Innholdsfortegnelse for December 6, 2021 i TV Guide Magazine

STREAMING TRIUMPH Thanks for the great Cheer to Tubi [“Cheers & Jeers,” November 22 issue]! It’s amazing how much is available for free on that service. Everything from Golden Age classics (Father Knows Best, The Donna Reed Show) to 1990s syndicated series (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess) to more recent overlooked fare like Fox’s Rosewood can be found for no cost to enjoy at any time. Plus, their selection of British fare can outdo BritBox any day. —Michael WARM REGARDS PBS’s Call the Midwife is such a feel-good show. The cast is phenomenal. The episodes will touch your heart. —Gloria DIRECTIONS, PLEASE My wife and I have watched every episode, every season of CBS’s Survivor. We gave up one week ago. In an effort to “refresh” the concept,…

CMT Crossroads Christmas: Brett Young & Friends 8/7c, CMT The first Yuletide edition of the genre-crossing concert series boasts country artist Young (below) singing tracks from his Christmas album with Colbie Caillat, Darius Rucker, Boyz II Men, Gavin DeGraw and more. Dr. Pimple Popper: A Pimple Carol 10/9c, TLC The perfect gift for popaholics! Dermatologist Sandra Lee helps patients get party-ready complexions in this special. A SPATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH CSI: Vegas SEASON FINALE 10/9c, CBS The frantic team searches for missing former lab tech David Hodges (Wallace Langham) to clear his name and ensure Crime Lab’s survival. The Drowning SERIES PREMIERE Midnight/11c, SundanceTV Late-Night Pick In this British four-parter, a grieving mom (Jill Halfpenny) becomes convinced that a teen stranger (Cody Molko) is her son who presumably drowned…

The Real Charlie Chaplin DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE 8/7c, Showtime Modern Times, The Gold Rush and other gems from the Little Tramp are a century old now, so the time is right to reexamine an already enigmatic genius. A Royal Queens Christmas MOVIE PREMIERE 8/7c, Hallmark Channel The ol’ incognito prince trope! A musical royal (Julian Morris) ends up helping a Queens woman (Megan Park) with her neighborhood Christmas show. When his parents come to America with their choice for his bride, will his mood stay merry? Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! 8/7c and 8:30/7:30c, TBS As the song says, he’s as cuddly as a cactus and as charming as an eel. Boris Karloff narrates this 1966 tale of the nearly heartless green creature who tries (but famously fails) to…

MeTV’s Super Colossal Cartoon Christmas 8/7c, MeTV Here’s what’s up, doc: Some absolute legends of the animation industry—like Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, Max Fleischer, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera—have gifted us these classic holidaythemed cartoon shorts, which date from 1933 all the way up to 1979. Bill the Cartoon Curator (Bill Leff) and puppet sidekick Toony the Talking Tuna (Kevin Fleming) host tonight’s lineup, but the biggest reasons you’ll want to tune in are hilarious and heartwarming gems like 1941’s Oscar-nominated The Night Before Christmas (above; it’s the third Tom and Jerry short ever!), 1979’s Fright Before Christmas (with Bugs Bunny and the Tasmanian Devil), 1933’s Seasin’s Greetinks! (starring Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto), 1952’s Gift Wrapped (featuring Sylvester, Tweety and a sprig of mistletoe) and more. 20 Years of…

Station 19 8/7c, ABC It’s a bittersweet Christmas for Station 19, the first since their firehouse brother Dean Miller (Okieriete Onaodowan) died in a gas line explosion. The episode’s title, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” will mean something different to each character—all at a crossroads, teases executive producer Kiley Donovan. Andy (Jaina Lee Ortiz) does “some soul searching” about her history with her mother and her future with estranged husband Sullivan (Boris Kodjoe). “We’ll reach a boiling point,” Donovan reveals. Vic (Barrett Doss) and her boyfriend Theo (Carlos Miranda) unpack the fact that Dean was in love with Vic. Maya (Danielle Savre, right) and Carina (Stefania Spampinato) share their excitement about adding a baby to their marriage, while Travis (Jay Hayden) isn’t quite sure how to feel about…

ACROSS 1 Simpsons barkeep4 Church recess8 ____ the Boss?12 The ____ Couple13 Fishing rod14 Rebecca on Cheers15 Sanford and ____16 Steven Universe character17 The Great star Fanning18 Vehicle on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood20 Meet the ____21 Carnival city22 The Sopranos star Falco24 The A of A&E26 The nanny on The Nanny27 Pub potable30 Inventor of the fi st cell-phone and co-innovator of the easy-to-use Jitterbug, Martin ____32 The ____ Rose34 Exceedingly long time35 Marion of Happy Days37 1983 sitcom At ____38 A coworker on The Drew Carey Show39 Jon ____ Jovi40 Face the ____43 ____ Challenge47 Televangelist Roberts48 Factory49 Foundation star Pace50 Father51 Tons (2 wds.)52 Benicio ____ Toro53 Vast expanses54 ____ of Laura Mars55 Setting of the Wonder Years reboot (abbr.) DOWN 1 America’s ____ Wanted2 Stench3 Art Carney role (2 wds.)4 ____ Anton Ohno5 Olivia on Scandal6 Buffy the Vampire ____7 Conger…

@TVGMMattRoush When I started watching Ordinary Joe on NBC, I presumed this was a journey where viewers would eventually learn which path he actually chose, in the meantime getting invested in cheering on the one we hoped was real. I am very interested in this show and its uniqueness, but can you clarify the show’s vision on this? —Teri MATT ROUSH: I won’t pretend the premise of Ordinary Joe isn’t risky, because anything that dares to be different on broadcast TV faces an uphill battle. That said, one life path isn’t necessarily meant to be seen as more important than another. For as long as Joe lasts, we’ll follow these different versions of the character (Cop, Musician, Nurse) on their journeys, seeing how the consequences of his fateful choice after…

@TVGMMattRoush Landscapers Gritty pathos blurs with fantasy in a wrenching true-crime/love story LIMITED SERIES PREMIERE Monday, Dec. 6, 9/8c, HBO JUST WHEN YOU think you’ve seen every variation on the true-crime drama, along comes a fascinating and heart-breaking specimen like Susan Edwards, whose fragile psyche informs every frame of the visually inventive four-part factbased drama Landscapers. The title is a bit of a pun, referring to the long-hidden secret that two bodies are buried in her dreadful parents’ Nottinghamshire backyard garden, in holes dug 15 years earlier by Susan’s devotedly milquetoast husband, Chris. It’s the landscape of Susan’s mind that proves most fascinating. Oscar and Emmy winner Olivia Colman continues to astonish with her emotional range in a peak performance of deep pathos as the childlike and chipper Susan, who…

MOVIE PREMIERE Friday, Dec. 10, 8/7c, Lifetime FAMILY IS AT the heart of this movie, in more ways than one. After the death of beloved artist Milagro Ortega, known for her Mexican ornaments and holiday decor, her business-savvy son, Tony (Mario Lopez), entertains an offer to sell the family shop to a Hallmark-like chain. To close the deal, determined exec Belinda Sawyer (With Love’s Emeraude Toubia) will need to win over Tony’s sweet father, José (Efrain Figueroa), and skeptical sister Magdalena (Aimee Garcia). Meanwhile, Tony tries to open Belinda’s eyes to the charms of the New Mexico capital at Christmas. Cue the chili pepper–eating contest: “We were eating [real] hot chilis…for the first few takes!” reveals Lopez, who notes that he loved being able to showcase the historic city’s culture.…

Big Sky, big numbers! The November 7 Season 4 premiere of Paramount Network’s Yellowstone set a series high, rising 104 percent over the 2020 opener to a staggering 8.4 million total viewers. (For comparison, the fourth round of HBO juggernaut Game of Thrones, at 6.6 million, didn’t touch that!) In a TV landscape where viewers have their pick of hundreds of shows across dozens of broadcast networks, premium cable channels and streaming services, that kind of growth is almost unheard of. Credit the storytelling for corralling fans. This saga about the wealthy 21st-century Duttons holding on to their ancestral cattle ranch in the face of would-be land grabbers makes for gripping TV. Last season saw brutal murder attempts on tough patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner, below) along with two of…

Editors’ Choice Jeopardy! Syndicated, check local listings Those who can, do. Those who teach, rock! Mayim Bialik (above) hosts the first-ever Professors Tournament, a showdown giving elite educators a shot at $100,000 and a spot in the Tournament of Champions. Among the 15 schools repped: Penn State, Monterey, California’s Naval Postgraduate School, Howard University, Vanderbilt Law and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Bialik got her Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA, but her alma mater isn’t in the mix. Probably smarter to avoid favoritism. 9-1-1 8/7c, Fox The 118 crew is not having the happiest of holidays in the drama’s midseason finale: Blame a series of Christmas Eve emergencies, including a personal one for Eddie (Ryan Guzman) and an overwhelmed Christopher (Gavin McHugh). The Neighborhood 8/7c, CBS Stop the spread! A…

A Christmas Proposal MOVIE PREMIERE 8:30/7:30c, CBS IN CBS’s FIRST original holiday movie in more than a decade, network favorite Adam Rodriguez (Criminal Minds, CSI: Miami) leads a Latinx cast as Seattle bachelor Julian Diaz. With a promotion to managing partner at his family’s law firm on the line, he strikes a deal with his ride-share driver—an aspiring chef named Maria (All Rise’s Jessica Camacho, right, with Rodriguez)—to pose as his girlfriend and help make him a more “mature” candidate in his father’s eyes. Here, the actor dishes. What did you love about the story? Julian is like so many people who get tunnel vision: We become immune to other things around us. This woman comes into his life by chance and awakens him and his family to what’s really…

FBI 8/7c, CBS As the nerve center of the Feds’ New York bureau, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine (Jeremy Sisto, left) has been largely office-bound. But in this intense year-end episode, which will bleed into the drama’s January 4 return, Jubal becomes part of the action. He, his team and their loved ones are targeted by Antonio Vargas (David Zayas), the vicious drug lord the unit put in prison. First on the cartel’s hit list: Rina Trenholm (Kathleen Munroe), Jubal’s boss and secret lover, who is shot and gravely wounded while standing beside him. “It’s a traumatic event for him,” says Sisto, hinting that Jubal’s sobriety may be threatened. “There’s a sinister grand plot that I’d never seen before, full of twists. Vargas is a very powerful man,…

The 89th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade Supporting Marine Toys for Tots 8/7c, The CW The Talk’s Sheryl Underwood is grand marshal of the L.A. event. There’ll be balloons and bands, but also 66 cars from movies and TV (wave to Burt Ward in the Batmobile for us!). Rolling Like Thunder DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE 8/7c, Showtime The latest film in Showtime’s ongoing celebration of hip-hop charts the fascinating history of train and graffiti culture through its most competitive, romantic and mythic legends. Killer Siblings 8/7c, Oxygen The true-crime series tells the story of the millionaire Engel brothers, convicted in 1986 of hiring someone to strangle one brother’s ex-wife (while he watched and smoked a cigarette, said the prosecutors!). LAURA AND ALMANZO FOREVER! Little House on the Prairie Binge-a-Thon 9/8c, Hallmark Drama This…

HOROSCOPE SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) How are you feeling post-eclipse? You could feel like you’re being pushed to your limits. You need to do all you can to maintain your famous sense of humor, even if others seem hell-bent on seeing how much they can provoke you. Capricorn (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) The more you can take time out to meditate and contemplate, the better. You are at the end of a yearlong cycle, and while you might feel as though you’re running on reserve energy, you actually have the chance now to transform something in your life. Tip: Choose love. Birthday: Jason Segel 1/18/1980 Aquarius (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) Don’t go too hard at work right now, no matter how angry you are or how much you want to make something happen. There…

@damianholbrook Cheers to Kyle Richards’ real good year. After surviving Halloween Kills, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star killed us with her turn opposite Breaking Bad’s Betsy Brandt as ex-besties battling over a decorating contest in Peacock’s holiday hoot The Housewives of the North Pole (December 9). Andy Cohen must be so proud. Cheers to the new Queens of comedy. Come for the fresh beats of ABC’s hip-hop tale of a reunited ’90s girl group, stay for the snappy chemistry among stars (from left) Naturi Naughton, Eve, Brandy and Nadine Velazquez. Slay, Queens! Cheers to a Party Down update. Over a decade after Starz axed the cult-fave satire about a misfit catering team, the net is hosting a six-episode reboot with original cast members Adam Scott, Jane Lynch (right), Ken…

@Lindastvpicks FORGET THE SUPERHEROICS. The real draw of Marvel’s latest television adventure is New York City at Christmas. The setting is a smart choice since the title character, archer Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), has always been the most drab Avenger; the festive atmosphere is exactly what’s needed to liven him up. But even in his own series, Clint—stuck in the clichéd role of an often absent dad trying to make it home in time for the holidays—is rather peripheral. The plot instead revolves around fellow ace archer and new Clint protégée Kate Bishop, played with wit by Hailee Steinfeld. Clint has to step in when the impulsive 22-year-old accidentally becomes a target of unsavory criminals. While the two episodes released to the press focus on his efforts to clean up…

The Witcher FRIDAY, DEC. 17 ORIGINAL FANTASY DRAMA Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill, right), the mostly solitary, emotionally unavailable monster-hunter-for-hire, is about to be a lot less alone on Season 2 of the fan favorite. For starters, since he is duty-bound to protect Princess Cirilla of Cintra (Freya Allan), he’s reluctantly taken on a fatherly role. And when the season kicks off, Geralt and Ciri are journeying to the remote Witcher home base, Kaer Morhen, so Ciri can receive training to defend herself. Once there, a new side of Geralt emerges. “You get to see a vulnerability in him. You get to see the teasing between siblings, and the protectiveness of a father,” says showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich of the Witchers’ family-like dynamic and Geralt’s own tough parental figure, Vesemir (Kim…

O HOLY NIGHT OF XMAS EPISODES! It’s the Three Wise Men of NBC! Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kenan Thompson and Ted Danson serve up a trio of holiday-themed episodes of their comedies ahead of the shows’ official returns in 2022. Here’s a sneak peek. YOUNG ROCK (8/7c) In a spin on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the three younger versions of Johnson (played by Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant and Uli Latukefu) are visited by their older selves and a certain giant while learning the true meaning of Christmas. “Sometimes you get the Cabbage Patch Kid that you wanted, and sometimes you get its horrifying knockoff version, the Radish Baby,” says executive producer Jeff Chiang. “It’s all about appreciating what you have.” KENAN (8:30/7:30c) TV host Kenan Williams (Thompson, below) and his…

Claws SEASON PREMIERE 9/8c, TNT It’s been more than two years since we last saw Florida’s fiery manicurists turned criminals. But it’s tough to forget where we left them: Quiet Ann (Judy Reyes) blamed former BFF Desna (Niecy Nash) for her one true love’s death and, as revenge, burned down the women’s Bayside Rapture Casino! “And with it, our dreams of rags to riches—so now we’re just back to rags,” says Carrie Preston (right), who plays con artist Polly. “I think this final season is about these women looking for a way up and a way out one last time. And the question is, at what cost?” Battle lines will be drawn. By the end of tonight’s Season 4 premiere, Desna and her crew launch a new con stealing drugs…