SoCal TV highlights, Nov. 26-Dec. 2: ‘Slow Horses,’ ‘Faraway Downs’ and more
SoCal TV highlights, Nov. 26-Dec. 2: ‘Slow Horses,’ ‘Faraway Downs’ and more
Gary Oldman suits up, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman saddle up, and standup comics, um, stand up in a new Netflix comedy showcase
Welcome to an all-new TV or Not TV roundup of new and noteworthy programming on broadcast, cable and streaming this week. I’m Matt Cooper, former listings coordinator for the Los Angeles Times’ Calendar section.
Sunday — Nov. 26
Crikey! Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman co-star in “Faraway Downs,” a new serialized version of Baz Lurman’s 2008 period drama “Australia” featuring previously unseen footage and set in — checks notes — Australia. Anytime, Hulu
If the horns don’t get you, the hooves will in the new exposé “Seeing Red: Running with the Bulls” on “The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper.” 5 and 10 p.m. CNN
They’re talkin’ ’bout their generations in the new decade-spanning TV movie “A Christmas for the Ages.” With Natasha Bure and Cheryl Ladd. 5 p.m. GAF
It’s like watching paint dry — literally — when a single mom hooks up with a hunky teacher in the new TV movie “Our Christmas Mural.” With Alex Paxton-Beesley. 6 p.m. Hallmark Channel
Michael Bolton, Smashing Pumpkins and Oscar winner Ariana DeBose are among the performers featured in the new special “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration.” 8 p.m. ABC
It’s share and share alike when Indigenous storytellers explore the meaning of community in the new short-film showcase “Reciprocity Project.” 8 p.m. KCET
Love, peace … and soul! Janelle Monáe and T-Pain are singled out for special honors at the “Soul Train Awards 2023” hosted by “Nope’s” Keke Palmer. 8 p.m. BET, Logo, VH1
A modern-day screenwriter (Bethany Joy Lenz) finds herself magically transported to a film set in 1947 in the new TV movie “A Biltmore Christmas.” With “Star Trek’s” Jonathan Frakes and Robert Picardo. 8 p.m. Hallmark Channel
O’er the fields she goes, “Laughing All the Way” in this new TV movie about an aspiring comic who hooks up with a hunky standup star. With Paniz Zade. 8 p.m. Lifetime
The pledge-drive special “Neil Diamond: Thank You Australia” captures the singer-songwriter in a 1976 concert in — checks notes again — also Australia. 9:30 p.m. KOCE
Do fries and a lump of ground beef go with that shake? Yes, yes, they do in new episodes of the off-kilter animated series “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” 11:30 and 11:45 p.m. Adult Swim
Monday — Nov. 27
Police in a small Welsh town in the early 2000s reopen a cold case from 1973 in the new fact-based decades-spanning procedural drama “Steeltown Murders.” With Philip Glenister. Anytime, Acorn TV
Members of an internationally acclaimed vocal group get their Irish up in the new pledge-drive special “Celtic Woman 20th Anniversary Concert.” 8:30 p.m. KOCE
“Dance Moms’” JoJo Siwa? Those two dudes from “The Bachelor” franchise? See who makes the cut in the Season 2 finale of “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.” 9 p.m. Fox
“Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God,” the three-part docuseries about a New Age guru who claimed to have been reincarnated innumerable times, concludes. 9 p.m. HBO
Host Jane Lynch — rhymes with “Grinch” — is back with a special holiday episode of the quiz show “Weakest Link.” 10 p.m. NBC
Comedian Michelle Wolf leans in as this week’s guest host on “The Daily Show.” 11 p.m. Comedy Central; also Tuesday-Thursday
Tuesday — Nov. 28
Get more yucks for your bucks with “Verified Stand-up.” Ten comics put their best jokes forward in this new showcase. With Asif Ali, Dulcé Sloan, et al. Anytime, Netflix
Journalist Charles M. Blow proposes a reversal of Black Americans’ “Great Migration” to the north and west during the early 20th century as a means of subverting white supremacy in the new documentary “South to Black Power.” 10 p.m. HBO
“Did I do that?” A new installment of the anthology series “Dark Side of Comedy” casts a jaundiced eye on the 1989-98 sitcom “Family Matters.” 10 p.m. Vice Network
Wednesday — Nov. 29
Follow Grammy winner Jon Batiste and his wife, journalist Suleika Jaouad, as the couple faces a major health crisis in the 2023 documentary “American Symphony.” Anytime, Netflix
“The Artful Dodger” is all grow’d up and living in — check notes — hey, Australia — in this new period drama based on the character from Dickens’ “Oliver Twist.” With Thomas Brodie-Sangster and David Thewlis. Anytime, Hulu
Giddy up! Gary Oldman returns as defiantly disheveled spymaster Jackson Lamb in Season 3 of the delightfully droll espionage drama “Slow Horses.” With Kristin Scott Thomas. Anytime, Apple TV+
Original “American Idol” Kelly Clarkson is your hostess with the mostest for “The 91st Annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center.” Slated performers include Cher, Barry Manilow and Darlene Love. 8 p.m. NBC
John Legend, Kacey Musgraves and Alanis Morissette are among the performers making a pilgrimage to the house that Elvis Presley built in the new special “Christmas at Graceland.” 10 p.m. NBC
Thursday — Nov. 30
These criminal critters are still more naughty than nice in “The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday,” a new special based on the animated 2022 tale. Anytime, Netflix
Wanna bet? Actor-comic Sebastian Maniscalco stars as the titular “Bookie” in this new L.A.-set dark comedy from “Two and a Half Men” creator Chuck Lorre. With “Lost’s” Jorge Garcia. Anytime, Max
A down-and-out R&B diva finds herself shepherding a small-town church choir in the new TV movie “The Christmas Ringer.” With “American Idol’s” Trenyce Cobbins. Anytime, BET+
The 2022 documentary “A Compassionate Spy“ profiles Theodore Hall, a young physicist who passed America’s nuclear secrets on to the Soviet Union while working on the Manhattan Project. Anytime, Hulu
It’s like “Freaky Freaky” times two when suburban parents (Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms) magically swap bodies with their offspring in the McG-directed 2023 fantasy comedy “Family Switch.” Anytime, Netflix
What happens in Vegas… An elite but seriously hungover team of U.S. commandos is tasked with stopping a terrorist plot to blow up Sin City in the new limited series “Obliterated.” With Shelley Hennig and Nick Zano. Anytime, Netflix
OG celebutante Paris Hilton — “Ms. Hilton,” if you’re nasty — is back in new episodes of her latest reality series, “Paris in Love.” Anytime, Peacock
The 2022 TV movie “A Royal Surprise” begets a holiday-themed sequel, “A Royal Christmas Surprise.” With Jennifer Freeman. Anytime, BET+
Currently in its fifth season, the small-town drama “Virgin River” keeps on rolling along with a batch of new episodes. Alexandra Breckenridge stars. Anytime, Netflix
Homicide detectives with the National Park Service are back on the case in a third season of the ABC News docuseries “Wild Crime.” Anytime, Hulu
Gerry Turner makes his selection in the first-season finale of the reality TV franchise entry “The Golden Bachelor.” 8 p.m. ABC
Ms. Gomez cozies up with famous foodies including Alex Guarnaschelli and Michael Symon in the new four-part special “Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays.” 8 p.m. Food Network
“Busted!” Smartphones and surveillance cameras capture everyday folks behaving badly in this new unscripted series. 9 p.m. Discovery Channel
Friday — Dec. 1
Eddie Murphy plays a suburban dad who maybe goes a little overboard with the holiday decorating in the 2023 fantasy comedy “Candy Cane Lane.” Reginald Hudlin directs and Tracee Ellis Ross co-stars. Anytime, Prime Video
The devil’s in the details in “The Exorcist: Believer,” David Gordon Green’s 2023 followup to William Friedkin’s eternally terrifying 1974 supernatural thriller. With Leslie Odom Jr. and Ellen Burstyn. Anytime, Peacock
Harrison “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage” Ford reprises his role as the titular archaeologist and adventurer in James Mangold’s 2023 franchise closer “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Anytime, Disney+
A beloved holiday classic gets a teen slasher-flick twist in Tyler MacIntyre’s 2023 horror comedy “It’s a Wonderful Knife.” With Jane Widdop. Anytime, Shudder
Persona non grata: Natalie Portman plays an actress set to play a scandalous woman played by Julianne Moore in Todd Haynes’ Bergman-esque 2023 fable “May December.” Anytime, Netflix
It’s gonna take more than a wing in a prayer to get this young RAF pilot back on terra firma in Iain Softley’s 2023 short film “The Shepherd” based on the Frederick Forsyth novella. Ben Radcliffe and John Travolta star. Anytime, Disney+
An American tourist hooks up with a hunky Scandinavian in the new TV movie “My Norwegian Holiday.” With Rhiannon Fish. 8 p.m. Hallmark Channel
“The Daily Show’s” Trevor Noah explores pressing social issues through the lens of soccer in the new five-part docuseries “The World According to Football.” 8 p.m. Showtime
The crime-drama franchise entry “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” powers up for a third season. With Mekai Curtis. 8 p.m. Starz
FDR’s army of bats? A molasses flood? A “Blues Brothers” sequel without John Belushi? An “SNL” alum explores historical curiosities in the new series “The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd.” 10 p.m. History Channel
Saturday — Dec. 2
Have TARDIS, will time travel: David Tennant returns in “Wild Blue Yonder,” the second of three new “Doctor Who” specials. With Neil Patrick Harris. Anytime, Disney+
A woman takes her hunky ex-boyfriend for a spin in the new TV movie “Christmas on Windmill Way.” With Christa Taylor Brown and Chad Michael Murray. 5 p.m. GAF
A tabloid journalist hooks up with a hunky imposter for “A Not So Royal Christmas” in this new TV movie. With Brooke D’Orsay. 8 p.m. Hallmark Channel
Loni Anderson, Morgan Fairchild, Linda Gray, Donna Mills and Nicollette Sheridan play former soap opera stars who reunite with absolutely zero drama — nah, just kidding, there’s drama — in the new TV movie “Ladies of the ‘80s: A Divas Christmas.” 8 p.m. Lifetime
If the glove fits… The new music doc “Thriller 40” recalls the making of Michael “the King of Pop” Jackson’s mega-smash 1982 album. Nelson George directs. 8 p.m. Showtime
Emma Stone busts into the vaunted “Five-Timers Club” with her latest guest-hosting gig on “Saturday Night Live.” With musical guest Noah Kahan. 8:29 and 11:29 p.m. NBC
That Broadway baby Babs butters up the borough where she was born and bred in the 2013 concert special “Barbra Streisand: Back to Brooklyn.” 9 p.m. KOCE
(All times Pacific; programming subject to change without notice)