‘Drummer Girl’ Finale, ‘Survivor’ Heats Up, Kenan and Kel Reunite on ‘Double Dare’

Matt Roush
31 Comments
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Jonathan Olley/AMC/Ink Factory

A critical checklist of notable Wednesday TV:

The Little Drummer Girl (9/8c, AMC): The moral ambiguities intensify in the final two chapters of director Park Chan-wook’s thrilling adaptation of John le Carré’s espionage classic. After training in Lebanon, actress-turned-undercover agent Charlie (Florence Pugh) finds herself so deeply undercover in her mission to infiltrate a Palestinian terror cell that it’s hard to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys. Her Israeli handlers (Alexander Skarsgård and Michael Shannon) can’t be entirely sure which side she’s fighting for, and thanks to Pugh’s masterful performance, neither are we.

'The Little Drummer Girl' Star Alexander Skarsgård Reveals His John Le Carré Connection
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'The Little Drummer Girl' Star Alexander Skarsgård Reveals His John Le Carré Connection

Survivor (8/7c, CBS): Although it hasn’t been nominated for an outstanding reality-competition since 2006, this pioneer in the genre holds up better than most. (Bobby Bones, really, Dancing With the Stars?) Last week’s Survivor tribal council was one for the ages, with two immunity idols played for other contestants, and the Davids outwitting the Goliaths by not voting in a unanimous block. This week’s installment may not be quite so thrilling, but it looks like there may be further division among the alpha Goliaths as the showmance between Dan and Kara is threatened by a quarrel. Anything to even the playing field makes for a more exciting Survivor season.

Double Dare (8/7c, Nickelodeon): Two of Nickelodeon’s earliest and brightest stars, Kel Mitchell and Saturday Night Live stalwart Kenan Thompson, reunite for an hourlong special edition of the iconic slapstick game show. Paired with super fans, Team Kenan and Team Kel answer All That-themed trivia questions and compete in messy challenges with callbacks to their breakthrough hits Kenan & Kel and Good Burger. (Condiments, anyone?) After the competition, Kenan and Kel run the obstacle course together to win money for their charities. Happy super sloppy Thanksgiving!

Kel Mitchell Talks Competing Against Kenan Thompson in Nickelodeon's 'Double Dare' (VIDEO)
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Kel Mitchell Talks Competing Against Kenan Thompson in Nickelodeon's 'Double Dare' (VIDEO)

A Lifetime of Christmas Movies: ’Twas the night before Thanksgiving, and there’s no shortage of Christmas movies already. Lifetime offers two new ones (even if they don’t sound new): My Christmas Inn (8/7c) stars Tia Mowry-Hardict as a San Francisco ad exec who inherits a cozy inn in Alaska, and… you know the rest. Followed by A Christmas Arrangement (10/9c), starring Nicky Whelan and Miles Fisher as floral-show rivals who… you know the rest.

Not to be outdone, Hallmark enables the holiday-movie addict with Reunited at Christmas (8/7c), starring Nikki DeLoach and Mike Failoa in a romantic story of family, love and second chances (Hallmark’s words).

Nikki DeLoach on How 'Reunited at Christmas' Is Different From Other Hallmark Holiday Movies
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Nikki DeLoach on How 'Reunited at Christmas' Is Different From Other Hallmark Holiday Movies

Inside Wednesday TV: Perhaps not as enduring as the Halloween and Christmas specials, 1973’s A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving makes its annual appearance on ABC (8/7c), paired with bonus cartoon This Is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers… NBC’s Emmy-winning Hollywood Game Night (8/7c) makes a return appearance, with Jane Lynch welcoming Carla Hall, Adam Rodriguez, Shiri Appleby, Colton Dunn, Diane Guerrero and Jason Ritter to the party. Not exactly A-listers, but compared to Dancing With the Stars this season, not too shabby… OWN’s Greenleaf (10/9c) closes its third season with a career crisis for Lady Mae (Lynn Whitfield), who despite her success in the pulpit and support from the Bishop (Keith David) is denied the right to run Calvary. Is nothing sacred?… David Morrissey (The Walking Dead) stars in the Britbox streaming import The City and the City, a fantasy-inflected four-part crime drama based on China Miéville’s novel. He plays Inspector Borlu of the Extreme Crime Squad in the fictional European city-state of Beszel, investigating the murder of a student from the twin city of Ul Qoma.

Double Dare (1986)Double Dare (2018)Reunited at ChristmasSurvivorThe Little Drummer Girl



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  1. G

    GreenElephant

    It's "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" for me right now as it's on live as I'm writing this...

    1. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I thought you'd be working tonight.

    2. G

      GreenElephant

      No, but I'm working tomorrow preparing for Black Friday at 6pm where I work. Not looking forward to that...

  2. R

    RedQuill

    I was SHOCKED by the SEXISM...(and downright DISCRIMINATION)...when ALL THREE final contestants on the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament Championship were...WOMEN!!??!!

    1. R

      RedQuill

      My DVR looks like it's decided to record...

      Survivor

      The Little Drummer Girl

      Stan Against Evil...(2 new episodes)

      BoJack Horseman (Comedy Channel)

    2. R

      RedCupcake

      Yeah, how dare those three young ladies be so smart? 😀 Although that one girl had a voice that made her sound about 9 years old. Quite distracting, imho.

      1

    3. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I couldn't stand listening to her, and she sounded more like a 3 or 4 year old to me. They weren't all that smart. They missed or didn't answer a lot of questions. I think all 3 of them got very lucky in their semi-final rounds.

  3. G

    GoldSubmarine

    Classic movies for me during this long holiday weekend.

    1. C

      CyanCoathanger

      So long as they're not those awful Lifetime and Hallmark holiday movies! TBS has The Wizard of Oz on tomorrow, and I haven't seen that in a few years.

    2. G

      GoldSubmarine

      I don't watch those generic made for TV Lifetime/Hallmark movies. I tend to gravitate to the very old classics many of which are in black & white.

    3. R

      RedCupcake

      LOL, Fred did specify "classic" movies. As far as I'm concerned, that means nothing after about 1970.

    4. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Agreed,the very best movies were from earlier last century especially the late 30s and 40s. I find myself much more engrossed with very old black and white movies. Just last weekend I watched The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. What a magnificent picture. Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, the musical score, script..... Near PERFECTION. I also watched Patterns (powerful story about business in the 50s)), Women's World ( similar to Patterns but much lighter simply delightful)

      Madison Ave (the same genre as the last two mentioned but with more romance and most definitely inspired Mad Men). .

    5. R

      RedCupcake

      I love the Thin Man movies-- so much fun! And most comedic romps. I love watching Fred & Ginger. Not so much Gene Kelly--the modern-style dancing he's known for is unappealing to me.

    6. R

      RedQuill

      EVERY Sunday at 10 AM (ET) my GF DVR's Eddie Muller's "Noir Alley" on Turner Classic Movies...

      Each week has a different film noir classic...and Eddie presents a 10 minute analysis, before and after the movie, loaded with interesting added details...

      [Wikipedia..."Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly such that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classical film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s."]

    7. G

      GreenElephant

      I watched Gene and Fred in Ziegfeld Follies a few weeks ago on YouTube. At the time, the only female partner they both danced with was Rita Hayworth and they had nice banter concerning her before doing their pretty entertaining comic dance. The only other time they teamed together was in That's Entertainment, Part II, thirty years later with both still being pretty good at what they did...

    8. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I think it was Fred who said Rita was his favorite dance partner of all time. I didn't know she was THAT good.

      1

    9. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Yes I've seen all of the Thin Man movies and Topper movies. All so much fun.

    10. This comment was removed by its author.

    11. C

      CyanCoathanger

      I think all his summer shows have been cancelled by now. I hadn't read about Take Two until I saw your post. I stopped watching it before the first season ended because I had too many other shows on at that time.

    12. G

      GoldSubmarine

      Yes now I'm only left with ABC's Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and CW's The Outpost and Burden of Truth. Unless the networks order more summer scripted shows, I will have much less to watch on broadcast. Last summer was an especially busy one for me. In addition to CMT's Nashville, WGN's Carter , I had ABCs' Quantico, The Crossing, Take Two, CBS's Salvation, NBC's Reverie and CW's The Outpost & Burden of Truth. Never did I ever have 9 summer scripted shows to enjoy.

    13. This comment was removed by its author.

    14. G

      GoldSubmarine

      That is true, last summer I was hooked on 8 scripted shows. But on average I only watched about 5 a week, because some ended early and others started later.

    15. G

      GoldSubmarine

      I also had WGN's Carter last summer, that's 9 summer scripted shows!

  4. C

    CyanCoathanger

    Who's going to watch the parades tomorrow? I've rather lost interest in them in recent years. I think they're more for families with little kids at home. Although, my grandmother seemed to really enjoy them too.

    1. R

      RedQuill

      Perhaps 1,000 friends/family will be dropping in (and out) during Thanksgiving...

      DVR'd TG Parades are nice to have on as "background"...(before and after the NFL games)...

    2. R

      RedCupcake

      I've never been one to watch parades on TV. Maybe I did when I was little (and there were only THREE channels to watch, lol) but I don't recall.

    3. C

      CyanCoathanger

      Around here, there were parades on all 3 major networks. One was Macys, one Detroit, and I forget the other. Philadelphia?

    4. R

      RedQuill

      I LOVED the Annual (New Year's Day) Mummers Parade in Philadelphia!!!

      It's STILL held every year...but NO national TV station covers it ANY MORE...

      I also LOVED the Orange Bowl Parade...primarily because it was 90%-100% Marching Bands...but I'm not even sure that it's held any more...

  5. R

    RedCupcake

    We'll Meet Again (PBS) and SEAL Team. Both new. (Probably the last new programming all week.)

    1. C

      CyanCoathanger

      My PBS stations all have Nature, Nova, and Sinking Cities on tonight about wild dogs in Africa, peregrine falcons, and Miami.

    2. R

      RedCupcake

      One of my PBS stations aired We'll Meet Again last night, but another one shows it tonight. ANd yes, we've also had the Nature, Nova, and Sinking Cities on. I haven't been watching any of those.

    3. C

      CyanCoathanger

      The Nature shows have been good this season. I watch them when I can.

  6. C

    CyanCoathanger

    All my shows are not on or repeats tonight!