Trying to figure out what to watch tonight? Be it new episodes of the TV season, reairs of cable series or a movie, here are some suggestions:
7 PM: The Polar Express (animated) movie on ABC Family
8 PM: The Vampire Diaries on The CW (NEW) Peter Pan Live! on NBC (Three-Hour Special) One Christmas Eve Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on Hallmark Channel (Reair)
9 PM: Reign on The CW (NEW) White Collar on USA Network (NEW)
10 PM: Elementary on CBS (NEW) How to Get Away With Murder on ABC (Reair) Matchmaker Santa movie on Hallmark Channel
The new ION holiday movie Merry Ex-Mas will debut on December 7 at 8 PM.
When misleading photos are published of security company chief Jessie Rogers purportedly caught in a love nest with his rock star client, his humiliated wife, Noëlle, throws him out of the house and swiftly files for divorce. Unable to convince her of his innocence, Jessie fights in vain to win Noëlle back. A year later at the family ski cabin, a Christmastime blizzard snow bounds Jessie, his daughter, ex-mother-in-law, Noëlle and her wealthy suitor, Flynn, who is plotting a surprise wedding.
The cast includes Dean Cain, Kristie Swanson, Lochlyn Munro, Ernie Hudson and Jodi Lyn O’Keefe.
The Hallmark Channel holiday movie Christmas At Cartwright’s will debut on December 7 at 8 PM.
Nicky is a single mom, unemployed and broke at Christmas and desperate to find a job in order to make her young daughter’s holiday a happy one. With the aide of an angel, she gets a job as a department store Santa and also happens to meet the love of her life.
The cast includes Alicia Witt (Friday Night Lights), Gabriel Hogan (Heartland and King) and veteran actor Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride).
On December 7 and 8, the Lifetime two-night mini-series The Rent Tent will air at 9 PM (both nights).
The mini tells the sweeping tale that takes place during the times of the Old Testament, told through the eyes of Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob. It begins with Dinah’s (Rebecca Ferguson from The White Queen) happy childhood spent inside the red tent where the women of her tribe gather and share the traditions and turmoil of ancient womanhood.
The film recounts the story of Dinah’s mothers Leah (Minnie Driver), Rachel (Morena Baccarin from Firefly and Homeland), Zilpah and Bilhah, the four wives of Jacob (Iain Glen from Game of Thrones). Dinah matures and experiences an intense love that subsequently leads to a devastating loss, and the fate of her family is forever changed. Debra Winger (Terms of Endearment) portrays Rebecca, Jacob’s mother while Tudor stars as Joseph, Dinah’s brother.
The cast also includes Sean Teale (Reign), Will Tudor (Game of Thrones) and Sheila Vand (State of Affairs).
Here is a trailer for the two-night mini-series event The Red Tent.
The new TNT series The Librarians, based on the popular made-for-TV movie franchise, will air its 2-hour debut on December 7 at 8 PM.
Noah Wyle (Falling Skies) reprises his role of Flynn Carsen in this new weekly series based on the popular made-for-TV movies that will find Rebecca Romijn (X-Men franchise), Christian Kane (Leverage), Lindy Booth (October Road and Copper), John Kim (Neighbours), Matt Frewer (Eureka and Orphan Black) and John Larroquette (Night Court) as part of the cast.
The show centers on an ancient organization hidden beneath Gotham’s Metropolitan Public Library, dedicated to protecting an unknowing world from the secret, magical reality hidden around them.
The Christmas Secret is the new holiday movie to debut on December 7 at 9 PM on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Bethany Joy Lenz (One Tree Hill) and John Reardon (Continuum and When Calls the Heart) star in the film based on the best-selling novel by Donna VanLierre that follows a struggling single mom’s search for a lost family heirloom that she hopes will help her find love and good fortune in time for Christmas.
The cast includes Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica) and b (Bitten).
Trying to figure out what to watch tonight? Be it new episodes of the TV season, reairs of cable series or a movie, here are some suggestions:
7 PM: Patriot Games movie on BBC America
7:30 PM: Men in Black 3 movie on FX
8 PM: Arrow on The CW (NEW – Crossover with The Flash) Christmas in Rockefeller Center on NBC (Special) Serenity movie on Cinemax A Royal Christmas movie on Hallmark Channel (Reair) A Nanny for Christmas movie on Lifetime The Dark Knight Rises movie on TNT The Bridges of Madison County movie on TV Guide Network
9 PM: The 100 on The CW (NEW) Red Band Society on FOX (NEW – Fall Finale) Kingdom on DirecTV (NEW) The Missing on Starz (Reair) The Polar Express (animated) movie on ABC Family
10 PM: Nashville on ABC (NEW) The Game mini-series on BBC America (NEW) Hitched for the Holidays movie on Hallmark Channel Under the Mistletoe movie on Lifetime Heaven Is Real movie on Starz Lost Boys movie on Sundance TV
Here are the news items from late last week, yesterday and today:
TELEVISION
Both the FOX drama Red Band Society and the NBC thriller Constantine will air their original 13 episode orders, but neither has been given a full season order by their respective networks. Red Band Society will air its fall finale on December 3 with three episodes left remaining to air at an as-yet unannounced time. Constantine, on the other hand, could possibly return for more episodes because its renewal option is still “very much open”. (Deadline)
The El Rey Network has decided to cancel their original scripted drama Matador. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
HBO has picked up an as-yet titled hour-long drama series from Martin Scorsese, Terence Winter and rock-n-roll legend Mick Jagger that will be set in 1970s New York, exploring the drug- and sex-fueled music business as punk and disco were breaking out, all through the eyes of a record executive (Bobby Cannavale) trying to resurrect his label and find the next new sound. The cast includes Olivia Wilde, Ray Romano and Juno Temple. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
TV TRAILER
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Here are the top 10 movies from this past weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 – 56.9 million
2. Penguins of Madagascar – 25.8 million
3. Big Hero 6 – 18.8 million
4. Interstellar – 15.8 million
5. Horrible Bosses 2 – 15.7 million
6. Dumb and Dumber To – 8.2 million
7. The Theory of Everything – 5 million
8. Gone Girl – 2.4 million
9. Birdman – 1.8 million
10. St. Vincent – 1.7 million
BOX OFFICE TRAILER
Q&A SECTION (with Natalie Abrams at Entertainment Weekly)
Question: What’s coming up on Sleepy Hollow? — LilSlim142000
Natalie: Monday’s mid-season finale may not be quite as jaw-dropping as season 1’s last episode, but the hour does feature a very surprising final twist as well as the departure of a beloved character.
Question: Do you have any info on Once Upon a Time’s Spell of Shattered Sight? — Frederick
Natalie: Once it hits the town, it will bring out the absolute worst in people, especially Regina, who will revert back to her Evil Queen days. “She has a run in first with Elsa and Emma,” Lana Parrilla teases. “All these years, she’s really been controlling her temper and has not been so impulsive when it comes to Emma for Henry’s sake. In this instance, Emma pays a visit to Regina’s vault and it doesn’t turn out well. She starts throwing fire balls. She wants to kill Emma and she’s been waiting a long time to do this, so it’s her lucky day.”
Question: Is there any spoiler for FitzSimmons on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., please? — Marielle
Natalie: The duo look poised to finally discuss the reason behind Fitz’s selfless act from the season 1 finale during Tuesday’s episode, but Fitz will make a surprising new declaration that could shake up the team. You might want to have tissues handy.
Question: Will Laurel finally tell her dad the truth about Sara’s death on Arrow? — Ken
Natalie: It’s sounding more and more like the holiday episode—featuring the return of Alex Kingston as Dinah Lance—may force her hand. “Holidays are a good time to reunite family members,” executive producer Marc Guggemheim says. “Obviously the Lance family has a lot of issues going on within it that only Laurel knows about. The advantage of bringing Alex Kingston back in this moment in time is to quite frankly turn the knife in Laurel’s gut. We’ve been torturing her with the burdens of keeping this secret and that’s going to get harder with Alex Kingston’s arrival.”
Question: Anything (news related to) The Flash? — Valorie
Natalie: Raise your hand if you think keeping a slew of metahumans in a makeshift prison under S.T.A.R. Labs is a bad idea? Surprise, surprise, things will soon go awry. “The pipeline is going to have some issues in Episode 11,” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg teases. A meta jailbreak, perhaps?
Question: Do you know why we’re going to see a young Liz on The Blacklist? — Patricia
Natalie: I hear Liz gets kidnapped in an upcoming episode and someone will attempt to extract a particular memory from her—namely, the night of the fire, hence seeing a younger version of Liz. However, digging around in the brain is very dangerous, especially when you find out who’s behind it.
The Lifetime original movie Wally Lamb’s Wishin’ and Hopin’ will debut on December 6 at 8 PM.
Based on the New York Times best-selling Christmas novel by Wally Lamb is this new movie set in the 1960s, focusing on 10-year-old Felix Funicello, who is doing his best to navigate fifth grade at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parochial School. His father (Danny Nucci from The Fosters) runs the local diner, and their family’s claim to fame is their cousin, Annette Funicello (Krysta Rodriguez from Smash), the famous teen star and Mouseketeer. With the dreaded Christmas pageant on the horizon, the holiday season gets even more exciting with the sudden arrivals of a substitute teacher (Molly Ringwald) and a feisty Russian student. It promises to be one Christmas Felix will never forget.
The film also star Meat Loaf (Fight Club), Annabella Sciorra (CSI), Cheri Oteri (Saturday Night Live), Conchata Ferrell (Two and a Half Men) and Chevy Chase as the narrator.
Rueben's Ramblings 