SoCal TV highlights, Oct. 29-Nov. 4: 'Fellow Travelers,' 'Nyad,' the World Series and more
Matt Bomer's a travelin' man, Annette Bening goes the distance, and a classic TV drama lays down the law
Welcome, fellow travelers, to this week’s TV or Not TV roundup of new and noteworthy programming on broadcast, cable and streaming. I’m Matt Cooper, former listings coordinator for the Los Angeles Times’ Calendar section.
Are you now, or have you ever been …?
SUNDAY — Oct. 29
Elizabeth Banks, Peter Coyote and filmmakers Ken Burns and Peter Jackson lend their voices to a new episode of “The Simpsons.” 8 p.m. Fox
An American copy editor finds romance while on assignment in France in the new TV movie “Joyeux Noel.” With Jaicy Elliot. 8 p.m Hallmark Channel
She was only a girl in “The Gilded Age.” This drama about late 19th century New York high society returns for its sophomore season. With Louisa Jacobson. 8 p.m. HBO
Maybe someday she’ll write a tell-all — if she survives that long — in the new thriller “Secrets of a Celebrity Nanny.” With Monroe Cline. 8 p.m. Lifetime
The high-powered NYC-set drama “Billions” cashes out after seven seasons. Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis and Maggie Siff star. 8 p.m Showtime
Or both? The new docuseries “The Garden: Commune or Cult” investigates a controversial intentional community deep in the Ozarks. 9 p.m. Discovery Channel
Two gay men strike up a relationship at the height of the McCarthy-era witch hunts in the 1950s in the new decades-spanning drama “Fellow Travelers.” With Matt Bomer. 9 p.m. Showtime
MONDAY — Oct. 30
A man with terminal cancer asks the unthinkable of his longtime best friend in the imported series “Mayflies.” With Tony Curran and “Line of Duty’s” Martin Compston. Anytime, Acorn TV
The Texas Rangers meet the Arizona Diamondbacks in Games 3 and 4 of the 2023 World Series. 8 p.m. Fox; also Tuesday-Wednesday (and Friday-Saturday, if necessary)
“American Experience” turns the beat around on the backlash against a 1970s-era dance craze/cultural movement in the new episode “The War on Disco.” 9 p.m. KOCE
Something wicked this way cools on the kitchen counter in a new season of “Halloween Baking Championship.” 9 p.m. Food Network
Confined to a nursing home during the pandemic, disabled poets of color give voice to their feelings of isolation in the 2023 doc “Fire Through Dry Grass” on “POV.” 10 p.m. KOCE
Radio host Charlamagne tha God descends as this week’s guest host “The Daily Show.” 11 p.m. Comedy Central; also Tuesday-Thursday
TUESDAY — Oct. 31
Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches! The horror-themed drag competition “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula” scares up a fifth season. Anytime, Shudder, AMC+
The new standup special “Ralph Barbosa: Cowabunga” finds the comic cracking wise in front of a hometown crowd in Dallas, Texas. Anytime, Netflix
Man makes monster, then monster meets his mate, in James Whale’s 1931 classic “Frankenstein” starring Boris Karloff, followed by Whale’s bonkers 1935 sequel “Bride of Frankenstein” with Karloff and Elsa Lanchester. 12:45 and 2 p.m. TCM
A new “Native America” shows how Indigenous peoples today are tapping into ancient warrior traditions to survive and thrive in the modern world. 9 p.m. KOCE
“Frontline” details the Republican party’s ongoing effort to shift the Supreme Court ever rightward in the new episode “McConnell, the GOP & the Court.” 10 p.m. KOCE
WEDNESDAY — Nov. 1
From the Veil of the Veronica to the long sought Holy Grail, the new docuseries “Mysteries of the Faith” reveals the stories behind some of Christianity’s most sacred relics. Anytime, Netflix
The secrets a Jamaican-born widow kept hidden for a lifetime spill forth upon her death in the new drama “Black Cake” based on Charmaine Wilkerson’s 2022 novel. With Chipo Chung. Anytime, Hulu
A radio host (Denise Richards) gets nothing but static in her personal and professional lives in the new rom-com “A Christmas Frequency.” Anytime, Hulu
A young bride squares off against her disapproving, well-to-do mother-in-law (“Taken’s” Famke Janssen) in the imported 2023 thriller “Locked In.” Anytime, Netflix
Contestants from across the global reality-TV franchise convene in Fiji for the new competition “Love Island Games.” With host Maya Jama. Anytime, Peacock
A political journalist gets the scoop on a hunky toy-company owner in the new TV movie “Reporting for Christmas.” With Tamara Feldman. Anytime, Hulu
Our hero (Raymond Lee) is transported into the body of a Koreatown teen at the jump off of the 1992 Rodney King riots on a new “Quantum Leap.” 8 p.m. NBC
Feelings, nothing more than feelings, sea creatures have feelings — “Deep Feelings” — in this new episode of “Spy in the Ocean, A Nature Miniseries.” 8 p.m. KOCE
Humanity rears its ugly head some 300,000 years ago, give or take, in a new episode of the miniseries “Ancient Earth” on “Nova.” 9 p.m. KOCE
Trash will be talked, drinks thrown, etc., etc. as “The Real Housewives of Miami” return for Season 6. 9 p.m. Bravo
The skeleton of some poor, unfortunate soul crucified in Roman-occupied Britain centuries ago is examined in “Death in Britannia” on a new “Secrets of the Dead.” 10 p.m. KOCE
THURSDAY — Nov. 2
The lives of a blind French girl and a young German soldier intersect during WWII in “All the Light We Cannot See,” an epic new miniseries adapted from Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2014 novel. Anytime, Netflix
Can we get an amen? The gospel music-themed drama “Kingdom Business” is back in business for a second season. With Yolanda Adams. Anytime, BET+
Santa-tested, Santa-approved, the baking competition “Christmas Cookie Challenge” warms up a seventh season. 9 p.m. Food Network
FRIDAY — Nov. 3
A mixed-race woman in feudal-era Japan goes on a roaring rampage of revenge in the adult animated series “Blue Eye Samurai.” With Maya Erskine and George Takei. Anytime, Netflix
What if you could use tech to find true love? No, we don’t mean Tinder. “The Lost Daughter’s” Jessie Buckley gives it a whirl in Christos Nikou’s 2023 sci-fi fable “Fingernails.” Anytime, Apple TV+
“Desperate Housewives’” Teri Hatcher plays a writer with a daunting deadline looming in the new TV movie “How to Fall in Love by the Holidays.” Anytime, Roku
Look, up in the sky! It’s a second season of the adult animated superhero/father-son drama “Invincible.” Anytime, Prime Video
The attorneys of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney & Kuzak are here to fight for you as the Emmy-winning 1986-94 drama “L.A. Law” makes its streaming debut. Anytime, Hulu
Nia Vardalos and company are back — bigger, fatter, and Greek-er than ever — in the 2023 three-quel “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.” Anytime, Paramount+
“American Beauty’s” Annette Bening portrays record-setting long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad in the 2023 bio-drama “Nyad.” Jodie Foster also stars. Anytime, Netflix
Come on down! A game-show super-fan (Awkwafina) and her hot mess of a big sister (Sandra Oh) team up to win cash and valuable prizes in the 2023 romp “Quiz Lady.” Anytime, Hulu
If you have to ask, you can’t afford it — so maybe stop asking — when “Selling Sunset” sets up shop for a seventh season. Anytime, Netflix
Estelle Getty’s “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot” co-star Sylvester Stallone talks about his life and career in the 2023 bio doc “Sly.” Anytime, Netflix
Please allow him to introduce himself: A shady character (Nicolas Cage, natch) holds an Uber driver (Joel Kinnaman) hostage in the 2023 thriller “Sympathy for the Devil.” Anytime, AMC+
There’s no place like ho-ho-home for the holidays in the new TV-movie sequel “A Wesley Christmas Wedding.” With Jasmine Guy. Anytime, BET+
Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael and Kate Bush — who really deserves her very own mist-shrouded temple on the mythical isle of Avalon instead — are among the honorees at this year’s “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.” 5 p.m. Disney+
A realtor gets handsy with a hunky handyman in the new TV movie “Flipping for Christmas.” With Ashley Newbrough. 8 p.m. Hallmark Channel
Where is thy Sting? The English rocker’s music serves as the soundtrack for the dance-theater drama “Message in a Bottle” on a new “Great Performances.” 9 p.m. KOCE
SATURDAY — Nov. 4
A marketing executive (Broadway’s Laura Osnes) tries to spice up her love life in the new TV movie “A Dash of Christmas.” 5 p.m. GAF
None other than nonagenarian naturalist and narrator David Attenborough is once again your guide in the new series “Planet Earth III.” 8 p.m. BBC America
Two longtime gal pals lament that they’ve “Never Been Chris’d” — and there’s nary a Hemsworth, Evans, Pratt or Pine in sight — in this new TV movie. 8 p.m. Hallmark Channel
A lesbian couple from the big city get a most un-warm welcome while visiting a remote mountain town in the new thriller “You’re Not Supposed to Be Here.“ 8 p.m. Lifetime
(All times Pacific; programming subject to change without notice)