Innholdsfortegnelse for December 23, 2019 i TV Guide Magazine

@TVGMMattRoush I really enjoyed watching this season of Dancing With the Stars but was quite upset that I could not vote for the dancers since I live in the Mountain time zone. Why have the western states been taken out of the voting process? I believe the outcome would have been different if the other half of the U.S. had input. Do you see ABC going back to allowing the entire country to vote? —Lynn, Phoenix MATT ROUSH: If ABC got nearly as many complaints as I did on this issue, I’d think they’d have to consider going back to the previous system and letting all of America have its say again, with results announced the following week. (Technically, everyone could have voted while the show was airing live, but…

SEASON AND SERIES PREMIERES Food Network Challenge Dec. 23, 10/9c, Food Network Craft in America Dec. 27, 9/8c, PBS Ghost Loop Dec. 27, 10/9c, Travel Channel Dare Me Dec. 29, 10/9c, USA Lost in the Wild Dec. 29, 11/10c, Travel Channel Alexa & Katie Dec. 30, Netflix Messiah Jan. 1, Netflix Doctor Who Jan. 1, 8/7c, BBC America Married at First Sight Jan. 1, 8/7c, Lifetime Impossible Engineering Jan. 1, 9/8c, Science Channel Alaska PD Jan. 1, 10/9c, A&E Supernanny Jan. 1, 10/9c, Lifetime The Explosion Show Jan. 1, 10/9c, Science Channel Last Man Standing Jan. 2, 8/7c, Fox Christina on the Coast Jan. 2, 9/8c, HGTV Dr. Pimple Popper Jan. 2, 9/8c, TLC 60 Days In Jan. 2, 10/9c, A&E Anne With an E Jan. 3, Netflix Kindred Spirits…

MOVIES 7am/6c Pulp Fiction (1994) IFC 7:30am/ 6:30c The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) Ovation 10am/9c Funny Face (1957) SundanceTV 10:30am/ 9:30c Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) WGN America Noon/11am c, 3/2c, 6/5c and 9/8c Die Hard (1988) Paramount Network 3/2c The Notebook (2004) SundanceTV 3:30/2:30c Dirty Harry (1971) HDNet Movies 4/3c and 9:30/8:30c Die Hard 2 (1990) WGN America 5:15/4:15c Magnum Force (1973) HDNet Movies 6:51/5:51c Men in Black: International (2019) Starz 8/7c Skyscraper (2018) Cinemax 8/7c Green Book (2018) Showtime 8:30/7:30c and 10:20/ 9:20c A Christmas Carol (1951) FXM 9/8c The Wizard of Oz (1939) TNT 11:15/10:15c Best in Show (2000) TCM 11:15/10:15c Maleficent (2014) TNT TODAY’S SPORTS PICKS NBA Christmas Day Noon/11am c, ESPN and ABC The NBA stuffs five sweet games down the chimney today for all the good little basketball fans. First up, Kemba Walker and the Boston Celtics are in Toronto to run the floor against Kyle Lowry and the reigning…

MOVIES 11:50am/ 10:50c National Treasure (2004) Freeform 5:30/4:30c Galaxy Quest (1999) IFC 6:40/5:40c Defiance (2008) HDNet Movies 7/6c Ocean’s Eleven (2001) SundanceTV 8/7c Brightburn (2019) Starz 10:30/ 9:30c Moonstruck (1987) thisTV Father Dowling Mysteries Noon/11am c, Decades Daytime Pick In case you’re a little foggy on the title sleuth of this 1989–91 drama, star Tom Bosley said of the Catholic priest, “He’s a lot like Tom Bosley. He’s calm, quiet and cares about what happens to people.” Enjoy all three seasons! Deadly Hollywood Obsession MOVIE PREMIERE 8/7c, Lifetime Enough with the Christmas rom-coms. Lifetime returns to its roots with a nice pulpy made-for-TV thriller. When a home-school tutor (Sarah Roemer) begins to get closer to her famous boss (Jon Prescott), it seems like a Hollywood dream come true—until she becomes a target for his deranged stalker. A New…

TOGO NEW MOVIE AVAILABLE NOW This true story set in the cold Alaskan wilderness will be sure to warm your heart. In 1925, tough sled dog trainer Leonhard Seppala (Willem Dafoe, right) and his 12-year-old Siberian husky, Togo, lead a team through deadly winter conditions to help deliver an antitoxin serum across the state to Nome to stop a deadly diphtheria epidemic. Seppala’s wife, Constance (Julianne Nicholson), discourages him from taking the aging Togo, and once he’s on the trail, Seppala fears his longtime best friend—flashbacks show the couple raising their once-unruly pup—may not survive. “It’s an unbelievable epic journey,” says director Ericson Core, who shot the intense sled-racing scenes in Alberta, Canada, where they stopped filming when temperatures dipped to minus-35 degrees. “It’s also an intimate story of a…

LIVE COUNTDOWNS TO 2020!  Late-Night Pick Staying in to watch the ball drop? Here’s our guide to this year’s televised festivities. ABC THE SHOW Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2020 (8/7c) THE HOSTS Seacrest, joined by actress Lucy Hale, in Times Square; Pose Emmy winner Billy Porter in New Orleans; singer Ciara in Los Angeles. THE PERFORMERS Among those confirmed at press time: Kelsea Ballerini, Dan + Shay, Green Day and Salt-N-Pepa in Los Angeles; Sheryl Crow and Usher in New Orleans; the Jonas Brothers from Miami. REASON TO TUNE IN What will fashionista Porter wear? CNN THE SHOW New Year’s Eve Live With Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen (8/7c) THE HOSTS Cooper and Cohen in Times Square; Brooke Baldwin and Don Lemon in Nashville; others nationwide. THE…

MOVIES 9:30am/8:30c Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017) FXX 4/3c Beach Party (1963) TCM 5/4c X2: X-Men United (2003) AMC 12:45am/11:45c The Enforcer (1976) SundanceTV 1:10am/12:10c Patient Zero (2018) Starz Encore Action The 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards 8/7c, NBC Will Ricky Gervais, back to host for a record-setting fifth time, shock with his biting humor? We certainly hope so! (See page 3.) Worst Cooks in America SEASON PREMIERE 9/8c, Food Network Sixteen culinarily challenged contestants aim to improve their kitchen skills—and snag a $25,000 prize—with the help of chefs Anne Burrell and Alton Brown (a first-time mentor), who tonight guide them through preparing chicken soup and a sandwich. ALONE AND AU NATUREL! Naked and Afraid SEASON PREMIERE 10/9c, Discovery For the first time, Naked survivalists tough out their 21 days in a harsh environment alone.…

FOUL PLAY I knew from the first episode that NBC’s drama Bluff City Law was too good for Monday night. Week in and week out, football on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights is among the Top 5 shows of the week, and football talks while other shows walk. Football is a game of odds. Did Bluff City get a fair shot against such odds? —Andy UPCOMING LOSS I love The Ranch on Netflix, and I’m sad to hear that [the new episodes] in 2020 will be the last. I don’t want it to end! —Marianne SUNNY DAYS When the Sesame Street anniversary special was on [November 9], I felt like I shouldn’t miss it. So glad I didn’t…what a treat! —Cindy Email us: letters@tvgm.com COMING NEXT ISSUE ▸2020 PREVIEW Criminal…

Glittery awards shows like the Golden Globes need a major broadcast network like NBC, where it has aired since 1993, to give them exposure and credibility. But the networks might as well be invisible to the fickle members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which for the first time ever neglected to nominate a single network show or star for this year’s ceremony. The shocking shutout only reinforces the power that streamers like Netflix (leading the field with 17 nominations) have in the industry; pay giant HBO (15), Hulu and Prime Video (tied with five each) were the next most nominated programmers. Is there really nothing worthy of recognition on traditional network TV anymore? Of course there is. So while we engage in our annual crapshoot of predicting which way…

@TVGMMattRoush 1 Fleabag Truly heaven-sent—though not without a little hell-raising along the way—the second and, regrettably, final season of writer/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s sinfully brilliant British comedy (on Prime Video) just about swept the comedy Emmys. For good reason. Few series can pack so much savage wit and raw emotion into a mere six episodes of cry-out-loud hilarity. Every word counts, including those the eponymous heroine speaks directly to the camera, letting the viewer in on her dirty secrets. This year those included not just the usual explosive family dysfunction but an unmistakable attraction to a “hot priest” (a dynamic Andrew Scott) who is every bit her match in ribald banter and smoldering sexuality. Looking right at us midway through a revealing monologue to her therapist, she declares, “I’m good at…

12 Days of Pol 7am/6c, Nat Geo Wild Happy Pol-idays! A dozen new primetime episodes about the lighthearted, hardworking veterinarian (below) and the team at his rural Michigan clinic air on consecutive nights at 9/8c. Today, Pol’s son Charles adopts three fugitive turkeys, while Christmas Eve and Day bring reindeer problems. Marathons of the 16-season reality series fill the rest of the hours. TWO DAYS OF HOLIDAY FUN! Let’s Make a Deal CBS, check local listings Daytime Pick Grandparents and grandkids go head-to-head on the game show today, smashing gingerbread houses in a contest worth $20,000. Tomorrow’s Deal features a chimney stuffed with $10,000! His Dark Materials SEASON FINALE 9/8c, HBO Young Lyra (Dafne Keen) has outwitted bad beings and saved many more good ones in this rich adaptation of…

MOVIES 9:40am/ 8:40c The Old Man & the Gun (2018) HBO 11:04am/ 10:04c Chronicle (2012) Syfy 5:30/4:30c and 10:30/ 9:30c Beverly Hills Cop (1984) CMT 7/6c and Titanic (1997) 10/9c Paramount Network 8/7c White House Down (2013) BET 8/7c Star Wars: Episode VIII—The Last Jedi (2017) TNT 10:15/9:15c Born Yesterday (1950) TCM 11/10c Deepwater Horizon (2016) FX Flirty Dancing SERIES PREMIERE 8/7c, Fox Singles let their bodies do the talking on this new dating show. Literally. When they meet for the first time, it’s to perform a dance they’ve learned separately—and they’re not allowed to speak! The format was a hit in the U.K.; the U.S. version throws in a competitive twist: Host Jenna Dewan adds an extra partner/potential love match to the mix. Tonight, for instance, hairstylist Erin dances two numbers—each choreographed by So You Think You Can Dance favorite…

The presents have been opened. The family is gone. It’s just you, some leftover Christmas cookies and the remote. But what the heck to watch? Check out these worthy shows, which all have new seasons that recently debuted on Hulu. BURDEN OF TRUTH Shrewd Toronto lawyer Joanna Hanley (Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk, above) returns to her small Canadian hometown to defend a pharmaceutical company against a group of teenage girls who claim its HPV vaccine has left them afflicted with seizures, cognitive problems and other side effects. But when Joanna sees the harsh human toll up close, she decides to stay and fight on the side of the folks who’ve been harmed. (Seasons 1–2 available) BETTER THINGS Sam Fox is not your typical mom. “Hide things from me. Please,” the divorcée…

MOVIES 1/noon c Jack Reacher (2012) TNT 4/3c and 11/10c Grease (1978) CMT 5:45/4:45c Widows (2018) HBO 6/5c Westworld (1973) TCM 6/5c and 11/10c Patti Cake$ (2017) FXM 8/7c Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) Cinemax 9/8c Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice (2019) CNN Midnight/11c Desert Hearts (1986) Flix 1:10am/12:10c The Avengers (2012) Epix Supernanny SEASON PREMIERE 10/9c, Lifetime Childcare expert Jo Frost (above) is breezing back into the lives of families all over America to whip them into shape on Lifetime’s reboot of the hit reality show. A lot has changed since the series wrapped its original run on ABC in 2011, but Frost says her methods of helping parents discipline unruly children still vary from home to home. These days, she deals with issues of mental health, technology use, longer working hours for parents and the…

LONGTIME JEOPARDY! HOST Alex Trebek has a slew of honors, among them seven Emmys, including one for Lifetime Achievement; stars on two walks of fame; and a record 36-season run on the popular quiz show. Yet those accolades pale compared with the groundswell of concern that has greeted him since a stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis last March and his inspiring public battle with the disease. Now—with fans set to watch him shepherd the ultimate smart-guy smackdown, Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time (premieres Tuesday, January 7, 8/7c, on ABC), when he’s still undergoing debilitating chemotherapy treatments—the love and prayers seem to double daily. Some of those can be witnessed in a glass case that hangs on a wall at the Jeopardy! studio. It is, says Julie Fleshman, president and…

You can be sure Ziva David’s story will end like no other. Cote de Pablo’s badass agent, fiercely protective mother, anYd daughter figure to NCIS boss man Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) came back—seemingly from the dead—in the Season 16 finale. In subsequent episodes, the hunted woman had one aim: to steamroll anything that would prevent her from reuniting safely with her daughter, Tali (Emelia/Layla Golfieri). The January 7 episode divulges Ziva’s fate—and we dare to dream it includes a future with both Tali and her dad, ex–NCIS agent Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly). Executive producer Steven D. Binder gives us cautious hope: “I would like to see this resolve in a somewhat happy way. That being said, that doesn’t mean it’s not going to come with serious costs.” Here are…

BOB EINSTEIN November 20, 1942–January 2, 2019 Actor, Curb Your Enthusiasm GENE OKERLUND December 19, 1942–January 2, 2019 WWE Hall of Famer and host FATIMA ALI August 8, 1989–January 25, 2019 Contestant, Top ChefU ALBERT FINNEY May 9, 1936–February 7, 2019 Actor, The Gathering Storm JAN-MICHAEL VINCENT July 15, 1945–February 10, 2019 Actor, Airwolf BEVERLEY OWEN May 13, 1937–February 21, 2019 Actress, The Munsters JED ALLAN March 1, 1935–March 9, 2019 Actor, Santa Barbara PETER MAYHEW May 19, 1944–April 30, 2019 Actor, Star Wars’ Chewbacca BETH CHAPMAN October 29, 1967–June 26, 2019 Reality star, Dog the Bounty Hunter ARTE JOHNSON January 20, 1929–July 3, 2019 Comic, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In CAMERON BOYCE May 28, 1999–July 6, 2019 Actor, Jessie CHARLES LEVIN March 12, 1949–July 13, 2019 Actor, Alice DAVID HEDISON…

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries 1/noon c, Ovation We’ll leap on any opportunity to (re)watch this smashing 2012–15 series about Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis, right), a glamorous lady detective in 1920s Melbourne. Season 2’s “Murder Under the Mistletoe” opens with a death by Christmas tree light and turns into a riff on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, with an isolated group being picked off one by one. It all makes us really excited for Acorn TV’s new feature-length tale, Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears, in 2020. —April P. Bernard World’s Wildest Weather 11/10c, Weather Channel If you’re still assembling toys, tidying for guests or baking pies at this late hour, at least you don’t have it as bad as the folks in this six-hour marathon who have…

Craft in America 9/8c, PBS (check local listings at pbs.org) The art of quilting will officially earn your respect after you see this hour of the docuseries devoted to handmade objects. Documentarian (and quilt collector!) Ken Burns calls these labor-intensive creations—astounding in their variety and creativity—“very much an expression of who we are in the best kind of way.” WHO YA GONNA CALL? Ghost Loop SERIES PREMIERE 10/9c, Travel Channel A “ghost loop” occurs when spirits appear repeatedly at the same location, unable or unwilling to move on. This reality series’ team of paranormal experts draws them out to end the haunting. First case: A male entity repeatedly attacks a woman in her Houston home, which turns out to be the site of a 1921 murder. The Simpsons Midnight/11c, FXX…

YOU SEASON 2 PREMIERE THURSDAY, DEC. 26 Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley, below) has a new name and a new home, but the homicidal hunk is still up to his old tricks. “He doesn’t think of himself as a killer; he sees himself as someone who’s had to [commit] violence in the name of love,” says the thriller’s exec producer Sera Gamble. Now living on the West Coast after killing girlfriend Beck (Elizabeth Lail)—who discovered Joe had a screw loose—the former New York City bookseller assumes the identity of another one of his victims and inserts himself into the lives of a group of Angelenos. They include enigmatic woman Love (The Haunting of Hill House’s Victoria Pedretti), her needy twin (James Scully) and a shady comedian (Chris D’Elia). Before long, Joe…

Newly Available Burning Cane (2019) Wendell Pierce (costar of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) stars in this moving drama that depicts the struggles of rural Louisianans. A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby (2019) Netflix Original It’s a…boy? Girl? It won’t matter unless this romcom’s parents-to-be, the sovereigns of fictional Aldovia (Ben Lamb and Rose McIver), can stop a curse. It Comes at Night (2017) A virus has wiped out much of humanity, and survivors (Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo) don’t know who they can trust. Wednesday, Dec. 25 Sweetheart (2019) A shipwrecked woman (Kiersey Clemons) discovers she has bigger problems than no sunscreen: Something is out to get her. Friday, Dec. 27 The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) Road trip! Max and Duke (the dogs voiced by Patton Oswalt and Eric…

STABLER AND BENSON FOREVER! Law & Order: SVU 6am/5c, USA Another SVU marathon, you say? Yes. But today’s “Resolve to Watch” binge takes us back 20 years to the start, with the first 14 episodes of the NBC drama that partnered detectives Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). The Best Thing I Ever Ate 9/8c, Cooking Channel From Brooklyn, Chicago and Sandwich, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod comes this mouthwatering episode that features the best in waterfront dining. On the menu: pasta, roast chicken and fried lobster, all served with a side of fabulous views. Twin Turbos 10/9c, Discovery Father-son custom carmakers Doug and Brad DeBerti moved to North Carolina this season to expand their business. Now they try to enter a new market, “restomods,” by rebuilding a…

MOVIES 9am/8c Before Midnight (2013) Epix 4/3c Adam’s Rib (1949) TCM 6:13/5:13c Roman Holiday (1953) Retroplex 11/10c Sully (2016) TNT 1am/midnight c Mechanic: Resurrection (2016) FX The First 48 SEASON PREMIERE 8/7c, A&E The long-running reality hit starts Season 19 with Atlanta homicide detectives investigating a particularly upsetting double murder—of a young man and his pregnant fiancée. Christina on the Coast SEASON PREMIERE 9/8c, HGTV With her SoCal renovation venture in full swing, Christina Anstead makes over a firefighter’s kitchen—and reveals she has a bun in the oven. My Feet Are Killing Me SERIES PREMIERE 10/9c, TLC The crazy cases seen by foot docs Brad Schaeffer and Ebonie Vincent are an ideal chaser to Dr. Pimple Popper, which begins its new season at 9/8c. Deputy SERIES PREMIERE 9/8c, Fox There’s a new sheriff in, uh,…

MOVIES 8am/7c and 9:30/8:30c On the Basis of Sex (2018) Showtime Showcase 11am/10c Interstellar (2014) FXX 12:45/11:45am c Away From Her (2007) Cinemax 3/2c and 5:30/4:30c Jason Bourne (2016) FXX 4:15/3:15c Tropic Thunder (2008) IFC 7:30/6:30c Gladiator (2000) SundanceTV 8/7c The Aftermath (2019) HBO 10:15/9:15c Red (2010) TNT 11:30/10:30c Mission: Impossible III (2006) AMC Say Yes to the Dress America SERIES PREMIERE 8/7c, TLC Murphy’s law and weddings go together like “I” and “do.” But when the popular gown-shopping show corralled 52 couples—one from each state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico—for an epic summer ceremony in NYC’s Central Park, the list of what went wrong was surprisingly short (although one groom did pass out from heat exhaustion on the 90-degree day). “We pulled it off!” revels Say Yes’ ebullient host, bridal designer Randy Fenoli (below), who also officiated. In…

ACROSS 1 Author Kingsley  5 Conan network 8 Parks and ____ (for short)  11 Gary Burghoff on M*A*S*H 13 Charged particle  14 Green of Penny Dreadful 15 One of the Hobbits  16 Burnt ____ crisp (2 wds.) 17 1992 series On the ____  18 What Not to Wear host (2 wds.)  21 Music producer Brian  22 Moray  23 Heroes actress Larter  26 Picks from a lineup 28 Alan of The West Wing 32 Nancy Drew star (2 wds.)  36 The Weakest Link host Robinson 37 Benicio ____ Toro 38 Breaking ____ 39 Upper limit  42 Tic ____ Dough  44 Jesse Williams on Grey’s Anatomy (2 wds.)  50 Burn Notice network  51 ____ and a Half Men  52 ____ Lucy (2 wds.) 54 Actor Alastair 55 ____ Shoe Diaries  56 Better Late Than ____ 57 The way, in Eastern philosophy 58…

LOVE IT! Cheers to reboots, redos and fresh takes that tread new ground. The CW’s Dynasty update went musical for a week, CBS’s S.W.A.T. (starring Shemar Moore, right) got more personal with the team than ever before and HBO’s Watchmen dared to tell a modern story set in the world of its comic book source material. It’s all about innovation, not imitation! Cheers to the Streaming Wars for having an upside. Sure, there’s even more content to sort through now that we’ve got Apple TV+, DC Universe and Disney+ shows to add to our watch lists. But it also means we get killer options like The Mandalorian, The Morning Show (above) and Doom Patrol to choose from. Cheers to leading ladies who led the pack. Flawed, funky and downright fabulous,…