tv Faith, music, adoption among special topics

tv
By Regina Phillips
The KLBC Buzz Editor
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol could
make ya’ famous, but this ain’t the
attention anybody should want. TLC will
debut “D.U.I.” at 8 p.m. Dec. 1. The reality
series revolves solely around drunkdriving suspects. The promo shows
at least one face familiar around here,
Durant native and OHP Capt. Ronnie
Hampton, taking care of business. Might
recognize some other folks too.
“Game of Your Life” — the next
installment of the Procter & Gamble
and Wal-mart “Family Movie Night”
series — will premiere at 7 p.m. Dec. 2
on NBC. Synopsis: Zach Taylor lands a
scholarship to an exclusive video-game
design program. Facing a freshmen
project that will eliminate half the class,
Zach finds out his father is in financial
trouble. He must make a choice that will
affect his future and the lives of everyone
around him. Starring Nathan Kress
(Freddie on “iCarly”), Titus Makin Jr.
(David on “Glee”) and Lea Thompson
(“Caroline in the City”)
CBS Sports’ college basketball coverage
will tip off at 11 a.m. Dec. 3 with North
Carolina at Kentucky. The network’s
schedule includes 44 regular-season
contests (only two women’s games),
five conference championships and the
Big Ten semifinals. This month’s other
match-ups: Duke vs. Washington, Dec.
10; Memphis at Louisville, Dec. 17; and
Louisville at Kentucky, Dec. 31.
“Finding Common Ground: Today’s
Interfaith Movement” will be broadcast
Dec. 4 on CBS. The program will focus
on a networking of different faiths within
communities, college campuses and
internationally. It features interviews with
Rev. Dirk Ficca, Chicago-based Council
for a Parliament of the World’s Religions
executive director, and Eboo Patel,
Interfaith Youth Core founder/president.
The Disney Channel will debut its
newest live-action series, “Austin & Ally,”
at 7 p.m. Dec. 4. The main characters
in this comedy are wannabe musicians
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THE KLBC BUZZ
PROGRAMMING NOTES
Faith, music, adoption among special topics
— Austin, an extroverted singer, and Ally,
a brilliant but very shy songwriter. When
Austin “borrows” one of Ally’s songs and
records it, the video becomes an overnight
Internet sensation and the two join forces.
The American Country Awards will air
Dec. 5 on Fox. Trace Adkins will host
again, this time joined by singer/actress
Kristin Chenoweth.
Jesse James will compete against
Discovery Channel’s “American
Chopper” father-son stars Paul Teutul
Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr. for the title of
master bike builder in a special to air
at 8 p.m. Dec. 5-6. The first night will
show pre-taped footage of the men
constructing their bikes. Then, viewers
can vote on the three finished products.
The winner will be crowned live in Las
Vegas the second night.
With Chord Overstreet returning to
“Glee” as Sam, viewers also will get to
see his parents in the Dec. 6 episode.
John Schneider (“Dukes of Hazzard,”
“Smallville”) and Tanya Clarke
(“Guiding Light”) have been cast as Mr.
and Mrs. Evans. Watch “Glee” at 7 p.m.
Tuesdays on Fox.
Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Lady
Antebellum, Brad Paisley and Taylor
Swift will be honored during CMT’s
“Artists of the Year” special airing at
8 p.m. Dec. 13. Rob Lowe (“The West
Wing,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “Parks
and Recreation”) will host. Criteria for
selecting the five acts included music
sales, country radio airplay, concert
grosses as a headliner or co-headliner,
video streams, and searches and page
views on CMT.com.
New trivia game show “Who’s Still
Standing?” will launch in a four-day run,
at 7 p.m. Dec. 19-22, on NBC. Hosted by
Ben Bailey (“Cash Cab”), it’s based on a
hit Israeli game show. A main competitor
and 10 challengers engage in trivia battles
for a chance to win $1 million. Players
who answer incorrectly are dropped
through trap doors. After the initial stint
tied to the holidays (as the network did
with “The Sing-Off” in previous years),
DECEMBER 2011
“Who’s Still Standing” will be on at 7 p.m.
Mondays Dec. 26-Jan. 30.
“VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul” will air at
8 p.m. Dec. 19. Doing their own hits and
some soul classics, this year’s performers
are Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson,
Jill Scott, Florence + The Machine,
Kelly Clarkson and Jessie J. The Roots
will serve as house band, Questlove as
musical director. The concert series again
will benefit the VH1 Save the Music
Foundation, which aims to restore music
education in public schools.
The 13th annual “A Home for the
Holidays with Martina McBride” will
start at 7 p.m. Dec. 21 on CBS. The special
tells stories about adoption from foster
care, highlighting American children
and families involved in the process.
Celebrities set to make presentations
include Denise Richards, who adopted
an infant girl earlier this year, and actress
Katherine Heigl, who brought home a
daughter from South Korea, homeland
of her adopted sister, Meg Heigl-Beltran,
who’ll also participate. McBride will
perform, as will Justin Bieber, Mary J.
Blige, Gavin DeGraw, OneRepublic and
Christina Perri.
CBS will broadcast the Kennedy Center
Honors at 8 p.m. Dec. 27. This year’s
honorees are singer Barbara Cook,
singer/songwriter Neil Diamond, cellist
Yo-Yo Ma, saxophonist/composer Sonny
Rollins and actress Meryl Streep.
TLC will debut “Extreme Couponing
All-Stars” at 9 p.m. Dec. 27. It will feature
a dozen of the original series’ standouts
competing in a shopping challenge. Two
contestants per episode will have to
buy $500 worth of items in 30 minutes,
nothing full price, then the best three will
face off in the finale. What they round up
will be donated to charity.
Dick Clark’s annual countdown to the
big calendar flip will start with a 40th
anniversary celebration at 7 p.m. Dec. 31
on ABC. After that two-hour segment
will be the “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”
featuring Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber
performing live from Times Square.
Whether Stifler’s mom in “American Pie”
or a “bend and snap” trainee in “Legally
Blonde,” Jennifer Coolidge is a popular
supporting actress. Now, a recurring
role has been specifically created for her
on “2 Broke Girls.” The CBS sitcom
will welcome Coolidge as Sophie, new
neighbor of Max (Kat Dennings) and
Caroline (Beth Behrs). “2 Broke Girls” is
on at 7:30 p.m. Mondays.
“Saturday Night Live” alumna Ana
Gasteyer has been made a series regular
on ABC sitcom “Suburgatory.” She’s
on-again, off-again PTA president Sheila
Shay. Also the controlling mother of Lisa
(Allie Grant) and neighbor to George
(Jeremy Sisto) and Tessa (Jane Levy),
Gasteyer described the character as a
“well-intended nightmare.” Suburgatory
airs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays.
Production has been shut down on
NBC’s “Prime Suspect” after filming
the 13th episode. It’s virtually a death
sentence for the detective drama starring
Maria Bello. Boo.
judge Simon Cowell delivered the
news during the singing competition’s
second live installment.
CBS will start another installment of
“Survivor” Feb. 15 and ordered two more
for the 2012-13 broadcast season. Those
three will be the 24th-26th editions.
No shocker that AMC renewed “The
Walking Dead” for a third season
after the zombie series’ Oct. 16 Season
2 premiere set new ratings records for
cable networks. AMC is splitting the 13
episodes of the current season, holding
the next seven until February.
Also no surprise that FX wants to keep
“American Horror Story” on its block.
The creepy series about a couple (Dylan
McDermott and Connie Britton) and
teen daughter who move into a house
with a homicide history is on pace to
have the highest-rated first season of
any FX series. “American Horror Story”
was created by Ryan Murphy and Brad
Falchuk, who also came up with former
FX drama “Nip/Tuck” and Fox hit
“Glee.” Viewer discretion is advised, as
they say, at 9 p.m. Wednesdays.
Showtime has renewed “Weeds” starring
Mary-Louise Parker for an eighth season,
which will start sometime next year.
As “Unforgettable” and “Person of
Interest” ranked as the season’s top two
new dramas, CBS gave them full-season
orders. “Unforgettable” is No. 1, starring
Poppy Montgomery as a homicide
detective with an uncanny memory.
It’s on at 9 p.m. Tuesdays. “Person of
Interest,” with Jim Caviezel and Michael
Emerson working with technology to
prevent crimes before they happen, has
the 8 p.m. Thursday slot.
Showtime’s “Homeland,” which debuted
Oct. 2 as the network’s highest-rated
first-year drama series ever, was given
clearance for another season. Claire
Danes (“My So-Called Life,” “Romeo +
Juliet”) stars as a CIA officer who suspects
a Marine sergeant (Damian Lewis) held
captive eight years by Al-Qaeda has been
turned and poses a national security risk.
ABC committed to Season 2 of
relationship comedy “Happy
Endings” and complete inaugural
seasons for Tim Allen sitcom “Last
Man Standing” and “Once Upon a
Time.” The latter, a fairy-tale drama,
was booked after only two episodes.
Its Oct. 23 debut provided the network
its best series premiere statistics in
two years. Follow it at 7 p.m. Sundays.
“Last Man Standing” is set at 7 p.m.
Tuesdays; “Happy Endings” at 8:30
p.m. Wednesdays.
Chelsea Handler has signed a two-year
extension to host “Chelsea Lately” on
E! and work on other projects through
her production company, Borderline
Amazing Productions.
Fox has ordered a second season of
“The X Factor.” Creator/producer/
Comedy Central inked “South Park”
for three more seasons. The series that
started in 1997 is cable’s longest-running
animated show.
“Family Feud” will go on at least
through 2015. Steve Harvey now hosts.
The game show originated in 1976 on
ABC with Richard Dawson as host
until 1985. CBS revived the contest two
different times, with emcees including
Ray Combs, Louie Anderson, Richard
Karn and John O’Hurley. The survey
says ratings for “Family Feud” have
made a big leap this season.
I admit I missed it when Fox made the
unsuspected decision to keep “Breaking
In.” Regardless of the quick opinion I
formed of the comedy starring Christian
Slater last spring, it certainly couldn’t
hurt that Megan Mullally will join the
regular cast in the upcoming Season 2.
So funny as Karen on “Will & Grace,”
Mullally will come in as the new boss of
Contra Security. The actress will be able
to continue as Chief on Cartoon Network
non-animated comedy “Children’s
Hospital,” and make appearances on
NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” and
ABC’s “Happy Endings.”
Piers Morgan quit his gig as a judge on
NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” after six
seasons to concentrate on his CNN show,
“Piers Morgan Tonight.” He said in a
statement: “Turned out that juggling’s
harder than it looks.”
Tennis star Anna Kournikova won’t
return as a trainer on “The Biggest Loser”
next season.
TVGuide.com conducted a poll
throughout several weeks to determine
users favorite show this season. Results
of the Fall TV Popularity Contest,
revealed Oct. 39, were reported in
terms of approval rating percentage.
The winner with a 78 percent rating
was ABC’s “Revenge.” The mystery
drama stars Emily VanCamp as a young
woman who returns to the Hamptons
to seek vengeance on people connected
to her father’s wrongful conviction.
Runner-up was “Person of Interest” on
CBS with a 73 percent rating, followed
by Fox sitcom “New Girl” starring
Zooey Deschanel with a 71 percent.
Rounding out the top five were Fox’s
“Terra Nova” (66 percent), “2 Broke
Girls” (65 percent) and “Unforgettable”
(63 percent) on CBS, and ABC’s “Once
Upon a Time” (60 percent). Then, it
only makes sense that the most hated
was The CW’s “H8R,” slammed with
85 percent negative votes. Next in
that line was CBS sitcom “How to Be
a Gentleman” (74 percent). ABC’s
“Charlie’s Angels” met 68 percent
negative votes and “Man Up!” 60
percent. All those receiving a negative
majority have been canceled.
DECEMBER 2011 THE KLBC BUZZ
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