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It's mostly about Mormons in this week's episode of "Hell on Wheels" (Saturday, 10 p.m., AMC), as it has been this season.
Cullen (Anson Mount) and Durant (Colm Meaney) meet with President Ulysses S. Grant and LDS Church leader Brigham Young in Salt Lake City about the future of the railroad. And Swede (Christopher Heyerdahl) enacts his plan against the Mormons.
Also on Saturday, this week's MLS matchup between Real Salt Lake and F.C. Dallas will NOT air live on TV. Instead, KMYU is airing preseason NFL (San Francisco 49ers at Denver Broncos, 7 p.m.), and the RSL game can't be switched to KUTV because Ch. 2 is airing another NFL preseason game (Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers, 6 p.m.).
KUTV/KMYU's contract to carry Broncos preseason games predates their contract to carry Real Salt Lake games. And the stations are trying to make it right by carrying RSL-at-Dallas match live on KUTV.com (7 p.m. Saturday) along with hosting a watch party at the Gallivan Center in Salt Lake City.
I get all that. And I have no illusions about where RSL stands at this point in the season. It would pretty much take several miracles (starting with a win in Texas on Saturday) to get the local team into the MLS playoffs.
But there are few sporting events less meaningful than an NFL preseason game. I'm a big football fan but — c'mon — NFL preseason is essentially practice.
Friday on TV ...
NFL preseason (7 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2): Detroit Lions at Jacksonville Jaguars
High school football: Woods Cross at Judge Memorial (7 p.m., Ch. 14); Viewmont at Bountiful (7 p.m., KMYU)
"Masters of Illusion" (7 p.m., CW/Ch. 30): Magicians Nathan Burton, Tom Burgoon, Greg Frewin, Arthur Trace, Matt Marcy, Les Arnold and Dazzle, and Tommy Wind perform.
"Great Performances" (8 p.m., PBS/Ch. 7): Conductor Zubin Mehta leads the Vienna Philharmonic in an open-air concert at Austria's Schönbrunn Palace Gardens.
"Defiance" (9 p.m., Syfy): A potential suicide mission is the only way to end the Omec threat once and for all. (Season finale)
"Dark Matter" (10 p.m., Syfy): A seemingly simple mission to free a scientist being held hostage turns into a horrfying encounter.
Saturday on TV ...
Little League World Series: Asia Pacific vs. Japan (10 a.m., ABC/Ch. 4); U.S. championship game (1:30 p.m., ABC/Ch. 4)
NFL preseason: Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills (2 p.m., NFL Network); Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers (6 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2); San Francisco 49ers at Denver Broncos (7 p.m., KMYU)
MLS (7 p.m., KMYU): Real Salt Lake at FC Dallas
"Mythbusters vs. Jaws" (7, 9 and 10 p.m., Discovery): The ending of the movie "Jaws" is examined; shark repellent myths are tested.
"Hannibal" (9 p.m., Ch. 30): Will Graham uses Hannibal Lecter n a desperate bid to slay Francis Dolarhyde.
"Cedar Cove" (9 p.m., Hallmark): Paul warns Olivia to be leery of Liz.
Women's college volleyball (9 p.m., P12N): BYU at USC
Sunday on TV ...
Little League World Series (1 p.m., ABC/Ch. 4): The championship game
NFL preseason: Houston Texans at New Orleans Saints (2 p.m., Fox/Ch. 13); Arizona Cardinals at Oakland Raiders (6 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5)
2015 MTV Video Music Awards (6 p.m., MTV, MTV2, Comedy Central, Logo and VH1): Miley Cyrus hosts the 32nd annual event. Which always tries so desperately to be scandalous.
"Big Brother" (7 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2): Houseguests are nominated for eviction.
"Elephant Queen" (7 p.m., NGC): A young female elephant is forced to lead her pack after the herd's matriarch dies.
"The Last Ship" (7 and 9 p.m., TNT): The ship gets trapped between a blockade and a formidable sub.
"Falling Skies" (8 p.m., TNT): The final standoff begins in the series finale.
"Save My Life: Boston Trauma" (9 p.m., ABC/Ch. 4): A loving father and husband suffers a catastrophic health crisis after skipping his blood pressure medications. (Season finale)
"Show Me a Hero" (9 and 10 p.m., HBO): In the final two hours of this six-hour miniseries, Nick plans his political comeback, and a vocal opponent of the project changes her tune. If you don't know how this fact-based story ends, you'll be shocked.
"Vicious" (9:30 p.m., PBS/Ch. 7): Freddie and Stuart join Ash's gym.
"Fear the Walking Dead" (10 and 11 p.m., AMC): Travis tries to find his son before Los Angeles falls.
"Ray Donovan" (10 p.m., Showtime): Romero appears at the Fite Club and challenges Ray to repent for his sins.
"Who Do You Think You Are?" (10 p.m., TLC): Tom Bergeron investigates his French-Canadian roots.
"Masters of Sex" (11 p.m., Showtime): Johnson jets away with Dan Logan; Masters begins his surrogacy program.
"The Strain" (11 p.m., FX): Eph protects Zack from a surprise intruder in Red Hook.