School's Finally Back in Session in Abbott Elementary Season 3

Looking for your next binge-watch, or just need to fill an hour? Welcome to Your Weekly Watch List, our curated collection of the best shows on television. Here's what to watch from Sunday, February 4 through Saturday, February 10.

Get ready to head back to the classroom, because Emmy-winning comedy Abbott Elementary returns for its third season this week — and with a two-episode premiere, to boot. Elsewhere, Curb Your Enthusiasm takes its final lap on HBO, Pablo Schreiber's Master Chief escalates his war against alien threat the Covenant in Halo Season 2, and more.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 Premiere

Sunday, 10:00 PM ET on HBO

It's been a prett-ay, prett-ay, prett-ay good run for Curb Your Enthusiasm, but after 12 seasons, the comedy is saying goodbye. In the final season, the fictionalized version of Larry David finds himself in familiar disputes with those closest to him, including his manager Jeff (Jeff Garlin), ex-wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines), and friend Leon (J.B. Smoove). Of course, Larry isn't content to only piss off the people in his inner circle; his misanthropic nature also causes problems with the likes of Freddy Funkhouser (Vince Vaughn) and guest stars Sean Hayes, Dan Levy, and Troy Kotsur.

HBO has kept additional celebrity guest stars close to the vest, but if there's one thing David cares about, it's producing a memorable finale (and when that fails, attempting to rectify the situation years later). With that in mind, viewers can expect Curb to go out with a bang as David searches for closure in a hopeless place.

Abbott Elementary Season 3 Premiere

Wednesday, 9:00 PM ET on ABC
*Our must-watch pick of the week

Abbott Elementary isn't the first broadcast show to return in the wake of the writers' and actors' strikes, but it's certainly the most critically acclaimed. While Season 3 includes fewer episodes than its sophomore outing (14 total, down from 22), creator and star Quinta Brunson is hitting the ground running with an hour-long premiere that sees the teachers tackle a new school year. True to form, Janine (Brunson) arrives bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to implement her new ideas — including a district-wide Career Day event — but she's quickly brought back down to earth by her pragmatic colleagues and her distracted principal, Ava (Janelle James).

Beyond advancing the characters' professional journeys, Abbott Season 3 continues the will-they/won't-they romance between Janine and Gregory (Tyler James Williams), though Williams admits he doesn't know if fans are "going to like where it's going." Williams' comment will come as a disappointment to Janine and Gregory shippers, but whatever happens in their romantic lives, Season 3 is likely to deliver more good-natured fun, sly commentary about the education system, and plenty of celebrity mix-ups from Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph). Plus, with The Other Two's Josh Segarra set to play a school district representative alongside Kimia Behpoornia and Benjamin Norris, Abbott's himbo factor just increased tenfold.

Halo Season 2 Premiere

Thursday, Paramount+

In Halo Season 2, Pablo Schreiber once again dons Master Chief John-117's helmet as his team of super soldiers attempts to save the galaxy from the Covenant, a powerful threat hell-bent on destroying humanity. The key to preventing humanity's extinction lies in a group of ringworlds known as the Halo, but as the Covenant grows more powerful, Master Chief and his AI companion Cortana (Jen Taylor) must go to even greater lengths to win the war against their alien enemies.

Unlike The Last of Us, which hews closely to its source material, Halo has taken creative liberties with the characters and lore introduced in the video games, prompting intense backlash from certain segments of the fanbase. While some may still take issue with the decision to show Master Chief's face, the creative team insists Season 2 functions as a "reset" that takes the story in a much "grittier" direction. The eight-episode installment also goes deeper into the mindset and motivations of the Covenant, giving Halo's intergalactic war a more human face (well, as human as possible given the alien invasion of it all). Two episodes premiere Thursday, followed by one every week through March 21.

They Called Him Mostly Harmless

Thursday, Max

The recent string of self-reflective true-crime docs continues with this feature-length look at the case of an anonymous hiker who was found deceased in the Florida Everglades. While dozens of people crossed paths with the man on the Appalachian Trail, they knew him only by his trail name, "Mostly Harmless," making it nearly impossible for authorities to determine his identity. The many unknowns surrounding his death attracted the attention of armchair detectives, who spent the next two years digging into the details of the case — and fighting among themselves as they scoured the internet for clues.

They Called Him Mostly Harmless subverts genre conventions in that the hiker's death is far less interesting than the internet sleuths' commitment to solving the case. These people, who debated theories on Facebook and eventually devolved into warring factions, become the documentary's main subjects, and though director Patricia E. Gillespie is respectful of their efforts, she makes important points about the harm caused by these kinds of social media investigations. In that respect, the Max doc is an ideal companion to #CyberSleuths: The Idaho Murders (Tuesday, Paramount+), which places the gruesome murders of four University of Idaho students — and the subsequent TikTok investigation — in a similar framework.

If You Have...

An Hour

Below Deck Season 11 Premiere: Monday, 9:00 PM ET on Bravo
The Conners Season 6 Premiere: Wednesday, 8:00 PM ET on ABC
Not Dead Yet Season 2 Premiere: Wednesday, 8:30 PM ET on ABC
Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale Season 1 Finale: Thursday, AMC+ and Sundance Now
Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3 Finale: Friday, 8:00 PM ET on Starz

An Evening

66th Grammy Awards: Sunday, 8:00 PM ET on CBS
#CyberSleuths: The Idaho Murders: Tuesday, Paramount+
Couple to Throuple Episodes 1-3: Thursday, Peacock
Tokyo Vice Season 2 Premiere: Thursday, Max
Lover, Stalker, Killer: Friday, Netflix

A Full Day

One Day: Thursday, Netflix
The Silent Service: Friday, Prime Video

Up Next

Super Bowl LVIII: Sunday, February 11 on CBS
The New Look: Wednesday, February 14 on Apple TV+
Love Is Blind Season 6: Wednesday, February 14 on Netflix
The Vince Staples Show: Thursday, February 15 on Netflix
Ghosts Season 3: Thursday, February 15 on CBS

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.