Mariah Carey at the MTV VMAs (Also on CBS), ‘Walking Dead’s Daryl and Carol See Europe, Mark Ruffalo in HBO’s ‘Task,’ Sunday Night Football and U.S. Open Finals

SUNDAY: The queen of pop, Mariah Carey, returns to the VMA stage for the first time in 20 years to accept the coveted Video Vanguard Award and perform a medley of her hits as the VMA ceremony expands its footprint with its first simulcast on CBS. LL Cool J hosts from New York’s UBS Arena, where a performance-heavy lineup includes a special hard-rocking tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne, featuring Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith with YUNGBLUD and Nuno Bettencourt. Special honorees Ricky Martin (Latin Icon Award) and Busta Rhymes (MTV VMA Rock the Bells Visionary Award) will also perform, on a roster including Sabrina Carpenter, Jelly Roll, Doja Cat, Post Malone, Tate McRae and many more.

SUNDAY: There’s no place like home, but it’s going to take a while still for Walking Dead stalwarts Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) to find their way back. As the third and penultimate season of the spinoff gets underway, the duo emerges from their hallucinatory trip in the Chunnel to discover the surreal urban landscape of a deserted London, overrun by walkers. Comic actor Stephen Merchant guest-stars as “the last Englishman in England,” who offers a lifeline of escape, though most Dead fans know their journey is going to take them next to Spain. “Let’s keep never giving up,” Daryl tells his constant companion, a sentiment that applies to the undying horror franchise.

SUNDAY: Relentlessly grim yet ultimately redemptive, befitting a crime drama whose hangdog hero used to be a priest, the harrowingly suspenseful Task (from Mare of Easttown‘s Brad Ingelsby) tells the parallel story of two men with deep sorrows. A melancholy Mark Ruffalo stars as FBI agent and former chaplain Tom Brandis, returning to fieldwork in Philadelphia after a devastating family tragedy, leading a hastily assembled task force to find the culprit who’s been burglarizing gangland drug trap houses. His target: Robbie Prendergrast (Ozark‘s soulful Tom Pelphrey), a working-class family man raising his two kids with his dead brother’s grown daughter (CODA‘s Emilia Jones) while pursuing a mission of retribution against a violent motorcycle gang. Forgiveness is a recurring theme in this bloody fable of flawed men on a fateful collision course. (See the full review.)

Are you ready for some … who are we kidding, most everyone is. Network TV’s top-rated sports franchise returns for its 20^th season, with a Divisional Playoff rematch of the Buffalo Bills and the Baltimore Ravens at Orchard Park, N.Y.’s Highmark Stadium. NFL MVPs Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson face off, capping a weekend of NFL action, with much more to come.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY: The tennis classic, which completes the 2025 Grand Slam cycle, ends with two highly anticipated matches. The women’s final on Saturday pits powerful No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka against the USA’s Amanda Anisimova, the No. 8 seed fresh off her thrilling comeback win against Naomi Osaka. The men’s final on Sunday stages a rematch of the Wimbledon final, with No. 1 seed and last year’s Open champ Jannik Sinner facing the dazzling No. 2 seed, Carlos Alcaraz, who won the Open in 2022.

INSIDE WEEKEND TV:

• Crossroad Springs (Saturday, 8/7c, Great American Family): A wolf sighting causes concern in the ranching community.
• Have I Got News for You (Saturday, 9/8c, CNN): The tongue-in-cheek news quiz returns for a fourth season with The Daily Show alum Roy Wood Jr. hosting panels led by Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black. First week guests include outspoken U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett and NewsRadio star Dave Foley.
• CBS News Sunday Morning (Sunday, 9 am/8c, CBS, check local listings): The sublime newsmagazine’s eclectic lineup includes a profile of comedian Nate Bargatze a week before he hosts the Emmys, a 50-year anniversary tribute to The Rocky Horror Picture Show and an interview with Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
• Magnolia Table: At the Farm (Sunday, 11 am/10c, Magnolia Network and Food Network): Joanna Gaines gets homey with a new season of her series, sharing family recipes and more tips for living the good life.
• Dexter: Resurrection (Sunday, 8/7c, Showtime): For those who didn’t stream it earlier, the spinoff’s macabre season finale stages a reckoning for a trapped Dexter (Michael C. Hall) and his trusty son Harrison (Jack Alcott) with the fiendish billionaire serial-killer fetishist Leon Prater (Peter Dinklage).
• Unforgotten (Sunday, 10/9c, PBS): The mystery deepens as cold-case detectives Sunny (Sanjeev Bhaskar) and Jess (Sinéad Keenan) make discoveries about their victim and his conflicts with former employee Marty (Maximilian Fairley) and former tenant and Afghan refugee Asif (Elham Ehsas). Earlier, on The Marlow Murder Club (9/8c), a dead body in pristine Linnet Close provides a new suburban mystery for the amateur-sleuth trio to tackle.