Innholdsfortegnelse for Dec-07-15 i TV Guide Magazine

FOLLOW US> TV Guide Magazine @TVGuideMagazine @tvguidemagazine Write to us: Letters, TV Guide Magazine, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10020, or email letters@tvgm.com Quick Clicks Christine Stockard had some strong opinions on the fall finales of How to Get Away With Murder and Scandal. “They left me cold,” she wrote. The problem? “Sticking with flawed characters requires that we viewers find at least one or two redeeming qualities within them to make us root for them,” Stockard continued. “Olivia got what she wanted—Fitz—and then didn’t want it anymore. And Annalise’s distorted sense of law and justice has grown tiresome.”…Kathleen Conneway is loving the addition of TV vet Jeffrey Dean Morgan to The Good Wife. “He is so hot!” she gushed. “That voice makes me swoon. I had…

Bear meets “the Bear.” President Barack Obama—whose aides call his unscheduled walks “the Bear gets loose”—heads to the Alaskan wilderness on the December 17 episode of NBC’s Running Wild With Bear Grylls. The producers of the adventure series are used to fielding requests from actors eager to eat fish eyeballs or jump from helicopters with the British survivalist host. But getting a call from the White House revealing that President Obama was a fan and wanted to do an episode was a huge surprise—and an even bigger challenge. No stranger to using entertainment to push his message, Obama hoped to combine a scheduled trip to Alaska for a climate-change conference with a visit to the Exit Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park, accompanied by Grylls and his cameras. “Bear…

The Expanse Series premiere Monday–Tuesday, Dec. 14–15, 10/9c, Syfy Timeslot premiere: Tuesday, Dec. 22, 10/9c, Syfy I’ve been waiting eons, it seems, to get lost in space with Syfy again. Sophisticated, sexy and suspenseful, bracingly complex in its interplanetary world building and sociopolitical intrigues, the expansive The Expanse has an ambitious scope and seriousness of intent that compares favorably with the legendary Battlestar Galactica reboot. After watching four episodes, I’m especially drawn to the cosmic adventures of the surviving crew of a rugged ice trawler, led by scrappy Jim Holden (Steven Strait), who’s caught up in a cold war between Earth and a colonized Mars that also involves revolutionaries representing space-dwelling “Belters” (as in asteroid) in a possibly terrorist Outer Planets Alliance. Elsewhere, on a station with a distinctly Blade…

TUESDAY, DEC. 8 10/9c, BET SHE PLAYS Cece, the wily opportunist who had the good fortune to get into a car crash with news anchor Mary Jane Paul (Gabrielle Union). Not only did Cece finagle a $100,000 payoff from Mary Jane’s station—despite no major injuries—she also extorted $25,000 in hush money from the star herself, who was drinking before the accident. Now she’s stalking Mary Jane and giving her career advice. And Mary Jane’s taking it! “Cece is so unusual—a villain but not; extremely intelligent but crazy,” Devine says. “And she really believes she’s friends with Mary Jane and that their possibilities together are endless.” WHERE YOU’VE SEEN HER The oh-sodivine Devine—an original Dreamgirl on Broadway—won an Emmy as Alzheimer’s patient Adele Webber on Grey’s Anatomy. Other roles include Marla,…

SATURDAY, DEC. 12 11:30/10:30c, NBC AS SATURDAY NIGHT Live’s “Resident Young Person,” Pete Davidson perks up Weekend Update with his millennial take on the news. (Example: “You know who Donald Trump reminds me of? Sanjaya from American Idol… he had weird hair and he sang like garbage.”) But the 22-year-old, whose firefighter dad died on 9/11, has grown up fast. “I’m maybe 28 in a 22-year-old’s body, but I still ride my hoverboard everywhere. I used to pee while on it!” Here are five facts about the funnyman. —Aubry D’Arminio 1. He appeared on VH1’s Mob Wives. Wives cast member Derek Tabacco was a buddy of Davidson’s. “ In Season 2, he got into a fight at this restaurant and ran out with 14 mob men following him,” Davidson recalls. “I…

TUESDAY, DEC. 15 8/7c, CBS THE FALL SEASON has been cruel to NCIS agent Ellie Bishop (Emily Wickersham). First she thought her husband, Jake (Jamie Bamber), died in a Dubai hotel bombing. Then he admitted to having an affair with a slinky Internal Affairs official. And now, in tonight’s holiday episode, Jake and Ellie must finally face the future of their marriage. Wickersham dishes on the not-so-jolly proceedings and the advice she’d give Ellie. —Aubry D’Arminio This doesn’t sound like the happiest of Yuletide storylines. Right? It sounds like the saddest show ever! But Jake and Ellie have a really serious, adult discussion about their relationship—and it can go either way. Ellie is a stress eater, so at least the holidays are good for that. [Laughs] Oh, yeah, I imagine…

SATURDAY, DEC. 19 various times, ESPN, ESPN2 and CBS The Road to March Madness is taking its December detour. As top NCAA men’s basketball teams face tough nonconference foes with league play just around the bend, ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla points out three big trends. —Karen Rosen The season of the senior continues… “I describe this current class of college seniors as ‘They’ve been good enough to lead, but they haven’t been good enough to leave [for the NBA],’ ” Fraschilla says. “There are more veteran players spread around the power conferences. This year—unlike any year recently—the depth of upperclassmen will negate the very talented freshmen who have arrived.” He singles out point guard Yogi Ferrell, whose Indiana Hoosiers take on Notre Dame; guard Malcolm Brogdon, whose Virginia Cavaliers host…

SCORPION The crisis-solving geniuses see their skills reaching new heights on the December 14 episode of the CBS hit. When torrential El Niño rains cause a dam to fail on Christmas Eve, threatening to flood a town in the valley below, Special Agent Cabe Gallo (Robert Patrick) traverses the dam’s face to seal a widening crack. “Robert was so fired up, he actually sang the ‘Marines’ Hymn’ on the way down,” says executive producer Nicholas Wootton. “After he got back up top, he said, ‘That might have been the gnarliest stunt I’ve ever done.’ Coming from the T-1000, that’s saying something.” THE FOSTERS Rob Morrow (right) begins a recurring role as Will, a free spirit with money to burn, when Season 3 returns January 25 on Freeform (formerly ABC Family).…

@TVGMLogan THE BOOBS ARE fake, but the laughs are real. Eva Longoria returns to TV in NBC’s Telenovela playing Ana Sofia, steamy star of the Spanish soap opera Las Leyes de Pasión, where the only thing bigger than the melodrama is the wind machine. The NBC comedy series gets a twoepisode preview December 7 prior to its January 4 premiere. Longoria gave us the scoop. You’ve rarely acted since Desperate Housewives, instead devoting your time to producing, directing and political activism. Why is Telenovela the show that got you back on the air? I hit the lottery with Housewives, but when it ended, I thought everybody needed to cleanse their palate of Gabrielle Solis. I wanted to go away for a while. In fact, I was only intending to produce…

Becoming Santa Dec. 12, 8/7c, Lifetime Family Ties vets Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter reunite to channel another iconic pair, Mr. and Mrs. Claus. But what will they do, baby, when they invite their daughter’s (Laura Bell Bundy, right) unsuspecting boyfriend to visit the North Pole for a holly jolly meet and greet? On the Twelfth Day of Christmas Dec. 12, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel Smalltown gal Maggie (Brooke Nevin) attempts to win over her longtime crush, Mitch (Robin Dunne), and cure his holiday blues by anonymously devising a dozen Christmas-themed tasks for him to complete. (Bringing him a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha might have been easier.) Debbie Macomber’s Dashing Through the Snow Dec. 13, 9/8c, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Perhaps you’ve wondered what might happen if two fetching single strangers (Meghan Ory…

The X-Files: The Collector’s Set Blu-ray Quick! You have a little more than a month to binge on nine seasons of alien-invasion mythology and monsters of the week before the six-episode The X-Files miniseries premieres January 24 on Fox. No time to watch all 202 installments? Make sure to include “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” from Season 3. ($300) Barnaby Jones: The Complete Collection DVD Buddy Ebsen followed his turn as The Beverly Hillbillies’ grandfatherly oil tycoon Jed Clampett with his role as Det. Barnaby Jones two years later. This 45-disc collection contains all 179 episodes of the CBS drama. ($200) Little House on the Prairie: The Complete Series DVD It’s Little House in a little house! All nine seasons fit into a replica of the Ingalls’ family homestead. The six-part…

THURSDAY, DEC. 10 8/7c, NBC Let’s make one thing clear: When it comes to his annual holiday variety hour, Michael Bublé is not messing around. “You have no idea how much work it takes to make this a television event worth watching every year,” the Grammy winner says. “The favors I owe afterward, the money that I spend. But you know what? I’m really proud of it!” Which is why “there’s a very good chance” this fifth installment, filmed in Los Angeles, is likely to be the singer’s last. “Sometimes you’ve got to leave the people wanting more,” he says with a laugh. His plan to do just that? Belting out seasonal standards with musical guests like Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and Tori Kelly, plus comedy bits featuring William…

THURSDAY, DEC. 17 TV movie, 9/8c, BBC America It truly seemed as if perennially grim detective John Luther (Idris Elba, above) had a chance at happiness— or at least a reason to smile—when he walked off arm-in-arm with psycho paramour Alice (The Affair’s Ruth Wilson) in Luther’s Season 3 finale. But looks, as they say, are liars. And when tonight’s two-hour special picks up several months later, Alice is gone, it’s the dead of winter and the chief inspector is still smarting over the murder of his only friend, the loyal Sergeant Ripley (Warren Brown). “If previous events weren’t hanging over him, he wouldn’t be John Luther,” executive producer Neil Cross says. “And there are unexpected repercussions of his past decisions.” Luther, who’s on a leave of absence from the…

ACROSS 1 Not out (2 wds.) 7 Matt Le ____ 12 Richard Grieco drama 13 Edgar Allan Poe poem 15 Everybody Loves Raymond family 16 Riseborough of Birdman 17 Time-travel device on Voyagers 18 ER organization (abbr.) 19 Anna Faris sitcom 20 Coccyx 23 Race car driver Earnhardt 24 Call letters for The Nashville Network 25 Boxer Laila 26 Claire of My So-Called Life 27 Along with others (3 wds.) 29 Animal ____-Ups 32 Buono on Batman 33 Contend for an Emmy 36 From ____ to Eternity 37 Life Unexpected setting 39 Announcer Hall 40 ____ Chaney, Jr. 41 Rooney’s estranged wife on EZ Streets 42 The White ____ 44 Calm down (2 wds.) 46 One Life ____ (2 wds.) 47 Rita of 9 to 5 48 Slender candle 49 Hospital where Jill worked on Picket Fences…

@TVGMMattRoush Season premiere Friday, Dec. 11, Amazon Prime Video There’s a lovely moment late in Transparent’s bittersweet second season for its central character, Maura (Jeffrey Tambor), born Mort and still dealing with the ramifications of coming out as trans to her kin last year. She pores over childhood photos that have been digitally regendered, altered to show the boy from an unhappy past now bedecked as the girl Maura always saw within herself. “Just imagine if you could have been her your whole life,” muses one of Maura’s wayward daughters in an exchange that’s unusually tender for this emotionally overwrought dramedy. Truth is, Maura never stops imagining it, just as she never stops seeking affirmation, affection and connection in a world that doesn’t know what to make of her and…

The Star Wars Holiday Special (Nov. 17, 1978, CBS) With two hours full of creepy Wookiees and head-scratching musical numbers, it’s no wonder the much-maligned celebration of Life Day on Chewie’s home planet of Kashyyyk aired only once. Not even a Sith Lord could take more of Bea Arthur’s singing or Harvey Korman in drag as a space-age Julia Child. A New Hope’s U.S. network TV debut (Feb. 26, 1984, CBS) Almost six years after opening in theaters, the original movie premiered on TV…and got trounced by ABC’s trashy miniseries Lace. The Ewok Adventure (Nov. 25, 1984, ABC) On the heels of Return of the Jedi came this spinoff flick about siblings (Eric Walker and Aubree Miller) rescued by Wicket the Ewok (Warwick Davis) after being stranded on the forest…

MONDAY, DEC. 7 8/7c, CBS EXTRA! EXTRA! READ all about how Mehcad Brooks is turning DC Comics’ most famous photographer, Jimmy Olsen, into a seriously smokin’ man of action when a massive earthquake hits National City. —Damian Holbrook This ain’t our typical Jimmy Olsen. He even goes by James now and is definitely not the nerdy guy running around taking pictures! [Laughs] That’s coming. We actually talked about that because I had said, “You know, there’s no camera here.” It’s weird to see Jimmy Olsen without a big camera around his neck. Since the show began, James has been a shoulder for Kara (Melissa Benoist), but this week, he’s showing his stronger side, right? Yeah. I’m not quite sure what I can say here. Hmmm…there is a thing that happens…

MONDAY, DEC. 14 Season finale, 10/9c, FX Fargo fans, rejoice—the show has been renewed for a third season, after a sophomore run that can be described in one word: killer. The 1979-set Midwestern noir’s turf war between the Gerhardts and Kansas City Syndicate has resulted in more corpses than you can shake a shiv at. And things are about to get even bloodier in the finale. “The surprise is not so much who’s going to die as who’s going to live,” says Patrick Wilson, who plays state trooper Lou Solverson, the decent, soulful lawman caught in the middle. “If major characters start going byebye by Episode 5, you’ve got to suspect they’re all going to start dropping eventually.” Vietnam-vet Lou is sure to survive, however. (The character’s 2006 self was…

SATURDAY, DEC. 19 8/7c, Hallmark Channel LACEY CHABERT, YOUR lumps of coal have arrived! In Hallmark’s new movie A Christmas Melody, the Mean Girls and Party of Five alum takes on the role of Kristin, a divorced single mom forced to shutter her L.A. boutique and return, designer tail between her legs, to her small Ohio hometown. Making matters worse: Her former high school rival, Melissa—played by pop superstar Mariah Carey, who also directs—is now the queen bee of the PTA and frostier than ever. Will Kristin manage to find the holiday spirit…perhaps with help from her aunt Sarah (Kathy Najimy) and hot local music teacher Danny (Brennan Elliott)? Chabert sings the movie’s praises. —Ingela Ratledge Kristin’s going through a hard time. Can she turn her luck around? Of course!…

CHEERS TO ASHER’S SHOCKING REVERSAL OF FORTUNE on How to Get Away With Murder. Finally, the Keating Five outsider (Matt McGorry) joined Annalise’s deadly inner circle by backing over that awful prosecutor he blamed for his dad’s suicide. The wait until February to see how he gets away with this murder is already killing us. CHEERS TO TV for showing some respect. After the attacks on Paris, NBC opted not to air that night’s live Undateable, HBO bumped its U2 concert from the City of Lights and CBS yanked terror-themed eps of Supergirl (with Melissa Benoist) and NCIS: LA. Too bad Fox didn’t catch the illtimed ISIS jokes in that week’s Scream Queens. FACEBOOK CHEER 62% OF FAC E BOOK FA N S CHEER IT CHEERS TO JENNIFER LOPEZ for…