Let's go back in time with Hulu's The Great and Prime Video's The Wheel Of Time
Also this weekend: King Richard and Tick, Tick...Boom, Netflix's live-action Cowboy Bebop, Korean drama Hellbound, and Foundation's finale

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, November 19, and Saturday, November 20. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
The Great (Hulu, Friday, 12:01 a.m., season two): The new episodes vividly portray Empress Catherine’s (Elle Fanning) numerous challenges while also depicting the people who make up her kingdom. A crocodile is running amok in the palace? The residents believe it must be an omen from God that Catherine is the devil. The situations seem nonsensical until they’re not, but caustic humor isn’t as central this time around. There are still plenty of thrilling zingers and visuals, but The Great blossoms into a show with a big heart and, inevitably, heartbreak for its protagonists and viewers.” Read the full review of season two, which premieres in its entirety.
Regular coverage
Foundation (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m., season one finale)
The Great British Bake Off (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.)
The Wheel Of Time (Amazon Prime Video, Friday, 12:01 a.m., season premiere): Zach Handlen will do weekly recaps of the fantasy drama, which is based on Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson’s novels of the same name. The Wheel Of Time is set in a sprawling world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it; that includes Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of an incredibly powerful all-female organization. She embarks on a dangerous journey to try and save humanity.
Saturday Night Live (NBC, Saturday, 11:29 p.m.): Shang-Chi and Kim’s Convenience star Simu Liu is set to host SNL for the first time with musical guest Saweetie. Dennis Perkins will recap.
Movie night
King Richard (HBO Max, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “By viewing [Serena and Venus Williams’] early years through their father, King Richard finds a different angle on the underdog sports biopic, emphasizing a real-life “character” who might be a colorful scene-stealer in a more conventionally written film. In this telling, being an exacting and stubborn stage parent is its own kind of bizarre athletic feat.” Here’s Jesse Hassenger’s full review of the film. The cast includes Will Smith, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal, and Tony Goldwyn.
Tick, Tick… Boom! (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the biographical drama is based on Jonathan Larson’s musical of the same name. Andrew Garfield plays an aspiring theatre composer who endures a quarter-life crisis. In her review, Caroline Siede writes: “Though the movie deploys a framing device that lets Jonathan serve as the narrator of his own story, Miranda doesn’t get too bogged down in trying to come up with rigid rules for how the musical numbers work. There’s a wonderful fluidity to the way a grounded dialogue scene suddenly becomes a dance number that weaves among the shelves of a bookstore, or how a trip to the local pool becomes a fantastical representation of creative inspiration.”