TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Belcher: Run, Screaming, From Early Holiday Specials

ADVERTISEMENT

By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2008

I almost ran out screaming from a Wal-Mart last week when they started piping in Christmas music. "Rudolph" before Halloween is so wrong.

And now, the first holiday news releases are rolling in to Couch Potato Central.

Coming to Comedy Central on Nov. 23 is "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!" on which Stephen Colbert sings a duet with Jon Stewart and performs with Toby Keith, Elvis Costello and Willie Nelson. Colbert is snowbound in a cabin, where he sings variations of holiday songs such as "Little Dealer Boy."

CMT announces "Larry the Cable Guy's Star Studded Christmas Extravaganza" on Nov. 21 with Keith, Lewis Black, Fred Willard and co-host Tony Orlando.

CMT also plans "The 12 Days of Redneck Christmas" on Dec. 12. Host Tom Arnold finds people whose taste in tacky decorations has no bounds.

OK, now I am screaming.

LOOKING AHEAD: The November sweeps aren't over yet and the networks are looking ahead to midseason, when "American Idol," "Lost" and "24" return.

Because the fall offerings haven't excited viewers, there's hope that January will bring change (and not just in the White House).

Fox, for example, will overhaul its prime-time schedule. "American Idol" returns for an eighth season on Jan. 13 with a fourth judge: singer-songwriter Kara DioGuardi.

"House," starring Hugh Laurie as the world's grumpiest physician, will move from Tuesdays to 8 p.m. Mondays beginning Jan 19.

The network's spy thriller "24," starring Kiefer Sutherland, opens on Jan. 11-12 with a four-hour special airing, before settling in at 9 p.m. Mondays beginning Jan. 19.

"Bones" will move from Wednesdays to 8 p.m. Thursdays as of Jan. 15, and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" leaves Mondays for the 8 p.m. Friday spot starting Feb. 13.

"Terminator" will be followed at 9 p.m. Fridays by a new sci-fi thriller, "Dollhouse," from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon. The drama stars Eliza Dushku as a member of an underground group whose personalities can be reprogrammed.

ABC hasn't said when "Lost" will return but the network announced that "True Beauty," a reality competition from Tyra Banks and Ashton Kutcher, will join the lineup on Jan. 5.

Six women and four men will have to prove they have inner and outer beauty. Judges include Vanessa Minnillo, Cheryl Tiegs and Nole Marin.

COMING TO CABLE: USA's "Monk" and "Psych" will resume new seasons on Jan. 9. USA's "Burn Notice" will get a winter run beginning Jan. 22.

On the Sci-Fi Channel, "Battlestar Galactica" begins its final run on Jan. 16. On Jan. 23, Sci-Fi adds reruns of the vampire love drama "Moonlight" and aliens take over Florida in "Invasion."

FX's stunning legal drama "Damages" cranks back up on Jan. 7. Also returning in January is "Nip/Tuck" (no firm date yet).

Showtime's "The L Word," "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" and the new Diablo Cody/Toni Collette series "United States of Tara" set up shop on Jan. 18, the same day as HBO's "Big Love" and "Flight of the Conchords."

PALIN SIGHTING: At 10 tonight on Fox News Channel, Greta Van Susteren airs the first extensive post-election interview with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who will address accusations about her conduct made by disgruntled John McCain staffers.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT