I was never a big fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd — too many nights of people yelling “Freebird”; too many oversized Confederate Flags, the single line “Watergate doesn’t bother me” in “Sweet Home Alabama.”
But the band did provide me with one unforgettable rock star moment, when I was interviewing Ronnie VanZant backstage after a show in college and he leaned back and said “I can do anything I want” and promptly fell over.
A better back story is found in the documentary “If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film about Lynyrd Skynyrd” (Showtime, 9 p.m.) that has a lot of footage of early high school days in Jacksonville, Fla., and just as much scouring the woods where their plane went down in 1977, killing half the band, still finding parts of the fuselage as they do.
One still doesn’t expect new offerings from the Children’s Television Workshop to end up on the network of “Westworld” and “The Deuce,” but the “Sesame Street” relations with HBO has brought a new animated children’s show, “Esme & Roy” (HBO, 9:30 a.m.) about a girl and her monster.
Gary Oldman’s Oscar turn as Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour” (HBO, 8 p.m.) makes its premium cable debut.
In yet another travel-related romance film, Jill Wagner plays a travel photographer working on a piece with Kristoffer Polaha to find an elusive Fijian “Pearl in Paradise” (Hallmark, 9 p.m.).
To prepare for Sunday’s Sharknado finale, there’s another over-the-top horror movie from the sea, “6-Headed Shark Attack” (Syfy, 9 p.m.).
“Pink Collar Crimes” (CBS, 8 p.m.) describes the case of a pilfering accountant.
Four Georgia friends become competitors on “Four Weddings” (TLC, 9 p.m.).
“Planet Earth: South Pacific” (BBC America, 9 p.m.) describes how fragile the ecosystem is out there.
“Most Haunted Towns” (Travel, 10 p.m.) looks at the history of Cape May, N.J.
“The Vanilla Ice Project” (DIY, 10 p.m.) works on the pool.
It’s Clark Gable all day on “Saratoga” (6 a.m.), “It Happened One Night” (8 a.m.), “Comrade X” (10 a.m.), “Band of Angels” (11:45 a.m.), “Command Decision” (2 p.m.), “The King and Four Queens” (4 p.m.), “Adventure” (5:45 p.m.), “Run Silent, Run Deep” (8 p.m.), “Boom Town” (9:45 p.m.), “Mogambo” (midnight), “China Seas” (2:15 a.m.) and “Honky Tonk” (4 a.m.).
A load of preseason football includes Jacksonville at Minnesota (NFL, 1 p.m.), Oakland at Rams (NFL, 4 p.m.), Cincinnati at Dallas (NFL, 7 p.m.) and Seattle at Chargers (NFL, 10 p.m.).
Baseball includes Toronto at Yankees (MLB, 1 p.m.), Milwaukee at St. Louis (Fox Sports 1, 7 .m.) and Dodgers at Seattle (MLB, 10 p.m.).
Canadian football had Montreal at Edmonton (ESPN2, 9 p.m.).
Golf has third round play in the Wyndham Championship (Golf, 1 p.m.; CBS, 3 p.m.), and the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur (Fox, noon).
NASCAR has its Bristol Night Race (NBC Sports, 7:30 p.m.). Earlier, motocross has its Budds Creek National (NBC Sports, 3 p.m.).
In the Little League World Series begins with Puerto Rico vs. Australia (ESPN, 1 p.m.) and Iowa vs. Rhode Island (ABC, 3 p.m.).
The American League World Series has Idaho vs. North Carolina (ESPNU, 4 p.m.) and Louisiana vs. Iowa (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.).
Men’s gymnastics has its U.S. championships (NBC, 4:30 p.m.).
In the WNBA it’s Chicago at Indiana (NBA, 4 p.m.).
In the lacrosse MLL championship it’s Denver vs. Dallas (ESPNews, 7 p.m.).
Natalia Lafourcade and Grupo Fantasia perform on a 2016 “Austin City Limits” (PBS, 11 p.m., check local listings).
The most hip-hop episode of “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 11:30 p.m.), with Chance the Rapper hosting and Eminem performing, is rerun.