How Much Watching Time Do You Have This Weekend?

‘The Righteous Gemstones’
When to watch: Sunday at 10 p.m., on HBO.

Season 3 of “The Righteous Gemstones” kicks off with a quintessential over-the-top episode, full of adventurous bickering, outrageous circumstances and an unusual liturgy, as when Jesse Gemstone (Danny McBride) announces a successful mission trip that has restored people’s vision “through the power of God’s love and LASIK surgery.” The characters on “Gemstones” do not believe in limits, seeing their lives as endless ladders to the top of God’s glory — and if that means the rungs extend at the bottom, down beyond dignity, so be it, they’ll scramble on down there, too. While plenty of the gags will land fine for new viewers, the show is a lot more fun if you start at the beginning.

… an hour, and I’m extremely online.

‘John Early: Now More Than Ever’
When to watch: Saturday at 10 p.m., on HBO.

This new special from the comedian and actor John Early is a cabaret joy: lush, catty, precise, distinctive. He intersperses his stand-up with songs, and much of his act is scored by his backing band, adding to the arch grandiosity of it all. Early blends his detached, smug persona with lively physicality, performing the “pitch choreography of ‘Shark Tank’” and lamenting that there’s “a monopoly on the tone of ‘being yourself’” before snapping into a perky, JoJo Siwa-esque march. If you think a lot of recent comedy specials are blah and half-baked, and you want something decidedly compelling and fully realized, watch this.

‘Extraordinary Birder With Christian Cooper’
When to watch: Saturday at 10 p.m., on Nat Geo Wild.

If you picked up birding during the pandemic and have stuck with it, try this travelogue show about our feathered friends. Christian Cooper, who became famous when he was the victim of racist harassment in Central Park in 2020, is an affable, knowledgeable host, and his elation at seeing “lifer” specimens imbues the show with a sense of joy. As with many shows about animals, “Birder” is only partially about the wildlife — it’s also about the people who adore them, like a blind ornithologist with a commanding knowledge of bird calls or the veterinarians who track male parrots’ fertility.