TV Best Bets

Wednesday, Jan. 2: Surprise! ‘The Masked Singer’ Features Celebs’ Hidden Talent

© 2018 FOX Broadcasting. Credit: Michael Becker/FOX.

All Times Eastern.

Wednesday, Jan. 2

The Masked Singer
FOX, 9pm
New Series!

A dozen brave celebrities don outlandish costumes while trying to impress the audience and the celebrity judging panel of Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke with their best vocal performance. Each week, one costume-clad celeb will be eliminated from the competition and forced to reveal his or her identity. FOX teases that among them, this season’s secret contestants have earned a combined 65 Grammy Award nominations, 16 Emmy Award nominations, four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and four Super Bowl titles. Nick Cannon hosts.

https://twitter.com/MaskedSingerFOX/status/1080468756487270402

The Senate – Conflict and Compromise
C-SPAN, 8pm

This original production from C-SPAN uses original interviews, Peabody Award-winning video archives and unique access to the Senate chamber during a session to look at the history, traditions and roles of the United States Senate. From the Senate as a legislative body, to its power of advice and consent, to its role in impeachment proceedings and investigations, viewers will learn about this congressional chamber’s constitutional mandates and how the institution has evolved historically to better understand the body today.

Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back
FOX, 8pm
Season Premiere!

Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant makeover series returns for a second helping. In each episode, Ramsay drives his state-of-the-art mobile kitchen and command center, Hell on Wheels, across the country to help bring a failing restaurant back from the brink of disaster. Ramsay and his team have only 24 hours to transform these restaurants with spectacular renovations and fresh new menus before reopening to the public.

grown-ish
Freeform, 8pm
Season Premiere!

Last season, this black-ish spinoff followed Zoey (black-ish star Yara Shahidi) and her friends (played by Trevor Jackson, Francia Raisa, Emily Arlook, Jordan Buhat, Luke Sabbat, and Chloe and Halle Bailey) as they experienced the wide-eyed firsts of their freshman year at Cal U. Season 2 starts as they begin sophomore year with confidence and swagger. And although they assume they’ve got their second year on lock, they quickly realize that they’re not as grown as they think.

Special Theme: Directed By Elia Kazan
TCM, beginning at 8pm

Tonight, Jan. 9 and Jan. 16, Turner Classic Movies remembers legendary director Elia Kazan with an evening of his classic films. It kicks off tonight with 1954’s On the Waterfront, which earned Kazan his second Best Director Oscar, and continues with A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Viva Zapata! (1952) and The Sea of Grass (1947).

Love & Hip Hop: Miami
VH1, 8pm
Season Premiere!
Returning favorites including Trick Daddy, Keyara Stone, Young Hollywood, Jojo and Liz Fuentes are joined by comedian and viral sensation Jessie Woo and underground rapper/songwriter Khaotic as they strive to make their mark on Miami’s music scene.

SEAL Team: “Backwards in High Heels”
CBS, 9pm

Bravo Team partners with the British Special Air Service to rescue passengers on a hijacked plane who are taken hostage by terrorists in the new episode “Backwards in High Heels.”

Project Runway All Stars
Lifetime, 9pm
Season Premiere!

In the final season of the Project Runway All Stars franchise, 14 designers and winners — seven from the U.S. and seven who have won international versions of Project Runway from Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands, the U.K. and Canada — compete in design challenges in order to be named world champion. Alyssa Milano returns as host, with Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman judging the competition and Anne Fulenwider serving as mentor. Celebrity guest judges include Debra Messing, Olivia Culpo, Lily Aldridge, Vanessa Williams, Danica Patrick, Anna Camp and more.

MythBusters Jr.
Science Channel, 9pm
New Series!

Adam Savage returns to his myth-busting ways and is joined by six of the nation’s leading young “makers” to use STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) to test legends. In the series premiere, Savage and the junior MythBusters explore the many uses for duct tape. They test whether it can be used to build a serviceable car tire, and if the sticky stuff can be used to create a functioning, lifesaving parachute. (This doesn’t bode well for the series’ crash-test dummy, Buster, who will inevitably take a great fall.)

Black Ink Crew: Chicago
VH1, 9pm
Season Premiere!

This season, new artists emerge and familiar faces return as the crew strives to salvage the true identity of 9Mag.

Criminal Minds: “Night Lights”
CBS, 10pm

A week after a D.C. couple is murdered in their home, someone is abducted in Portland, Ore. The Behavioral Analysis Unit heads west to investigate a possible link. If only they had this hint from the writers about tonight’s unsub: “He lets you go, you taste freedom — but is it all a game?”

American Beauty Star
Lifetime, 10pm
Season Premiere!

The beauty competition series returns with 14 hair and makeup artists who will compete in a series of intense challenges, from creating high-end editorial looks to the latest red carpet beauty trends. International supermodel Ashley Graham will serve as the Season 2 host and welcomes this season’s new panel of judges — supermodel Christie Brinkley, Cosmopolitan’s chief beauty director Leah Wyar and acclaimed photographer Yu Tsai. Celebrity makeup artist Sir John returns as mentor.

Thursday, Jan. 3

The Big Bang Theory: “The Paintball Scattering”
CBS, 8pm

Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) organize a paintball game that results in mayhem in the new episode “The Paintball Scattering.”

Gotham
FOX, 8pm
Season Premiere!

The 12-episode fifth and final season, dubbed “Legend of the Dark Knight,” will complete Bruce’s (David Mazouz) transformation into Batman. In the season opener, “Year Zero,” Bruce aids Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and the police in taking back Gotham City after the catastrophic events of the Season 4 finale.

The Titan Games
NBC, 8pm
New Series!

Watch as The Titan Games puts both male and female athletes in physically and mentally taxing obstacles to prove that they have what it takes to be the next Titan and to potentially walk away with $100,000. Created by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, it’s an emotional, personal battle designed to push the competitors beyond their limits and reward those who exemplify hard work and determination.

Young Sheldon: “A Race of Superhumans and a Letter to Alf”
CBS, 8:30pm

Sheldon (Iain Armitage) experiments on Missy (Raegan Revord), and Georgie (Montana Jordan) joins Mary’s (Zoe Perry) bible study to spend more time with his crush, Veronica (Isabel May), in the new episode “A Race of Superhumans and a Letter to Alf.”

Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles
Bravo, 9pm
Season Premiere!
Powerhouse agents Josh Flagg, Josh Altman, Tracy Tutor, James Harris and David Parnes continue to navigate huge deals, huge homes and huge egos in one of the hottest real estate markets in the world. The agents are pulling out all the stops to close the biggest deals of their careers with some of the biggest names in the business.

The Orville
FOX, 9pm

After this past Sunday night’s post-football peek at Season 2, Seth MacFarlane’s sci-fi dramedy moves to its regular day and time period tonight.

Hitler’s Secret Tunnels
History, 9pm

Over 70 years after the end of World War II, hundreds of miles of tunnels built by the Nazis may still be protecting Adolf Hitler’s final secrets. When explorers Mike Scott and Luke Mahoney uncover a hidden document that reveals a sealed Nazi underworld, they search these unexplored tunnel complexes for answers.

Surviving R. Kelly
Lifetime, 9pm
New Miniseries!

This three-night documentary event reveals the stories of women who have fallen under the spell of — and fallen victim to — R&B singer R. Kelly. The documentary also features over 50 interviews including civil rights activist Tarana Burke, members of the Kelly family, survivors of Kelly’s alleged abuse, and friends and musical peers of the singer including John Legend, Sparkle and Wendy Williams. The miniseries continues tomorrow night and wraps up Saturday.

Impossible Engineering
Science Channel, 9pm
Season Premiere!

The 10 episodes of this series’ fourth season will again look into some of the world’s most exciting and innovative engineering creations. Stories this season will include the biggest construction project ever undertaken in New York City, an aircraft carrier that is as long as the Empire State Building is tall, and the New Safe Containment being constructed around Chernobyl’s damaged nuclear reactor.

Bringing Up Bates
UP TV, 9pm
Season Premiere!

America’s favorite super-sized family is back for Season 8 as the Bates family continues to grow through new relationships, weddings and babies. Follow Josie as she plans her wedding and shares her gorgeous big day; rejoice as Zach and Whitney renew their vows; experience the progression of Carlin and Evan’s relationship; and grow with Tori as she shares her pregnancy journey and several Bates family members share stories of their fertility struggles.

60 Days In
A&E, 10pm
Season Premiere!

Seven innocent people, including a gang member turned minister, go undercover for two months in an Arizona jail. When one goes rogue, will it blow their cover?

Music City
CMT, 10pm
Season Premiere!

The docuseries that follows a group of young adults chasing their Nashville dreams returns for Season 2. Returning to the cast are fledgling musician Kerry and his wife, Rachyl; personal trainer Jackson and his pageant queen cousin, Alexandra; and musicians Jessica and Alisa. New faces joining the cast include Rachyl and Kerry’s old friend Jeremiah, Kerry’s new publicist Tori, and Jackson’s childhood friend Stephen. Alexandra’s outspoken friend Molly also enters the mix as an instigator for drama.

The Blacklist: “Dr. Hans Koehler”
NBC, 10pm
Season Premiere!

The hit drama begins its two-day, two-part Season 6 premiere tonight. Following the revelation that Red (James Spader) isn’t who he says he is, Elizabeth (Megan Boone) is torn between the relationship she’s developed with the man assumed to be her father and her desire to get to the bottom of years of secrets and lies. Meanwhile, Red leads Liz and the FBI to some of the strangest and most dangerous criminals yet. Part 2 of the season premiere airs tomorrow, and starting Jan. 11, the series will settle into its regular Friday night time slot.

Friday, Jan. 4

Beautiful Boy
Amazon

Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet star in the heartbreaking and inspiring story of a family as one member struggles with addiction. The film is based on the best-selling memoirs from David and Nic Sheff.

Fresh Off the Boat: “Just the Two of Us”
ABC, 8pm

Louis (Randall Park) and Jessica (Constance Wu) think they’ve won a posh weekend getaway. Instead, they’re stuck at a retreat where troubled couples work out their marriage problems with the help of Guru Sheela (guest star June Diane Raphael).

MacGyver: “Mac + Fallout + Jack”
CBS, 8pm

In the new episode “Mac + Fallout + Jack,” Mac (Lucas Till) and Jack (George Eads) hit the road for a weekend of relaxation in Las Vegas, but their vacation is cut short when someone from their past abducts them and locks them in a concrete room.

NBA Basketball
ESPN, beginning at 8pm Live

Friday’s NBA doubleheader on ESPN has the Dallas Mavericks in Boston to face the Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Pacific Northwest to battle the Portland Trail Blazers.

Last Man Standing: “Three for the Road”
FOX, 8pm

When Mike (Tim Allen) offers to take Boyd (Jet Jurgensmeyer) on a fishing trip, Ryan (Jordan Masterson) objects, as his plans interfere with an existing trip he made with his son. Boyd insists the three take a trip together, forcing Mike and Ryan to get along.

Speechless: “J-A—JAVIER’S P-A– PANTS”
ABC, 8:30pm

When Maya (Minnie Driver) lends a helping hand to frenemy Melanie (Sarah Chalke), she finds her life taking a surprising turn. Dylan’s (Kyla Kenedy) lousy sportsmanship gets results when she joins the basketball team. Jimmy (John Ross Bowie) and Ray (Mason Cook) make up for lost father-son time.

The Cool Kids: “Funeral Crashers”
FOX, 8:30pm

In the winter premiere, Hank (David Alan Grier) finds out his ex-wife will be at a mutual friend’s funeral, so Margaret (Vicki Lawrence) volunteers to be his “hype man” and lie about his success to impress her. Charlie (Martin Mull) and Sid (Leslie Jordan) love a good funeral, and crash it against Hank’s orders.

Hawaii Five-0: “Hala I Ke Ala O’i’ole Mai”
CBS, 9pm

Carl Weathers directed the new episode “Hala I Ke Ala O’i’ole Mai (Gone on the Road From Which There Is No Returning),” in which Catherine (returning guest star Michelle Borth) helps McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) with a very personal mission.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame Honors
The CW, 9pm

This special celebrates those awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018 — a long list of greats including Gillian Anderson, Minnie Mouse, Mark Hamill, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Zoe Saldana and ’N Sync.

Blue Bloods: “Disrupted”
CBS, 10pm

Frank (Tom Selleck) questions whether a run-in with community activists was an accident or a setup, in the new episode “Disrupted.”

Gold Rush: White Water
Discovery Channel, 10pm
Season Premiere!

The Gold Rush spinoff is back for Season 2 as Dakota Fred and his son Dustin are mining for nuggets in the raging torrents of glacier-fed McKinley Creek using heated wet suits to dive beneath the freezing plunge pools. But has the father-and-son duo taken on more than they can handle in this brutal Alaskan wilderness?

Saturday, Jan. 5

Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy
Discovery Family Channel, 9am
New Series!

This animated preschool series follows the first ever class of recruits as they arrive on Earth from their home planet of Cybertron and begin training at the Rescue Bots Academy. Under the tutelage of instructors Heatwave the Fire-Bot, Chase the Police-Bot, Blades the Copter-Bot and Boulder the Construction-Bot, and with encouragement from Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Grimlock, the new recruits learn how to become a highly skilled team of first responders.

College Basketball
FOX, CBS, ESPN & ESPN2, beginning at 12pm Live

Michigan State at Ohio State (FOX), St. John’s at Georgetown (CBS), Kentucky at Alabama (ESPN), Florida State at Virginia (ESPN2) and Kansas at Iowa State (ESPN2) are among the best games on Saturday’s college basketball slate.

NFL Football: AFC and NFC Wild Card Playoffs
CBS & ABC/ESPN, beginning at 4:30pm Live

The NFL playoffs begin with wild-card weekend as eight of the 12 teams in the hunt for Super Bowl LIII try to advance to next weekend’s Divisional Playoff round. CBS and ABC/ESPN air games today. Tomorrow’s games air on NBC and FOX.

Colombiana
AMC, 8pm

Olivier Megaton’s 2011 French film makes its network premiere. In Bogotá, Colombia, in 1992, a little girl (Amandla Stenberg) watches a crime lord and his henchman murder her parents. Fifteen years later, the now-grown Cataleya (Zoe Saldana) works as a contract killer for her Chicago-based uncle (Cliff Curtis) and dreams of avenging her family.

Winter Castle
Hallmark Channel, 8pm
Original Film!

When Jenny (Emilie Ullerup) attends a wedding at a magical ice hotel, she connects with the best man (Kevin McGarry) and his daughter.

Vanished
History, 8pm

Using seasoned investigation skills, cutting-edge technology and the help of non-traditional resources in the fields of science, anomaly and paranormal research, former police detective Dave Paulides opens the books on two unsolved missing-persons cases that have haunted the families, investigators and search-and-rescue teams involved in each case. Over the course of this two-hour presentation, can Paulides succeed in closing the cases when conventional police procedures and methods have failed to produce any answers?

Cousins for Life
Nickelodeon, 8:30pm
New Series!

Cousins and best friends Stuart (Dallas Dupree Young) and Ivy (Scarlet Spencer) navigate life under one roof with their families in Portland. In the premiere episode, Ivy and Stuart’s life is disrupted after their dads, Clark (Ishmel Sahid) and Lewis (Ron G.), have a disagreement and Clark ends up moving into their hangout space in the garage. If the cousins want to reclaim their space, they’ll need to resolve their dads’ argument.