News & Notes
Over on cable, BBC America has the series finale of Robin Hood, CMT has the first season finale of World’s Strictest Parents, Food Network has a Guy’s Disney Holiday special, Hallmark Channel has the TV movie premiere of Debbie Macomber’s Mrs. Miracle, HGTV has a Sandra Lee Celebrates: Magical Merry Christmas special, Lifetime has the TV movie premiere of 12 Men of Christmas, MTV has the first season finale of Gone Too Far, Spike has the 10th season finale of The Ultimate Fighter, truTV has the first season finale of Top 20 Most Shocking, and TV One has the fourth season finale of Bill Bellamy’s Who’s Got Jokes?.
In late night, Showtime has a Shaquille O’Neal Presents: All Star Comedy Jam comedy special.
Sorry for the lateness of today’s “Tonight on the Tube.” Lying down for a couple minutes after I got home from work this morning, while my computer rebooted, was not the best idea, well unless my goal had been to fall asleep.
Prime Picks
Dexter (Showtime): Repeat. Last Sunday’s episode, “Lost Boys,” replays, where Dexter is trying to find Trinity after he kidnaps a boy.
Robin Hood (BBC America): Series Finale. Robin gets everyone he can to help fight of the Sheriff and hold the castle. Plays again later. Last week’s episode replays right before.
Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives (Food Network): Repeat. This special has Guy looking back at some of his favorite stops from the show. This follows the Disney special mentioned below, which follows another “Best of” episode of this show. All three play again later.
Solid Selections
Medium (CBS): Repeat. In “Then … and Again” from last season, Allison finds herself five years in the past and pregnant with her daughter, Marie.
12 Men of Christmas (Lifetime): TV Movie Premiere. This is a holiday romantic comedy based on a novel by Phillipa Ashley and stars Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies). Chenoweth plays E.J. Baxter a public relations rep at a top firm that seemingly has it all, a great job, a great fiancé, etc. Then one night she loses both and gets blackballed by her former boss. Her sister talks her into taking a job offer from a small town in Montana that wants her to help them lure big companies there for their company retreats. While there she gets involved in trying to help raise money for the local volunteer rescue team. She does so by trying to get them to pose for a steamy calendar they can sell to raise the money, thus the 12 men in the title. Anna Chlumsky (My Girl) and Josh Hopkins (Cougar Town) also star. Runs 2 hours. Plays twice tonight, twice tomorrow, and again once next Tuesday. I’m not exactly the target demographic for this movie, but I enjoyed it. While I haven’t seen a lot of Lifetime movies, this one falls in the upper echelon of the ones I have. Kristin Chenoweth is always thoroughly watchable and that fact remains true here. The arc of the romance between Chenoweth and Hopkins didn’t exactly work for me, but there is still a lot of fun to be had. It’s sort of a TV movie version of Men in Trees wrapped up for Christmas. Hey, it’s a beautiful blond woman from New York that ends up in a small town full of guys.
Other Options
- Guy’s Disney Holiday (Food Network): New Special. Guy checks out all the holiday themed goodies at Disneyland. A Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives “Best of” special replays before and another one after and all three play again later.
- Legend of the Seeker (Syndication): New. Plays either Saturday or Sunday. Find out when and where it’s playing in your area.
Late Night
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX): Repeat. Last Thursday’s episode, “Mac and Charlie Write a Movie,” replays. Runs 31 minutes.
- Saturday Night Live (NBC): New. Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) hosts with musical guest Rihanna.
Sports Notes
- ABC has Saturday Night College Football with the Big 12 Championship between Nebraska and Texas.
- CBS has college football action with SEC Championship between Alabama and Florida.
- ESPN has two college football games today with the ACC Championship between Clemson and Georgia Tech capping off the day.
- ESPN2 has doubleheader college basketball action followed by two college football games with Wisconsin at Hawaii capping off the night.
- NBA TV has the Denver Nuggets at the San Antonio Spurs.
