. Or on classic TV, comedic. Watching “Gilligan’s Island,” we identified with Mary Ann and the Skipper, and pitied the millionaire and his wife.
— CNN launches the four-hour documentary “Tricky Dick” (8 p.m., Sunday), profiling the life and times of Richard Nixon’s public career, which spanned the decades from the dawn of the Cold War to the Clinton years.
— An anxious new mother joins a group for solidarity and support, only to discover that it has darker plans on its agenda in the 2019 shocker “Mommy Group Murder” (7 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
— The Thunder and Warriors meet in NBA action (7:30 p.m., ABC).
— An old kidnapper returns to form on “Ransom” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (6 p.m., CBS): Embassy workers in China and Cuba complain of mysterious ailments; AOL founder Steve Case and his plans to invest in the future of overlooked American small towns and cities; a visit to Monaco.
— The duels begin on “World of Dance” (7 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
— Auditions continue on “American Idol” (7 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— Lex Luthor is on the loose on “Supergirl” (7 p.m., CW, TV-PG).
— Mr. Wednesday prepares for battle on “American Gods” (7 p.m., Starz, TV-MA).
— After learning about her royal lineage, an adopted 10-year-old becomes a little tyrant in the 2019 shocker “Mommy’s Little Princess” (7 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
— A secret room holds dangers on “Charmed” (8 p.m., CW, TV-14).
— Hidden secrets revealed on “The Walking Dead” (8 p.m., AMC, TV-MA).
— A new trial is pursued on “The Case Against Adnan Syed” (8 p.m., HBO, TV-14).
— Axe is determined to destroy Taylor on the fourth season premiere of “Billions” (8 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
— Ulysses pursues a conspiracy theory on “Now Apocalypse” (8 p.m., Starz, TV-MA).
— “Unsung” (8 p.m., TVONE) profiles the Jets.
— Pacific overtures on “Madam Secretary” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
— Tensions rise on “Good Girls” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— Mo’s past is revealed on “Black Monday” (9 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
— St. Patrick’s Day inspires many traditions. Syfy offers a marathon of “Leprechaun” movies, from “Leprechaun 5: In the Hood” (4 p.m. Saturday, TV-14) to “Leprechaun 2” (8 p.m.). TCM takes the traditional approach, ladling out the Technicolor blarney of director John Ford’s 1952 romance “The Quiet Man” (7 p.m. Sunday, TV-PG).
“Dateline” (7 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … “NBA Countdown” (7 p.m., ABC) … The kids are all right on “MasterChef” (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … “48 Hours” (9 p.m., CBS) … A vintage helping of “Saturday Night Live” (9 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
A visit from an old friend inspires Miles on “God Friended Me” (7 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Homer can’t leave Bart’s virtual realm on “The Simpsons” (7 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … Empathy for all things on “Bob’s Burgers” (7:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
A walk down the aisle on “NCIS: Los Angeles” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … On two episodes of “Family Guy” (Fox, TV-14), Meg’s winter Olympics (8 p.m.), fighting over a dowager (8:30 p.m., r) … Aches and pains on “Shark Tank” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
