Celebrating Dick Van Dyke at 98, Zack Snyder’s ‘Rebel Moon,’ A New ‘Dr. Death,’ ‘Julia’ Finale

Special

9/8c

It’s important to celebrate our living legends while they’re still around to enjoy it. And few deserve the accolades more than Dick Van Dyke, who turned 98 earlier this month, a song-and-dance man whose self-titled 1960s sitcom remains one of the best of all time. (He had a second significant CBS success solving crimes in Diagnosis: Murder from 1993 to 2001.) Van Dyke is on hand at L.A.’s Television City for a two-hour music-comedy salute including numbers from his stage and movie hits Bye Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, with Zachary Levi, Jason Alexander, Skylar Astin, Rita Ora and Amanda Kloots performing. His Poppins co-star Julie Andrews is among the celebs providing testimonials, and the show even recreates the iconic living-room set from The Dick Van Dyke Show, with “Weird Al” Yankovic resurrecting the original lyrics to the theme song (written by costar Morey Amsterdam). Oh Rob… we can’t wait for this one.

Series Premiere

Dropping a day ahead of the original schedule—a favored gimmick by streamers these days—Zack Snyder’s sci-fi epic is being presented in two parts (the second half, subtitled The Scargiver, arrives April 19). Rebel Moon introduces a new female warrior in Kora (Sofia Boutella), whose peaceful existence among farmers on a remote moon is short-lived when evil Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein) and other emissaries of the Motherworld’s Imperium government come after them. Kora’s army includes a farmer (Michiel Huisman), a pilot (Charlie Hunnam), a legendary general (Djimon Hounsou) and a swordswoman (Bae Doona). Anthony Hopkins provides the voice of Jimmy, an old-school AI protector. As is the streaming tradition, to be continued …

Not exactly a happy holiday attraction, the second installment of the disturbing true-crime docudrama anthology (available as an eight-episode binge) exposes another bad physician: so-called “Miracle Man” Paolo Macchiarini (Edgar Ramírez), a charismatic Swiss-born surgeon whose supposed breakthroughs in Europe with artificial transplants of replacement windpipes turned out to indeed be too good to be true. His fame brought him to the U.S., where an NBC News producer (This Is Us star Mandy Moore) falls under his spell, until grisly reality sets in. Accompanied by a 90-minute documentary Dr. Death: Cutthroat Conman, for those who might have missed Netflix’s earlier documentary on the deadly doc, Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife.

Season Finale

The uneven second season of the dramedy about legendary TV chef Julia Child (the marvelous Sarah Lancashire) ends on a celebratory note, when her WGBH The French Chef series is nominated for an Emmy. (As you’d expect, she and most in her circle have no idea what that even is.) The joy is clouded by new and aggressive inquiries into the public TV station’s “subversive” leanings by Julia’s FBI contact (CSI’s Paul Guilfoyle). But having been a wartime agent for the OSS (precursor to the CIA), Julia and her husband Paul (David Hyde Pierce) have a plan to foil these goons, even while she’s preparing lobster on camera. Bon appétit!

THE YULE LOG:

• Rock your way into the Christmas weekend with ABC’s telecast of highlights from iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2023 (8/7c), with performances from New York’s Madison Square Garden and L.A.’s Forum earlier this month. Cher, who produced her first holiday album this year, leads the talent roster, with appearances by Olivia Rodrigo, SZA, winning The Voice coach Niall Horn, OneRepublic, Jelly Roll, Pentatonix, Big Time Rush and many more.
• Fox airs a rare broadcast-TV original holiday film, The Christmas Break (8/7c), starring Justin Long and India Mullen as a couple whose holiday trip back to her large Irish family may help them decide whether they’re ready to start a family of their own.
• On Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, Miracle in Bethlehem, PA (8/7c) stars Laura Vandervoort as a single mom who gets stranded by weather with her newly adopted infant in the biblically named Pennsylvania town, where a hunky innkeeper’s brother (Benjamin Ayres) offers them lodging in his barnlike home. Will there be wise men?
• Streaming on BET+, Whatever It Takes follows five women friends from Thanksgiving to New Year as they share each other’s personal successes and setbacks.
• For those in a competitive spirit, CBS’s Big Brother Reindeer Games (8/7c) and Food Network’s Christmas Cookie Challenge (9/8) air their finales.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Son of a Critch (8/7c, The CW): A black-and-white fantasy sequence spoofing French avant-garde cinema highlights an episode in which young Mark’s (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) dreams of a class field trip to France are dashed when he learns the destination is much closer. But granddad Pop (Malcolm McDowell) is happy to come along as a chaperone, to relive his days as a bootlegger for the infamous Al Capone.
• Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays (8/7c, Food Network): The season finale looks ahead to ringing in 2024, with Selena Gomez and chef Eric Adjepong preparing an ambitious New Year’s brunch including shrimp and banana grits, scallop Benedict and Kusshi oysters with champagne mignonette.
• Pan Am (streaming on AMC+ and Sundance Now): ABC’s short-lived (2011-12) drama about employees of the defunct airline returns for a what-might-have-been streaming run. It’s most notable for the cast, including Barbie’s Margot Robbie, Yellowjackets’ Christina Ricci and Stranger Things’ David Harbour as an MI6 agent with a secret.
• Gary Gulman: Born on 3rd Base (streaming on Max): The observational comic delivers a stand-up set riffing on his Jewish upbringing and reflecting on the silly aggravations of modern life.
• Willie Nelson & Family (streaming on Paramount+): Yellowstone’s Taylor Sheridan is executive producer of a four-part biographical docuseries profiling the beloved 90-year-old outlaw musician as he travels the country.