What's on TV this week—The Patient and Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power premiere

Welcome to What’s On, our weekly picks of must-watch shows. Here’s what you need to watch from Sunday, August 28, to Thursday, September 1. All times are Eastern. [Note: The weekend edition of What’s On drops on Fridays.]

The biggies

The Patient (FX on Hulu, Tuesday, 12:01 a.m.)

The Americans co-creators Joel Fields and Joe Wiseberg return to FX four years after the end of that brilliant and award-winning drama with The Patient. This limited series stars Steve Carell as Dr. Alan Strauss, a therapist and unfortunate victim of his patient, Sam Fortner (Domhnall Gleeson). Sam kidnaps and forces his doctor to help with his homicidal tendencies, leading to several intense confrontations. Here’s an excerpt from The A.V. Club’s review:

You’ve never seen Steve Carell as he is in The Patient. He anchors FX’s gripping limited series with his finest dramatic performance to date, a sublime and crushing work that sticks with you long after the credits roll in the finale.

After a long wait, the most expensive TV show ever made is finally launching. Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, which received a $1 billion and five-season production commitment, has a two-part premiere on Thursday night, with the following episodes rolling out on Fridays. Set thousands of years before The Hobbit and LOTR, the show covers all the major events of Middle-earth’s Second Age, including the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron and the last alliance between Elves and Men. The A.V. Club will recap the show weekly.

Hidden gems

America’s National Parks (Disney+, Wednesday, 3:01 a.m.)

Produced by National Geographic, the five-part docuseries America’s National Parks is a celebration of our great-outdoorsiest attractions, including the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Big Bend, Badlands, and Hawaii’s volcanoes. It’s narrated by singer-songwriter Garth Brooks, with First Lady Jill Biden delivering opening and closing remarks.

Created by Geoff Johns, superhero drama D.C.’s Stargirl centers on high school student Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger), a.k.a. Stargirl, who becomes the inspiration for a new generation of superheroes called the Justice Society of America, which also include Wildcat II and Hourman II. In season three, Joel McHale returns as Starman to train Stargirl to prepare her for battle against a slew of villains.

Animated thriller Pantheon follows a bullied teen, Maddie (Katie Chung), who receives mysterious help from a stranger revealed to be her recently deceased father, David (Daniel Dae Kim). His consciousness has been uploaded to the Cloud following an experimental destructive brain scan, turning him into an Uploaded Intelligence. But this move triggers a new kind of global world war. The impressive voice cast includes Paul Dano, Rosemarie DeWitt, Taylor Schilling, Ron Livingston, Aaron Eckhart, Raza Jaffrey, Kevin Durand, Maude Apatow, Suraj Sharma, and Scoot McNairy.

More good stuff

MTV’s Video Music Awards (MTV and the CW, Sunday, 8 p.m.)

It’s time for this year’s Video Music Awards, and MTV is pulling out all the stops with three hosts for the first time: LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj, and Jack Harlow, with the latter two also performing. What’s more, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are receiving the Global Icon Award, and 2022's top nominees include Kendrick Lamar, Lil Nas X, Harlow, Doja Cat, and Harry Styles.

David Terry Fine’s documentary is the penultimate installment of the nine-part Untold film series, telling the story of NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who was caught in a scandal for gambling on his own games.

Netflix rom-com Love In The Villa is ready to transport you to Italy. The film follows Julia (The Vampire Diaries’ Kat Graham) on a solo trip to Verona after being dumped. However, her romantic villa is double booked by an uptight Brit, Charlie (The Umbrella Academy’s Tom Hopper), who’s visiting to seek out vintners to work with at a wine festival. Look out for The A.V. Club’s review on Tuesday.

Can’t miss recaps

House Of The Dragon (HBO, Sunday, 9 p.m.)

Kevin Can F**K Himself (AMC, Monday, 9 p.m.)

Industry (HBO, Monday, 9 p.m.)

What We Do In The Shadows (FX, Tuesday, 10 p.m.)

Archer (FXX, Wednesday, 10 p.m.)

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (Disney+, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)

Ending soon

Animal Kingdom (TNT, Sunday, 9 p.m., series finale)

My Life As A Rolling Stone (Epix, Sunday, 9 p.m., season one finale)

American Ninja Warrior (NBC, Monday, 8 p.m., season 14 finale)

Wellington Paranormal (The CW, Thursday, 9:30 p.m., season four finale)

The Resort (Peacock, Thursday, 3:01 a.m., season one finale)

Selena + Chef (HBO Max, Thursday, 3:01 a.m., season four finale)

Rap Sh!t (HBO Max, Thursday, 9 p.m., season one finale)

Good Trouble (Freeform, Thursday, 10 p.m., season four finale)