Innholdsfortegnelse for December 24, 2018 i TV Guide Magazine

@TVGMMattRoush America’s top TV critic Matt Roush answers your burning questions I was crushed to learn that ABC isn’t going to go forward with The Middle’s spinoff following the wonderful Eden Sher as Sue Heck in her postcollege years exploring Chicago. Any thoughts on why they’d pass on such a great talent and lovable character? —Lydia MATT ROUSH: I’m disappointed too, because the notion of spending more time with sue softened the blow of The Middle going off the air. Without having seen the pilot, I can’t comment on whether it was a worthy vehicle for sher. but this may have been a victim of the ongoing regime change at Disney’s ABC, which just replaced its entertainment president. Disney is also absorbing the Fox studio and many of its execs.…

PREMIERES The Orville Dec. 30, 8/7c, Fox Comedians of the World Jan. 1, Netflix A Series of Unfortunate Events Jan. 1, Netflix Windy City Rehab Jan. 1, 9/8c, HGTV Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back Jan. 2, 8/7c, Fox grown-ish Jan. 2, 8/7c, Freeform The Masked Singer Jan. 2, 9/8c, Fox MythBusters Jr. Jan. 2, 9/8c, Science Channel Project Runway All Stars Jan. 2, 9/8c, Lifetime American Beauty Star Jan. 2, 10/9c, Lifetime Gotham Jan. 3, 8/7c, Fox The Titan Games Jan. 3, 8/7c, NBC Flip or Flop Nashville Jan. 3, 9/8c, HGTV The Blacklist Jan. 3, 10/9c, NBC 60 Days In Jan. 3, 10/9c, A&E Young Justice: Outsiders Jan. 4, DC Universe My Lottery Dream Home Jan. 4, 9/8c, HGTV Worst Cooks in America Jan. 6, 9/8c,…

STEP 1 PICK YOUR TECH ODDS ARE YOU own a TV. If it’s smart—with web access and streaming services like Netflix built-in—and you don’t care to upgrade, skip to Step 2. If it’s an older flatscreen that’s not a smart TV, you can upgrade its IQ with a set-top box, such as Apple TV 4K ($179–$199). The user-friendly streaming device offers superior quality Dolby Atmos sound. Hate remotes? Amazon offers a similar, voice controlled 4K Fire TV Cube ($120). And don’t count out smaller gadgets like the 4K Amazon Fire TV Stick ($50), the Roku Premiere ($40) or Chromecast Ultra ($59). They’re not just cheap alternatives to boxes—they have nearly the same processing power. Want a new set? TVs like the TCL 4K Roku ($370 and up) give lots of…

MOVIE PICKS The Fast and the Furious Marathon 5:30/4:30c, Syfy Get your motor running with the definitely-not-street-legal action franchise starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, the late Paul Walker and a fleet of high-octane stars. The 2001 original is in the pole position, 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) is up at 7:55/6:55c, with Tokyo Drift (2006) at 10:10/9:10c. The Domestics 8/7c, Epix Have you noticed the proliferation of postapocalyptic thrillers these days? Yeah, us too. Well, here’s one more from earlier this year: Tyler Hoechlin and Kate Bosworth play a married couple trying to get from Point A to Point B while fighting off the requisite hordes of marauding gangs out for blood. Patient Zero 10:55/9:55c, Starz Humans are hunted in a—wait for it—postapocalyptic world plagued by…rabies. You were expecting zombies?…

HOME RUN Law & Order: SVU hit it out of the park with its November 29 episode, “Alta Kockers,” with [guest stars] Judd Hirsch and Wallace Shawn. These acting legends, at 83 and 75 years old, respectively, delivered powerful performances along with the regular SVU cast and elevated this already incredible series to a completely new level. —Mary EXTENDED STAY Cheers to Season 2 of TBS’s The Guest Book! it is filled with Easter eggs of joy for fans of [creator] Greg Garcia. I am loving every second! —Aimee DRIVING FORCE I am completely hooked on the Welsh detective series Hinterland on Netflix. it has great plots and characters, but why do they have to include so many shots of their main characters driving in cars down lonely roads? it…

Mysterious Islands Wednesday, Dec. 26, 11/10c, Travel Channel DON’T LET THE picture postcard fool you: Travel Channel’s Mysterious Islands, hosted by Kellee Edwards (right), won’t unlock the riddle of how to get the most out of your next beach vacation or mix up the perfect mai tai. Rather, two new half-hour specials airing back-to-back explore a pair of little-known destinations that have been harboring some—how shall we say—less-than-sunny secrets on their shores. “Remote islands are compelling [precisely] because they’re not easily accessible,” says Edwards, a trained pilot, scuba diver and founder of adventure blog Kellee Set Go! “They tend to be resistant to outside influence, and we wanted to seek out places that have unusual stories.” Mission accomplished. First stop on the itinerary: Sapelo Island, an 11-mile long barrier island…

@TVGMMattRoush 1/THE AMERICANS SOME SERIES ARE better off for not going out with a bang. FX’s brilliant spy drama The Americans was true to its morally ambiguous self with the chilly, bitter and haunting final episode. Death might have been a gentler punishment for Russian spies-next-door Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell, above) than the aching void they face upon returning to their unwelcoming motherland, together yet alone, in the bleakest of open endings. John le Carré couldn’t have scripted their exodus from America, where they’d been embedded long enough to plant roots and raise a family, with more shattering consequence. First, a showdown with FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), the neighbor they’d befriended and betrayed to the core. He somehow couldn’t pull the trigger on…

Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfram MOVIE PREMIERE Acorn TV Needing a change of scenery, amateur sleuth Aggie (Ashley Jensen, above) rents a cottage in the picturesque English village of Fryfram. But rather than horses and hounds, she finds a pub waitress with supposedly magical perfume, a police inspector who believes in fairies—and two dead bodies, courtesy of a murderer who’s particularly talented with a knife and slingshot. Aggie’s devil-may-care sometime lover Sir Charles Fraith (Jason Merrells) also shows up to help with the investigation, a move that does not thrill her stuffy ex, James Lacey (Jamie Glover). SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY SANTA! Live With Kelly and Ryan Syndicated, check local listings Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest get Christmas Eve off to a spectacular start with their annual holiday show.…

Editors’ Choice 10 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MARATHON The Twilight Zone 11/10c, Syfy For the 23rd straight year, Syfy’s New Year’s Twilight Zone marathon allows viewers to revel in aliens, robots and wowsa twists from the Rod Serling classic (1959–64). According to the signpost up ahead, from late tonight through early Tuesday morning, you can see 112 of the anthology’s 156 episodes, remastered in high-def. Here are 10 stops along the way: SUNDAY LATE-NIGHT 1:30am/12:30c “The Silence” (Season 2, Episode 25) In one of the rare Zone episodes without a sci-fi, futuristic or supernatural component, a men’s club snoot says he’ll pay a chatty member $500,000 to shut up for a year. The ending to this A Quiet Place Lite will leave you speechless. 3:30am/2:30c “Two” (Season 3, Episode 1) A…

Tuesday, Dec. 25 An American in Texas (2018) Hulu Young friends seek a better life outside their small town in the 1990s. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Netflix Earth’s mightiest superheroes fight Thanos (Josh Brolin). Iron Man 2 (2010) Hulu The armored hero faces a new threat. Thursday, Dec. 27 Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) Hulu Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) is a delightful heartbreaker. Hereditary (2018) Prime Video Wanderlust’s Toni Collette finds a lot that goes bump in the night. Saturday, Dec. 29 Eating Animals (2018) Hulu Documentary probing the impact of meat. Far From the Tree (2018) Hulu Families of kids with disabilities drive this moving documentary. Sunday, Dec. 30 The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) Netflix Father-son morticians (Brian Cox, Emile Hirsch) cut up a mysterious corpse. The Lovers (2015) Hulu The romantic epic spans centuries. Monday, Dec. 31…

New Year’s Eve Live With Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen 8/7c, CNN Last year Andy Cohen went hatless in 9-degree temps and admittedly offended some guests with his questions. But he returns to Times Square to try, try again with pal Anderson Cooper. We can’t wait. THE CLASSIC COUNTDOWN Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2019 8/7c, ABC Let’s do the Time Zone again! Host Ryan Seacrest drops the ball on the East Coast from Times Square with Jenny McCarthy, while Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) does the Central countdown from New Orleans. Out on the West Coast, Ciara is joined by performers Kelsea Ballerini, the Chainsmokers, Dua Lipa and more. Fox’s New Year’s Eve With Steve Harvey: Live From Times Square 8/7c, Fox It’s an eclectic…

Gotham SEASON PREMIERE 8/7c, Fox Picking up a few months after madman Jeremiah (Cameron Monaghan) blew up the city’s bridges, the fifth and final season finds Det. Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie, below) trying to save a Gotham that’s been overrun by villains and cut off from help. Good thing a certain teen millionaire has been training in the art of caped crusading! Surviving R. Kelly SERIES PREMIERE 9/8c, Lifetime This six-part docuseries looks into decades of sexual misconduct and abuse allegations against R&B artist R. Kelly. (In 2008, he was prosecuted for 14 counts of child pornography but found not guilty.) Building a case: 50 interviews with alleged victims, witnesses and industry insiders. THE BEHIND-BARS REALITY 60 Days In SEASON PREMIERE 10/9c, A&E Seven innocent people, including a gang member…

MOVIE PICKS A Quiet Place 8/7c, Epix Shhh. Try not to say a word as you squirm during this terrifying thriller directed by John Krasinski (right), who also stars alongside real-life wife Emily Blunt. In a world overrun by blind monsters who have very good hearing, making any noise at all can spell your doom. Definitely not an ideal situation when a newborn baby enters the picture—and that’s only one way this spring hit cranks up the scary surprises. Super Troopers 2 8/7c, HBO This year’s sequel to the raunchy 2002 comedy is even bawdier than the first (no small feat) but not nearly as funny. After being fired from the Spurbury Police Department, the former lawmen reunite to help settle a land dispute between America and Canada. SuperFly 8/7c,…

ACROSS 1 Gilligan’s Island’s Wells5 Pronto (abbr.)9 Magnum P.I. network12 Location13 Whip14 Tint15 1981–82 Joel Higgins sitcom (4 wds.)18 Spenser: For ____19 Dennis the Menace star20 Last episode of a series23 Partner of neither24 Charmed actor Rupert25 Too Close for ____29 Fashion guru on Queer Eye 30 Original Jeopardy! host Fleming31 ____ Rescue 32 Grey’s ____35 The S in CSI 37 Tarzan star Ron38 Charles in ____39 Book of maps42 Hoofbeat sound43 Chris Geere and Aya Cash sitcom (3 wds.)48 Dash lengths49 Not far50 Falling Skies star Wyle51 ____ and Be Fit 52 Went under53 Avant-garde DOWN 1 Lightly apply2 Who Do You Think You ____? 3 Bentley of Yellowstone 4 Castle star Fillion5 Woodard of Luke Cage 6 Fill up7 ____ vs. Evil Dead 8 Short-lived Judith Light sitcom9 Sonny & ____10 Cops activity11 Family Guy creator MacFarlane16 Greasy substances17 Klingon played by Michael Dorn20 Greek cheese21 Hogan’s Heroes actor Dixon22…

@damianholbrook LOVE IT! Cheers to the reboots, spinoffs and updates that worked. The Conners (starring John Goodman, left), Mayans M.C., Queer Eye, Legacies, Last Man Standing—this year was full of new takes on old shows that were fun instead of frustratingly unnecessary. Or in the case of Roseanne, seemingly unsalvageable. Cheers to the fandoms for using their powers for good. Thanks to some online uproars and tireless Twitter campaigns, NBC snatched up Fox’s axed Brooklyn Nine-Nine, while Netflix stepped in and saved the day after Fox stuck a pitchfork in Lucifer (starring Tom Ellis, right) and ABC impeached Designated Survivor. Well done! Cheers to SNL vets who stretched their funny bones. Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen (left) brought Emmy-worthy pathos to eternal life in Forever, Bill Hader hit every emotional note…

WHAT’S NEW AT the Golden Globes? Just about everything! Carol Burnett will receive the first TV special-achievement award (named in her honor). And looking at the TV drama and comedy categories, nine of 10 shows are first-time nominees, and seven are freshmen series. With so much new blood, it’s trickier than ever to guess how the unpredictable Hollywood Foreign Press Association voters will swing. (The show airs Sunday, January 6, at 8/7c on NBC.) Here’s how we think and/or wish the night will go. DRAMA SERIES Better late than never. The Globes finally acknowledged FX’s The Americans, my No. 1 show of 2018 (see page 20), for its terrific farewell season while snubbing last year’s winner, The Handmaid’s Tale, and network fan favorite This Is Us. The competition is buzzy—Netflix’s…

America’s Most Watched 25 TOP SHOWS Watched Live 1 Sunday Night Football Rams vs. Bears NBC 19.4 2 The Big Bang Theory CBS 12.5 3 NCIS CBS 12.0 4 Monday Night Football Redskins vs. Eagles ESPN 11.2 5 Young Sheldon CBS 10.9 6 Thursday Night Football Jaguars vs. Titans Fox/NFL Network 10.8 Enough fans watched Tennessee beat Jacksonville 30–9 to land the game in the Top 10, but a week earlier the Cowboys/Saints matchup drew a season high of 21.3 million viewers. 7 FBI CBS 9.7 8 The Voice (Monday) NBC 9.0 9 The Voice (Tuesday) NBC 8.9 Blue Bloods CBS 8.9 The drama’s midseason finale brought in the second-highest viewership this season, topped only by the November 9 episode (9 million). 60 Minutes CBS 8.9 12 NCIS: New Orleans CBS 8.3 13 Chicago Med NBC 7.9 Chicago Fire NBC 7.9 Mom CBS 7.9 16 Hawaii Five-0 CBS 7.8 17 The Simpsons Fox 7.5 Woo-hoo! Springfield’s favorite family was the top scripted…

“To me, the best science fiction takes something very much of today and tells it in a way that’s objective and fair in presentation” —Seth MacFarlane The Orville SEASON PREMIERE Sunday, Dec. 30, 8/7c, Fox THE ORVILLE MAY be TV’s strangest hybrid. Seth MacFarlane’s homage to classic sci-fi is a mashup of comedy, drama and social issues—and the series is boldly going bigger for Season 2. Centered on the misfit crew of an exploratory space vessel in the early 25th century, The Orville debuted last year as Fox’s most-watched new drama since 2015’s Empire. After a yearlong hiatus, the fan favorite returns Sunday, December 30, following an NFL doubleheader, before moving to its regular timeslot Thursday, January 3, 9/8c. “Narratively and visually, the scope of this thing has doubled in…

Monday, Dec. 24 Jennifer’s Body (2009) HBO Now A possessed high school girl (Megan Fox) eats her fellow classmates. Tuesday, Dec. 25 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Netflix Swashbuckling and derring-do with Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp)! Wednesday, Dec. 26 Whip It (2009) HBO Now Take a spin around the roller derby with the ladies of the Hurl Scouts. Monday, Dec. 31 Blade Runner 2049 (2017) HBO Now Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford team up in a sequel to the dystopian sci-fi classic. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) HBO Now Paul Newman and Robert Redford star as the legendary outlaws. Dolores Claiborne (1995) HBO Now A mother (Kathy Bates) hides haunting secrets from her daughter. Dunkirk (2017) HBO Now Christopher Nolan’s film depicts the rescue of Allied troops during World…

TODAY’S SPORTS PICKS HOCKEY 1/noon c, NBC NHL Winter Classic Touchdown Jesus beholds hockey when iconic Notre Dame Stadium hosts David Pastrnak (above) and the Boston Bruins vs. the Chicago Blackhawks. COLLEGE FOOTBALL Noon/11am c, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 New Year’s Day bowl games Yes, these teams were left out of the top four, but today’s schedule should still be compelling with No. 18 Mississippi State vs. Iowa in the Outback Bowl (noon/11am c, ESPN2), No. 11 LSU vs. No. 8 UCF in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (1/noon c, ESPN), No. 14 Kentucky vs. No. 12 Penn State in the VRBO Citrus Bowl (1/noon c, ABC), No. 9 Washington vs. No. 6 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl (5/4c, ESPN) and No. 15 Texas vs. No. 5 Georgia in the Allstate…

“Her façade is just a façade. We see her fragility” —CATHERINE ZETA-JONES Queen America SEASON FINALE 9/8c, Facebook Watch CATHERINE ZETA-JONES HAS long been considered Hollywood royalty, so it’s only fitting that the Welsh-born actress—aka Mrs. Michael Douglas—totally rules on her new streaming comedy, Queen America. Zeta-Jones plays Vicki Ellis, a tyrannical pageant coach from Oklahoma who grooms her girls to win at any cost—and, as we’ve learned over the course of the first season, who also has plenty of skeletons hidden behind the sequins in her closet. With Vicki’s protégée, Samantha (Belle Shouse), vying for the all-important Miss America Starred and Striped crown, Zeta-Jones joins us for the interview portion of the competition. How are Vicki’s cracks starting to show as pageant day draws near? At first, you get the…