Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain are here to take over your Sunday nights in Scenes From A Marriage

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Sunday, September 12. All times are Eastern.

Top pick

Scenes From A Marriage (HBO, 9 p.m.): The Affair creator Hagai Levi adapts Ingmar Bergman’s influential 1973 miniseries (which became a Golden Globe-winning film) of the same name. Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain star as the couple whose marriage crumbles over the course of the series. Playwright Amy Herzog executive produces with Levi. Here’s the trailer:

Oh, sorry, here’s the trailer:

The original Swedish miniseries the show is based on is streaming on Criterion Channel, if you can’t wait. Here’s a clip. You’ll also find the feature-length version on Criterion Channel and HBO Max. Chris Feil will recap.

Regular coverage

The Walking Dead (AMC, 9 p.m.)
Billions (Showtime, 9 p.m.)

Programming note: Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q is moving to Mondays.

Wild cards

American Rust (Showtime, 10 p.m.): Zack Handlen writes in his review: “Of all the bad choices made in American Rust’s first episode, the worst is also the least surprising.” (Damn, Zack doesn’t hold back.) “There’s a lot not to like about Rust, a dreary, well-acted, badly written chunk of misery porn, but it’s hard to get over just how wrongheaded the decision to spend almost an hour at the start of the series on an unnecessary flashback is… It’s a baffling structural choice whose only real justification is that, well, this is intended as prestige TV, and you can’t make prestige TV without talented performers looking depressed, mournful acoustic guitar picking over every other scene, and, oh yes, the completely unnecessary in medias res opening. An adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Philipp Meyer, American Rust tells the story of a young man with problems, and another young man with problems; the horrible crime they may or may not have committed; and the several people around them who also have problems which will inevitably be compounded when they come into contact with the aforementioned crime.”

2021 MTV Video Music Awards (8 p.m. ET, simulcast on MTV, MTV2, BET, BET Her, Logo, VH1, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Paramount, CMT, Comedy Central. Whew): As Shannon Miller said last year of this particular award show, “Yeah, we can absolutely detail the ways that MTV Video Music Awards has lost its luster over the years. (In fact, we have)… [But] it’s still managing to deliver some of the more outrageous musical performances in the industry, so we can’t exactly judge anyone for tuning into the 36-year-old.” This year’s VMAs will feature performances from favorite artists like Lil Nas X, Megan Thee Stallion, Olivia Rodrigo, and more. Catch them live, or watch for the clips tomorrow. Anyway, here’s Wonderwall “Industry Baby” to start out your Sunday right.