1) “Peacemaker” opener, 10:15 p.m., HBO. Chris (John Cena, shown here) is a superhero, but not the modest sort. He has a pet eagle, a red-white-and-blue car and a weird helmet he even wears in a restaurant. He’s also a survivor; in the second “Suicide Squad” movie (8 p.m. on HBO), he was shot and a building fell on him. Now he’s out of the hospital; the result – launching an HBO Max series – leaps between fierce action and sharp wit, beautifully written by director James Gunn and perfectly played by Cena.
2) Football, 4:30 p.m. ET, NBC; and 8:15 p.m. ET, CBS. The pro play-offs begin, with the Raiders at the Bengals and then the Patriots at the Bills. The Bills are 11-6; the others are 10-7 … but that counts the Bengals’ loss last week, when they’d already clinched the division title and rested quarterback Joe Burrows. There are three more play-off games Sunday and one on Monday.
3) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. After three weeks of reruns (and a fourth one that was half-reruns, with the cast on a COVID break), “SNL” plans three straight new episodes. And it starts with a gifted host: Ariana DuBose, who turns 30 next week, is superb as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s masterful “West Side Story” remake. She’s also sung in four Broadway shows and on TV in “The Prom” and the delightful “Schmigadoon.” She could be music guest, but that job goes to Roddy Ricch.
4) “Call Me Kat,” 9 p.m., Fox. Here’s another chance to see the season-opener, a surprisingly clever one. It starts by giving Mayim Bialik a reunion with her “Blossom” cast, then puts her in the unfamiliar position of having two guys to choose from. That’s surrounded by more reruns – at 8 p.m., a “Next Level Chef” with the teams making Italian dinners; at 9:30, the fairly funny “Pivoting” opener.
5) “Cleopatra” (1963), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. TCM is giving us mega-sized films on Saturdays, sort of ideal if you’re snowbound and COVID-bound. Most of them are great – “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) last week, “Doctor Zhivago” (1965) and “Gandhi” (1982) next. But this one is an exception, an overlong epic that occasionally uses the talent of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.