FIRST LOOK
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ON TELEVISION (THURSDAY 12/22/16)
ABC: A Charlie Brown Christmas at 8pm
LIFETIME: Project Runway: Junior (Premiere) at 10pm
LIFETIME: Project Runway (Finale) at 8pm
SCIENCE: World’s Biggest Shipbuilders (Finale) at 10pm
USA: Falling Water (Finale) at 10pm
WE TV: Growing Up Hip Hop (Finale) at 9pm
Katie Couric and Matt Lauer are reuniting on NBC’s Today. Couric is heading back to her old stomping grounds as guest-host for a week, beginning Monday, January 2, while Savannah Guthrie is on maternity leave. Couric co-anchored the NBC morning show from 1991 until 2006, when she accepted CBS’s offer to anchor its evening newscast. She left that gig when her contract expired in May 2011, and has been global anchor for Yahoo News since 2014.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Fox News displaced ESPN as the #1 most-viewed channel for 2016. According to Nielsen, the cable news net averaged 2.5 million viewers for the year, compared to 1.9 million viewers for ESPN. That’s a 36 percent spike in viewership for FNC in 2016, versus a 15 percent dip for the sports network. The 2016 presidential election played a pivotal role in lifting all cable news numbers – CNN increased viewership by 77 percent, while MSNBC had an 86 percent boost.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Doug Herzog, president of Viacom’s music and entertainment group, is leaving the company effective January 12. Herzog had served as head of a number of the company’s top cable channels, including Comedy Central and MTV. His exit comes a week after Bob Bakish was named CEO of the company, following a stint as interim head.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Comcast’s bid to toss out a $25 million tax bill relating to its failed attempt to buy MediaOne in 1999 was rejected by a California appeals court, which upheld a lower court ruling stipulating that the company was on the hook to pay state taxes on a $1.5 billion termination fee. That was paid to the Philadelphia cable operator when MediaOne nixed its $60 billion merger agreement with Comcast and instead was purchased by AT&T. Comcast, of course, eventually acquired all of MediaOne’s systems upon the acquisition of AT&T’s cable assets. “We are evaluating our options regarding California and the $25 million,” said Comcast spokesman John Demming in an email to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
(Source: Cynopsis)
O.J.: Made in America is headed to Viceland, courtesy of a deal struck between VICE Media and ESPN Films. The documentary airs Sunday, January 1 at 4p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Smithsonian Channel’s Rock’N’Roll Inventions, exploring the way technology has revolutionized the music business, bows Monday, January 16 at 8p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
TV One’s Fatal Attraction and For My Man return to “True Crime Monday” on January 2. Season 6 of Fatal Attraction bows with a double-episode presentation at 8p, followed by Season 3 of For My Man at 10p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Kitchen Sink premieres on Food Network Sunday, January 15 at 11a with three new co-hosts: Food Network Star winner Tregaye Fraser, chef Spike Mendelsohn and cookbook author Fanny Slater.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Tia Mowry serves up easy-to-make recipes when Tia Mowry at Home bows Sunday, January 8 at 8:30p on Cooking Channel. Joining her on the new season are Naya Rivera, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Kelly Rowland and more.
(Source: Cynopsis)
MTV closes out the year with tributes to artists who passed away in 2016, including David Bowie, Prince, Phife Dawg, Sharon Jones, Leonard Cohen and more. In Memoriam 2016 begins airing Monday, December 26 at 7p, with Epic.Awesome.Videos: David Bowie Tribute, and continues throughout the week.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Esquire celebrates the new year with a “Bond, James Bond” marathon. A full day programming takeover of Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond begins with Goldeneye on Monday, January 2 at 7a, followed by Tomorrow Never Dies, World is not Enough and Die Another Day.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Noticias Telemundo presents the US premiere of Astral on Sunday, December 25 at 11:30a. The doc examines hardships experienced by immigrants attempting perilous voyages across the Mediterranean Sea to reach European ports.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Live from Lincoln Center rings in 2017 with New York Philharmonic New Year’s Eve: Enchanted Evening on PBS. Mo Rocco hosts with opera star Joyce Didonato and Tony award winner Paulo Szot on Saturday, December 31 at 8p (check local listings).
(Source: Cynopsis)
Syfy’s annual marathon of The Twilight Zone airs from Saturday, December 31 at 6a through Monday, January 2 at 4a. This year, Syfy is letting fans choose which episodes air during primetime on Sunday, January 1 from 8p to 11p; starting at 7:30p, viewers can cast their votes for one of two competing episodes by tweeting the specially created episode hashtags to the official Syfy handle, @Syfy.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The world’s greatest collector car auction, Barrett-Jackson Live, jump starts the new year as bidders vie for exceptional autos live. The action begins Tuesday, January 17 at 6p on Velocity and runs through Sunday, January 22. Auction action airs on Discovery Channel on Saturday, January 21 at 3p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Fences star Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder) takes the stage in Bravo Media’s Inside the Actors Studio on Thursday, January 5 at 8p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Starz debuts the U.S. television premiere of The Rolling Stones Ole! Ole! Ole!: A Trip Across Latin America on Sunday, January 15 at 9p and Havana Moon on Sunday, January 22 at 9p. The docs offer a look into the world of the Rolling Stones, following their early 2016 tour through 10 Latin American cities and historic finale in Havana, Cuba.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Shakespeare Live! comes to Thirteen’s Great Performances on Friday, December 23 at 9p on PBS to conclude the 2016 PBS Arts Fall Festival )check local listings.) The special celebrates the international legacy of Shakespeare from The Bard’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon.
(Source: Cynopsis)
American Masters: By Sidney Lumet premieres Tuesday, January 3 at 8p on PBS as the series’ Season 31 premiere. An interview with Treat Williams, who starred in Lumet’s Prince of the City, follows.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Ann-Margret joined upcoming David E. Kelley series Mr. Mercedes, the AT&T Audience Network drama based on the Stephen King book of the same name.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Hulu religious-cult drama The Path nabbed Melanie Griffith to guest star on its second season, debuting January 25.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Regular Show returns to Cartoon Network on Saturday, January 14 with back-to-back episodes at 12p, leading into the show’s hour-long finale on Monday, January 16 at 6p. In addition, Steven Universe bows Monday, January 30 at 7p, Adventure Time debuts Monday, January 23 at 7:30p, and Adventure Time: Islands, an all-new eight-part mini-series, premieres Monday, January 30 at 7:30p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee returns to Crackle, Sony‘s streaming network, on Thursday, January 5. The show’s ninth season features six original episodes and includes guests Bob Einstein (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Cedric the Entertainer, Christoph Waltz, Kristen Wiig, Lewis Black (The Daily Show) and Norm Macdonald (Saturday Night Live).
(Source: Cynopsis)
Rock The Troops, hosted by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, was the most-watched Spike tentpole event in 4 years, garnering 2.2 million viewers. (Includes all telecasts on Spike and other Viacom networks).
(Source: Cynopsis)
TV One was a Top 5 Cable Network on Monday Nights among AA P25-54 and W25-54, thanks to True Crime Monday (2016 to-date). The line-up finished off 4Q16 with double-digit increases year-over-year among P18-34 (up 39 percent, W18-34 (up 33 percent).
(Source: Cynopsis)
Keely's Korner 