Courtesy of Johan PerssonALSO SEE: Your Full 2020 NFL Regular Season TV Schedule
All Times Eastern.
Friday, Nov. 6
Great Performances: “One Man, Two Guvnors”
PBS, 9pm
Revel in this 1960s-era comedy featuring a Tony-winning performance by James Corden. In this adaptation of a 1743 farce, Corden plays a musician turned bodyguard trying to keep his two mobster clients apart, a tricky predicament resulting in comic mayhem.
Francis Henshall attempts to serve lunch to both of his guvnors at the same time. #BroadwayOnPBS pic.twitter.com/WYJFba93ZK
— Great Performances (@GPerfPBS) November 2, 2020
Citation
Netflix
Original Film!
In this drama based on real events, a student in Nigeria takes on the academic establishment when she reports a popular professor who tried to rape her.
Country Ever After
Netflix
New Series!
This reality series follows country singer Coffey Anderson and his hip-hop dancer wife Criscilla as they raise their children and navigate their opposite country vs. city perspectives of life and parenting.
Weird But True!: “Camping”
Disney+
Season Finale!
Carly and Charlie must achieve the rank of master camper, and because they have never personally camped before, they take a trip to Coronado National Forest within Arizona’s Saguaro National Park. There, they get expert advice and begin to fully absorb what it is like to camp and how to become master campers.
College Football: Miami at NC State
ESPN, 7:30pm Live
Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, is the site of this ACC matchup between the Miami Hurricanes and the NC State Wolfpack.
The Christmas Yule Blog
Lifetime, 8pm
Original Film!
Caroline Williams, a well-known social media travel writer, is given the assignment to cover a hundred-year-old Christmas parade in the small town of Carte De Amor, New Mexico. Not excited about the assignment, Caroline goes anyway and meets a high school music teacher, Oscar Ortiz, who introduces her to a side of Christmas that she has never seen, with different traditions and meanings. In the 12 days before Christmas, Caroline falls in love with Christmas all over again and finds true love for herself. Stars Sara Canning and Zak Santiago.
TCM Spotlight: Under the Big Top
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Each Friday night this month, Turner Classic Movies will take you to the circus with a lineup of films set beneath the big top. Things kick off tonight with one of the most epic circus films ever made — Cecil B. DeMille’s Best Picture Oscar-winning The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), starring Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, James Stewart and Dorothy Lamour in a fictional story that also incorporates real-life elements from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Also tonight: the 1928 silent film The Circus, written, produced and directed by, and starring, Charlie Chaplin; and The Big Circus (1959), starring Victor Mature as a circus owner dealing with financial troubles and an unknown, murderous saboteur.
My Big Italian Adventure
HGTV, 9pm
Lorraine and her team encounter a potentially devastating setback in the cellar, which is being converted into a ping-pong room. To keep her mind off the issue, Lorraine dives into do-it-yourself projects, including refinishing all the windows in the home and learning how to plaster a wall, and visits a local olive grove with friends.
American Greed: Bonus Edition: “Baby-Faced Drug Lords”
CNBC, 10pm
The devil is in the new details when young men in Florida cash in on the alarming opioid explosion. But when they expand the operation, it puts their lives of sex, drugs and money in danger.
Saturday, Nov. 7
The Battle Never Ends
History, 8am
Ahead of Veterans Day on Nov. 11, this premiere documentary highlights the origins of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) charity, which celebrates its 100th year in 2020, and looks at its accomplishments throughout the past century.
My Little Pony: Pony Life
Discovery Family Channel, 11:30am
New Series!
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic’s Mane 6 — Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie — are back in this new, 26-episode animated family series that Discovery Family says will be a “departure from the Equestria that viewers were introduced to in 2010.” Each 11-minute episode features a more playful tone, fresh character designs inspired by Japanese Chibi-style animation and revamped storylines that explore the funny side of friendship. The original Friendship Is Magic voice cast reprises their roles here.
Horse Racing: Breeders’ Cup Longines Classic
NBC, 2:30pm Live
One of the premier events in horse racing, the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Longines Classic takes place at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky. Likely contenders include Belmont winner Tiz the Law, Kentucky Derby winner Authentic and Preakness-winning filly Swiss Skydiver.
College Football
CBS & NBC, beginning at 3:30pm Live
The great SEC rivalry continues on CBS as the Florida Gators face the Georgia Bulldogs on neutral turf at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Then a big primetime showdown on NBC has quarterback Trevor Lawrence leading the Clemson Tigers against quarterback Ian Book and the Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium.
Manhunt: Deadly Games
CBS, 8pm
Season Finale!
The Manhunt: Deadly Games season wraps up with the episodes “Don’t Tread on Me” and “Open Season,” in which Brennan (Gethin Anthony) and Embry (Arliss Howard) appeal to a powerful local militia leader, Eric (Jack Huston) is brought to justice, and Richard (Cameron Britton) is exonerated.
Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater
Hallmark Channel, 8pm
Original Film!
Single mom Maggie (Ashley Williams) is facing Christmas alone until Lucas (Niall Matter) crashes into her life and becomes an unexpected houseguest. Together they overcome Christmas while finding comfort in their growing bond.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2020 Inductions
HBO, 8pm
With the planned live event not possible due to COVID-19, this special will honor inductees Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, the Notorious B.I.G., T-Rex, and the Ahmet Ertegun Award honorees Jon Kandau and Irving Azoff.
A Welcome Home Christmas
Lifetime, 8pm
Original Film!
In this good-message film, Chloe (Jana Kramer) gets paired up with Michael (Brandon Quinn), a vet who recently returned home, for her town’s Army toy drive for Christmas. The couple soon discover that the greatest gift this season has been each other’s company.
Directed by Richard Lester
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Director Richard Lester is American, but some viewers of his films may have thought of him as British, given that his career has been based in the United Kingdom and he is known for directing works that often have a British sensibility in terms of the sort of silly fun they feature. His most notable film in that respect kicks off this evening’s three-film salute to the director — A Hard Day’s Night (1964), the wildly entertaining musical comedy that was the Beatles’ first movie and remains as influential among music films as the Fab Four themselves have been on music, thanks to Lester’s creative directorial hand. After that, watch Lester’s directorial debut with another musical comedy, It’s Trad, Dad! (1962), before the evening concludes with the director’s Palme d’Or-winning 1965 comedy The Knack … and How to Get It, which helped establish iconic images people still have of swinging 1960s London.
The Cult of the Family
Starz, 8:30pm
New Miniseries!
“The Family” is Australia’s most notorious cult. Cult members believed in raising superior children who would save the world after Armageddon. In 1987, a teenage girl escapes a lakeside compound and goes to the police, asking them to rescue her siblings, who turn out to be bleached-blond members of the cult.
Ghost Nation: “Evil in the Attic”
Travel Channel, 9pm
Jason Hawes, Steve Gonsalves, Dave Tango and Shari DeBenedetti return to Glen Spey, New York, home of the historic — and historically haunted — Burn Brae Mansion. The property owners have called the team back to investigate the recent spike in paranormal activity, which they believe might be caused by a sealed-off room discovered in the attic. Now, UPRO is going to break down the wall and see what secrets lurk inside.
The Christmas Ring
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, 10pm
Original Film!
A reporter (Nazneen Contractor) searches for the love story behind an antique engagement ring. With the help of the ring’s owner’s grandson (David Alpay), they learn the legacy his grandparents left behind.
Destination Fear: “Randolph County Infirmary”
Travel Channel, 10pm
The team pulls up to the Indiana infirmary where something terrorized Tanner five years ago. They cross the threshold again, armed with horrifying new details about that nightmarish experience.
Saturday Night Live
NBC, 11:25pm Live
SNL continues its unprecedented run of original episodes with its sixth consecutive new episode of Season 46 tonight.
Sunday, Nov. 15
The Crown
Netflix
Season Premiere!
In Season 4 of the drama about the British royal family, as the 1970s are drawing to a close, Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) and her family find themselves preoccupied with securing an appropriate bride for Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor), who is still unmarried at 30. As tensions rise between the queen and Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson), Charles’ romance with a young Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) provides a much-needed fairy tale to unite the British people. Behind closed doors, however, the royal family is becoming increasingly divided.
Golf: The Masters: Final Round
CBS, 12pm Live
Who will be awarded the green jacket and claim a piece of golf history at the 2020 Masters? Find out as CBS airs final-round coverage from Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
The Top Ten Revealed: “Influential Hip Hop Artists”
AXS TV, 8pm
It’s a rap battle for the ages as this episode of the countdown series pits hip-hop artists against each other to see who makes the top of the list.
A Timeless Christmas
Hallmark Channel, 8pm
Original Film!
Charles Whitley (Ryan Paevey) travels from 1903 to 2020 where he meets Megan Turner (Erin Cahill), a tour guide at his historic mansion, and experiences a 21st-century Christmas.
The Christmas Edition
Lifetime, 8pm
Original Film!
Marie Osmond stars in this drama along with Carly Hughes, who plays an up-and-coming journalist who takes over running a small-town newspaper in Alaska. Using a series of Christmas articles, she’s able to quickly return the newspaper to profitability, and soon falls in love … both with her new home and the handsome son of the paper’s former owner. However, when her old boss announces plans to take over the paper for herself, she will need a Christmas miracle to save it.
The Trouble With Maggie Cole
PBS, 8pm
Devastated Maggie heads to the local pub to obtain a room, only to face another townsperson wronged by radio-gate. Becka and Maggie share a rare moment, putting things into perspective for Maggie. Karen surprises Peter in a borderline terrifying way.
The Reagans
Showtime, 8pm
New Series!
Directed by Matt Tyrnauer (Valentino: The Last Emperor), this four-part documentary series focuses on the rise and reign of America’s ultimate power couple: Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Evocative archival footage and illuminating contemporary interviews examine Nancy’s central role in her husband’s career, the darker aspects of the Reagans’ climb to power, and how the political tactics used in the ’60s and ’70s became a progenitor of our current national politics.
Michael Caine Double Feature
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Enjoy a couple of different facets that legendary British actor Michael Caine can bring to his performances with tonight’s two-film lineup. First up is The Ipcress File, the 1965 BAFTA-winning spy thriller starring Caine in the first of his big-screen appearances as secret agent Harry Palmer. The film offers a grittier, more down-to-earth look at espionage work compared with the James Bond movies that had begun a few years earlier, while still being an exciting watch. Up next is Gambit (1966), the Oscar-nominated heist comedy in which Caine and Shirley MacLaine play criminals trying to acquire a priceless antiquity from a millionaire (Herbert Lom).
Rock Legends: “Spector Years”
AXS TV, 8:30pm
Tonight’s episode looks at famous groups who were, at some point, guided to greatness by legendary music producer Phil Spector: the Righteous Brothers, the Ronettes and the Shirelles.
The 2020 E! People’s Choice Awards
E!, 9pm Live
The global, fan-driven awards show will celebrate the year’s best in movies, TV, music and pop culture. The telecast will celebrate an unprecedented year in pop culture, bring together the entertainment community and its fans, and honor the everyday heroes who’ve inspired us throughout the year.
Candy Land
Food Network, 9pm
New Series!
Sweet dreams are made of this: Hasbro’s board game comes to life in a new competition for professional confectioners in Candy Land (premiering Sunday on Food Network). After finding ingredients hidden somewhere in Candy Land — say, Lemon Lime Springs or the Gumdrop Mountains — five teams of sugar specialists take on various challenges, creating candied mythical creatures, one-of-a-kind gifts for King Kandy and more. Their work is judged by Spring Baking Championship’s winning chocolatier Nacho Aguirre and Food Network Star’s Season 6 victor, Aarti Sequeira. Over six episodes, Emmy and Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth guides contestants through the Wonka-worthy interpretations of classic Candy Land locations. “When I got on set, I freaked out,” she says. “[We] are physically in the game. It looks beautiful.” Good enough to eat, actually. “The entire set was edible,” the admitted chocolate fan notes, laughing. “You could pick something off a tree and eat it. They didn’t want us to, but by the end of the night, just try and stop me!”
Killer in Question: “The Man With the Rabbit’s Foot”
Investigation Discovery, 9pm
In 1997, three bodies are found in the walk-in refrigerator of a gas station in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Two years later, Thomas Cisco, an acquaintance of one of the victims, confesses to the murders. But family members of the victims are not at peace with Cisco’s confession, as mistrust of their parish’s law enforcement runs deep — especially when it comes to the longtime sheriff, whose son resembles a composite sketch released to the public. Cisco also proves to be unreliable in his accounts, and though he is sentenced to 90 years in prison for the murders, many — including the victims’ families — still believe he has an accomplice who roams free.
Roadkill
PBS, 9pm
Peter is the defendant at the family dinner table. As friends, family, employees and even a dead person turn against him, he follows his motto: “Keep moving forward.”
The Good Lord Bird
Showtime, 9pm
Series Finale!
As the adaptation closes, federal troops surround fabled abolitionist John Brown (Ethan Hawke) at Harpers Ferry. It’s time for Brown’s (fictitious) young ward, Onion (Joshua Caleb Johnson), to fight or flee.
A Year in Music: “2005”
AXS TV, 9:30pm
Host Lzzy Hale takes you back to the unforgettable year of 2005. She examines the year’s musical breakups, humanitarianism and Mariah Carey’s “emancipation” that broke sales records. The year also saw the birth of YouTube and the nation giving back after Hurricane Katrina devastated the South.
First Ladies: “Lady Bird Johnson”
CNN, 10pm
President Lyndon Johnson’s administration enacted the Civil Rights Act, one of the most prolific legislative programs in U.S. history. But it likely wouldn’t have succeeded without Lady Bird Johnson’s steadying presence. Catapulted, by the assassination of John F. Kennedy, into a first lady role she did not prepare for, Lady Bird played a vital role in shaping her husband’s presidency.
The Christmas Doctor
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, 10pm
Original Film!
A week before Christmas, Dr. Alicia Wright (Holly Robinson Peete) is offered an assignment away from home. A mysterious man (Adrian Holmes) from her past journeys to find her before Christmas and brings with him a revelation that could change Alicia’s life forever.
Murder on Middle Beach
HBO, 10pm
New Series!
In this compelling four-part docuseries, the son of a Connecticut divorcée seeks answers in her unsolved murder, camera in hand. For starters, why is his dad so secretive?
Uncensored: “Black Hollywood”
TV One, 10pm
If you don’t have a seat at the table, sometimes you have to create your own. Black Hollywood has been making major contributions to TV and film for decades — whether recognized or not — and it’s not stopping any time soon. In this episode, entertainers Nia Long, Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold and more reminisce on their time in Black Hollywood.
Moonbase 8: “Rats”
Showtime, 11pm
In the new episode “Rats,” Rook (Tim Heidecker) is homesick and considers leaving Moonbase 8, and Cap (John C. Reilly) chases a prowler going through the base’s garbage.
Monday, Nov. 16
The Neighborhood
CBS, 8pm
Season Premiere!
In the Season 3 premiere episode “Welcome to the Movement,” the Butlers and Johnsons unite when a member of their community is the victim of racial injustice.
NFL Football: Minnesota at Chicago
ESPN, 8pm Live
A big NFC North matchup has Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings at Chicago’s Soldier Field to take on Khalil Mack and the Bears on Monday Night Football.
Greek Island Odyssey With Bettany Hughes
Smithsonian Channel, 8pm
New Series!
The historian takes a 1,700-mile sea voyage inspired by legendary Greek warrior Odysseus’ homeward journey after his Trojan War victory.
Star of the Month: Shelley Winters: “Scene Stealing Supporting Roles”
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Whether as a film’s lead or in a supporting capacity, Shelley Winters was always memorable, and could often steal a scene, as this evening’s lineup of Winters classics shows. The night begins with the actress’ Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winning role in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). The evening continues with Winters’ roles in Robert Wise’s 1959 film noir Odds Against Tomorrow; in another Wise film, the 1954 drama Executive Suite; and headlining the drama Tennessee Champ (1954) — which marked Winters’ first film in nearly two years after a short-lived marriage and the birth of her daughter, but which showed she had not lost a step during that hiatus when it came to acting.
Bob (Hearts) Abishola
CBS, 8:30pm
Season Premiere!
Bob’s (Billy Gardell) plans to propose to Abishola (Folake Olowofoyeku) hit a snag when she reveals her belief that traditional marriage is more trouble than it’s worth. Barry Shabaka Henley also stars in the Season 2 premiere episode “On a Dead Guy’s Bench.”
All Rise
CBS, 9pm
Season Premiere!
“We call it the ‘awakening’ of All Rise,” co-showrunner Dee Harris-Lawrence says of the courthouse drama’s second season. “We are reflecting what is happening in the real world. And Lola will be right in the center of it all” — quite literally, it seems, in the two-part opener (concluding Nov. 23). The story begins last summer, when protesters in Los Angeles took to the streets. As Judge Lola Carmichael (Simone Missick) and prosecutor Mark Callan (Wilson Bethel) are heading home, says Harris-Lawrence, she “inserts herself into a situation” between a teen girl and police and is detained. Mark’s and Lola’s different takes on the encounter test their friendship, which hasn’t fully recovered four months later when Mark — heading a Special Trials Unit — argues a case in her courtroom. Repercussions from that night ripple throughout the season, which also introduces law clerk Vanessa “Ness” Johnson (Samantha Marie Ware). An extremely smart Harvard grad with zero filter, she too sees things differently than boss Lola on occasion. Says the producer: “They’re going to push each other.”
His Dark Materials
HBO, 9pm
Season Premiere!
In Season 2 of the dark fantasy series, based on Philip Pullman’s YA trilogy, gifted young explorer Lyra (Dafne Keen) adventures alongside pragmatic peer Will (Amir Wilson): “We see her learn it’s not always the right thing to fly into a situation,” teases executive producer Jane Tranter.
Twisted Sisters: “The Good Sister”
Investigation Discovery, 9pm
A serious childhood illness limits the mental development of Debbie Burns, requiring her older sister Barbara to care for her. For nearly 40 years, the sisters live a modest, peaceful life together in St. Petersburg, Florida. But a substantial inheritance disturbs the calm in the Burns home, pitting one sister against the other until, finally, one of them snaps.
Bull
CBS, 10pm
Season Premiere!
The TAC (Trial Analysis Corporation) team weathers New York City’s pandemic-related shutdown and discovers how hard it is to work their magic in a virtual court system.
Independent Lens: “Jonathan Scott’s Power Trip”
PBS, 10pm
Follow home renovation expert Jonathan Scott on his mission to flip the switch on how Americans access power. He travels the country and interviews a host of experts, and quickly learns how little choice the public has in how they source energy.
Tuesday, Nov. 17
TCM Morning & Afternoon Movie: Humphrey Bogart
TCM, beginning at 6am
Catch a Classic!
What better way for a fan of classic movies to spend a morning and afternoon than by watching one of the iconic acting names from Hollywood’s golden age doing what he does best? You’ll have that chance today when Humphrey Bogart takes the spotlight in over 12 hours of films. The day begins with Bogie in one of his few bad-guy roles, as Duke Mantee in 1936’s The Petrified Forest, alongside Bette Davis and Leslie Howard. Next, Bogart plays another tarnished character, Red Kennedy, who tries to break out of the title prison in San Quentin (1937). Among other highlights today are Bogart in some of his most recognizable heroic (but still darker-edged) roles, including as private eyes in two legendary film noirs — Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Philip Marlowe (alongside eventual wife Lauren Bacall) in The Big Sleep (1946) — and as desperate gold-seeker Fred C. Dobbs in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).
NCIS
CBS, 8pm
Season Premiere!
Season 18 of NCIS opens with “Sturgeon Season,” in which Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Fornell (guest star Joe Spano) attempt to track down the leader of a drug ring who supplied drugs to Fornell’s daughter.
Finding Your Roots: “Flight”
PBS, 8pm
Henry Louis Gates Jr. meets actors Scarlett Johansson and Lupita Nyong’o and chef Lidia Bastianich, whose families crisscrossed the globe to escape oppression and find opportunity.
FBI
CBS, 9pm
Season Premiere!
The flagship series opens with a search for the killers behind a mass shooting at a media company.
Rise of the Nazis: “The First Six Months in Power”
PBS, 9pm
Discover the measures Chancellor Hitler takes to dismantle the German state. The Nazis have the power to ban free speech, books are burned, and Jewish people, gay people and those holding anti-Nazi beliefs begin to disappear.
Big Sky
ABC, 10pm
New Series!
A private detective agency in Montana made up of Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury) and Cody Hoyt (Ryan Phillippe) joins forces with Cody’s estranged wife and ex-cop Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick) to investigate the disappearance of two sisters kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway.
FBI: Most Wanted
CBS, 10pm
Season Premiere!
The team hunts a hacker with a shocking final target.
Beyond Oak Island
History, 10pm
New Series!
From the producers of The Curse of Oak Island and The UnXplained comes this eight-episode docuseries hosted by real-life treasure hunters Rick and Marty Lagina. It chronicles the greatest treasure hunts of the past, present and (perhaps) future, featuring interviews with treasure hunters, historians and experts, as well as on-location treasure hunts in progress. In the premiere, when a young treasure hunter tells Rick and Marty he is hunting for the long-lost treasure of pirate Jean Lafitte, the brothers are so intrigued they send Matty Blake to assist.
Wednesday, Nov. 18
Holiday Home Makeover With Mr. Christmas
Netflix
New Series!
Benjamin Bradley, a.k.a. Mr. Christmas, is a veteran in the interior design industry and has a healthy obsession with the holiday season. For Mr. Christmas, the holidays are all about celebrating love, life, family and friends through meaningful traditions. In this series, Bradley takes viewers behind the scenes as he puts his design expertise and vast Christmas collection to good use. Equipped with lights, garlands and enough tinsel to blanket the North Pole, he and his team of elves work around the clock to bring holiday cheer to families and communities deserving of a home makeover for the most joyous time of year.
Yentl
TCM, 9:15am
Catch a Classic!
Barbra Streisand stars in, cowrote and made her Golden Globe-winning directorial debut with this bittersweet, Oscar-winning 1983 drama based on Isaac Bashevis Singer’s short story “Yentl the Yeshiva Boy.” In early 1900s Europe, a young Jewish woman (Streisand) dresses as a man in order to study the Hebrew scriptures. But she soon finds herself in the middle of an unconventional love triangle, caught between a fellow student (Mandy Patinkin) and his fiancée (Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Amy Irving). The film’s lovely score won an Oscar; two of its songs — “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” and “The Way He Makes Me Feel” — were Oscar nominees.
Devils
The CW, 8pm
After uncovering yet another link between his mentor Dominic (Patrick Dempsey) and the death of their colleague, international banker Massimo (Alessandro Borghi) fears his fate.
Nature: “Primates: Protecting Primates”
PBS, 8pm
More than half of the world’s primates are under threat. Meet the scientists making groundbreaking discoveries to safeguard their future.
The Conners
ABC, 9pm
Cupid may finally bring unlucky-in-love Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) some happiness. Louise’s (Katey Sagal) brother, Neville (guest star Nat Faxon, Friends From College), falls head over heels for her!
The Real Housewives of Orange County
Bravo, 9pm
As COVID-19 creeps across the U.S., frenemies Kelly Dodd and Shannon Storms Beador argue about … their competing lines of beverages. Meanwhile, Braunwyn Windham-Burke and her husband, Sean, renew their vows in front of an ordained drag queen.
For Life
ABC, 10pm
Season Premiere!
In the final moments of the drama’s first season, newly elected state attorney general Glen Maskins (Boris McGiver) offered wrongly convicted inmate Aaron Wallace (Nicholas Pinnock) clemency if he’ll just drop the case — and threatened to go after Aaron’s wife, Marie (Joy Bryant), if he won’t. “It’s what [Aaron] does in the face of that decision that will change all the characters’ lives forever,” says series creator Hank Steinberg, warning fans not to assume that Season 2 will revolve around Aaron’s retrial.
History’s Wild
History, 10pm
New Series!
Throughout history, humans have been drawn to the natural world and have attempted to tame it. But sometimes, it just won’t be tamed, and after all these years, Mother Nature still has a lot to teach us. In each episode of this series, host Greg Aiello, a professional outdoorsman and explorer, will use innovative graphics and animation to analyze jaw-dropping user-generated footage of the natural world. Back-to-back half-hour episodes air each week.
Secrets of the Dead: “Gangster’s Gold”
PBS, 10pm
Join three groups of treasure hunters, armed with modern technology and newly uncovered clues, as they set out to find the lost treasure of notorious Prohibition-era gangster Dutch Schultz and solve an 85-year-old mystery.
Thursday, Nov. 19
The Princess Switch: Switched Again
Netflix
Original Film!
When Duchess Margaret (Vanessa Hudgens) unexpectedly inherits the throne to Montenaro and hits a rough patch with boyfriend Kevin, it’s up to her double, Princess Stacy of Belgravia (Hudgens), to get these star-crossed lovers back together. But the course of true love is complicated by the appearance of a handsome royal who is intent on stealing Margaret’s heart. Throw in the unexpected arrival of Margaret’s outrageous party girl cousin Fiona (Hudgens) — a third lookalike who has ambitions of her own — and you have the recipe for Christmas triple trouble.
The Sea Wolves
TCM, 5:45pm
Catch a Classic!
Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and David Niven headline this 1980 war film that recalls thrilling World War II adventure movies like The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare, and is based on an actual incident that occurred during World War II that was kept classified by the British government until 1978. In 1943, German merchant vessels off neutral Goa (a Portuguese colony on India’s western coast; this movie was shot on location there) transmit information about Allied ships to a predatory U-boat. Unable to launch a raid in neutral waters, the British draft some “unofficial” and unlikely commandoes — the gray-haired British expatriates of the Calcutta Light Horse — to stop them.
Live From Daryl’s House: “Ben Folds”
AXS TV, 8pm
Alt-rock mainstay Ben Folds talks and jams with host Daryl Hall.
Supernatural: The Long Road Home
The CW, 8pm
Just ahead of the long-running series airing its final episode after 15 years, this hourlong retrospective special will look back at the Winchester brothers’ (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) journey that has brought them to this point.
NFL Football: Arizona at Seattle
FOX & NFL Network, 8pm Live
An NFC West matchup takes place at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field as the Arizona Cardinals visit Russell Wilson and the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football.
Supernatural
The CW, 9pm
Series Finale!
After 15 seasons, the journey of Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) in this hit horror/fantasy/drama series comes to an end. Details of the finale were kept under wraps at presstime, but given how the show’s stars and creative team are as passionate toward their fans as the fans are to them, you can surely expect something memorable and special.
Total Bellas
E!, 9pm
Retired pro wrestlers and sisters Nikki and Brie Bella tag-team pregnancy in Season 6 of their reality series. While Brie frets about a repeat of the difficult birth she had with daughter Birdie, she encourages Nikki to resolve tensions with the rest of the family.
A Million Little Things
ABC, 10pm
Season Premiere!
The new season finds Regina’s (Christina Moses) anger over the lost baby threatening to tear her and Rome (Romany Malco) apart. With Gary (James Roday Rodriguez) putting ex Maggie (Allison Miller) in the friend zone last season, now we find him exploring his heritage in a storyline mirroring the actor’s decision to reclaim his birth name. And Eddie’s (David Giuntoli) accident may not be an accident at all: “We pick up with Katherine on that call … the phone was knocked out of Eddie’s hands and someone picks it up,” tells showrunner D.J. Nash.
The Holzer Files: “Final Word”
Travel Channel, 10pm
Famed ghost hunter Hans Holzer visited Ohio’s Franklin Castle many times, each time experiencing terrible technical difficulties and never able to pinpoint the exact cause of the uncanny happenings plaguing the owners of the house for years. Now, Dave Schrader, Cindy Kaza and Shane Pittman return, witnessing the troubled spirit manifest before their eyes. But their biggest discovery is something Holzer himself missed. They restore his jumbled audio recording to find a hidden voice and the key to the castle’s haunting.
Friday, Nov. 20
Alien Xmas
Netflix
Original Film!
In this fun film for the whole family, when a race of kleptomaniac aliens attempts to steal Earth’s gravity in order to more easily take everything on the planet, only the gift-giving spirit of Christmas and a small alien named X can save the world.
College Football: Syracuse at Lousville
ESPN, 7pm Live
Friday night college football on ESPN has the Syracuse Orange at the Louisville Cardinals.
Beast-Kept Secrets
Animal Planet, 8pm
In this fun-loving British import, snowboarders turned TV presenters Tim Warwood and Adam Gendle join wildlife experts across the globe to perform experiments that answer their wildest questions about the animal kingdom. Tonight, in Guyana: Can an electric eel kill you?
A Taste of Christmas
Lifetime, 8pm
Original Film!
When Natalie (Anni Krueger) learns her cousin Francesca (Nia Vardalos) must cancel the Christmas Eve opening of her new Italian restaurant, Natalie’s heart goes out to all of the guests who were planning on attending. Since no one should be alone on Christmas, Natalie decides to make the opening happen any way she can.
COVID: Race Against the Virus
Smithsonian Channel, 8pm
In this riveting documentary, personal video diaries from key scientists and intensive care doctors on the front lines track their real-time efforts to identify the virus — and their realization that it’s “disease X,” the global pandemic they feared was coming.
TCM Spotlight: Under the Big Top
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Tonight’s visit to the circus on TCM features a variety of genres whose stories are told under the big top. First up is Man on a Tightrope (1953), which was directed by Elia Kazan and whose fictional story is based on the real-life escape of the Circus Brumbach from East Germany in 1950 (members of the actual Circus Brumbach appear in character roles and as extras in the film). Then, in the musical Merry Andrew (1958), Danny Kaye plays an unconventional teacher who takes up with a traveling circus. The final film is Federico Fellini’s acclaimed La Strada (1954, in Italian with English subtitles), which won an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for its screenplay. It tells the story of Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina), a simple-minded young woman who is bought from her mother by Zampanò (Anthony Quinn), a brutish strongman/street performer who takes her with him on the road, where she endures physical and emotional pain.
Holiday Crafters Gone Wild
HGTV, 9pm
Four teams of craft lovers deck the halls (and the dinner table, and the holiday tree…) on this two-hour decor competition. Designer Kim Myles and party planner Michael Russo judge which team walks away with a $10,000 prize.
The New York Times Presents
FX, 10pm
From the newspaper of record: The docuseries investigates how a 17-year-old from Florida allegedly posed as a Twitter employee and masterminded last summer’s lucrative, high-profile hack of celebrity accounts including Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Kanye West and Barack Obama.
Saturday, Nov. 21
Wizarding World Week
Syfy, beginning at 10:30am
Syfy will air several hours of Harry Potter universe-themed movies each day starting today and through Nov. 25. Today’s lineup features Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). See the listings section for more details on the titles and times for the week.
A Nashville Christmas Carol
Hallmark Channel, 8pm
Original Film!
Vivienne Wake (Jessy Schram), a workaholic television producer in charge of a country music Christmas special showcasing newcomer Alexis (RaeLynn), never lets personal feelings get in the way of business. On the verge of accepting a job in L.A., and with the return of Gavin Chase (Wes Brown), her childhood sweetheart and manager to the special’s headliner, Belinda (Sara Evans), she receives a visit from the ghost of her recently deceased mentor, Marilyn (Wynonna Judd). Her mentor warns her current path leads to a dark future and has recruited both the Spirit of Christmas Past (Kix Brooks) and the Spirit of Christmas Present (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) to help her get back on track. The Spirits’ time-jumping adventures force Vivienne to take hold of her life.
Between the World and Me
HBO, 8pm
Based on the novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates and its original 2018 stage adaptation at the Apollo Theater, this special combines elements of that production and incorporates documentary footage from the actors’ home life, archival footage and animation. The cast includes Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Angela Davis, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Janet Mock, Joe Morton, Wendell Pierce, Phylicia Rashad, Yara Shahidi, Courtney B. Vance, Olivia Washington, Susan Kelechi Watson, Michelle Wilson and Oprah Winfrey.
Feliz NaviDAD
Lifetime, 8pm
Original Film!
Melissa Joan Hart reunites with Mario Lopez (the two starred in the 2007 hit movie Holiday in Handcuffs), this time as director of this feel-good charmer. Lopez stars as David Morales, an Arizona high school principal and single dad, who will do anything to avoid Christmas after losing his wife a few years ago during the season. But this year his daughter and live-in sister are determined to bring the yuletide spirit back to the family.
Pretty Cheaters, Deadly Lies
LMN, 8pm
Original Film!
After being tricked into a compromising situation by her cousin Madison (Sydney Meyer), Hanna (Keara Graves), a high school senior, thinks she can stop her cousin’s blackmail scheme by taking her college entrance exam for her. But nothing is enough for Madison and her plans soon become deadly.
Face the Future
TCM, beginning at 8pm
Catch a Classic!
Tonight’s double-feature on Turner Classic Movies features two movies that looked at the future — one with a bit more hopeful outlook on how humanity will progress, the other a dystopian vision of where we are headed. First up in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), which, while not entirely accurate in its prediction of where humanity and technology would be in the 21st century, has some close guesses and remains one of the most stunningly realistic depictions of space travel in movie history, thanks to its Oscar-winning visual effects. Tonight’s second film is THX 1138 (1971), which was Star Wars creator George Lucas’ feature film directorial debut (based off a student film he made at USC), and is a different type of sci-fi experience than what fans of Star Wars may be expecting from Lucas. It’s a tale set in a dystopian future where the population is controlled by android police and the mandatory use of emotion-suppressing drugs, a world a man (Robert Duvall) given simply the designation THX 1138 instead of a name tries to escape.
The Angel Tree
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, 9pm
Original Film!
A writer (Jill Wagner) seeks the identity of the person who helps grant wishes that are placed upon the angel tree, and in the process, reconnects with her childhood friend (Lucas Bryant).
History’s Greatest Mysteries: “Titanic’s Lost Evidence”
History, 9pm
For 108 years, a dust-covered box has remained hidden in a British manor house and may contain evidence that will rewrite the most famous maritime disaster in history. This box contains the personal notes of Lord Mersey, the respected British jurist and politician charged with investigating the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. The History channel has secured permission to open it — a first in history. Tonight’s episode of History’s Greatest Mysteries will explore the contents of the box, which contains information about the Titanic’s voyage, including new context on fatal mistakes allegedly made by the captain and crew.
Ghost Nation: “Stairway to Hell”
Travel Channel, 9pm
Jason Hawes, Steve Gonsalves, Dave Tango and Shari DeBenedetti head to central New Jersey to investigate a haunting that hits close to home for Dave. Joined by his father, Bruce Tango, the team descends on the town of Matawan and the striking Colonial-era Burrowes Mansion. On a prior visit to the property, Bruce says he saw the apparition of a little girl, a life-altering sighting that seems to back up one of the many long-held claims of paranormal activity. During their investigation, the team hears unexplained footsteps, voices and other anomalies. Perhaps their most alarming discovery is in the notoriously active attic, site of the property’s former slave quarters — a mysterious set of markings that just might hold the key to unlocking the disturbances rocking Burrowes Mansion.
