Thanksgiving Alternatives: ‘MST3K’ & Kurt Russell as Santa on Netflix, ‘Mary Poppins’ on ABC, ‘Murphy’ in the Kitchen
A critical checklist of notable Thursday TV:
TV’s Thanksgiving traditions are well established: the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC in the morning (9 am/8c), followed by The National Dog Show (noon/11c). CBS also offers its coverage of The Thanksgiving Day Parade (9 am/8c). And, of course, a full lineup of pro football, with Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions on CBS (12:30 pm/11:30c), Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys on Fox (4:30/3:30c) and on NBC in prime time, Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints (8:20/7:20c).
Or you could check out what’s new and different.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Gauntlet (streaming on Netflix): Only a glutton for punishment would force themselves to watch six cinematic turkeys straight through, but that’s the challenge facing Jonah Heston (Jonah Ray) and robot pals Crow (Hampton Yount) and Tom Servo (Baron Vaughn) in the latest incarnation of the cult comedy classic. The films being judiciously mocked into the E.T. ripoff Mac & Me, Atlantic Rim, The Day Time Ended (they wish), Killer Fish, Lords of the Deep and Ator, the Fighting Eagle. That’s a lot to digest.
The Christmas Chronicles (streaming on Netflix): Taking a page from the Hallmark playbook, Netflix is airing its own holiday originals, the highest-profile starring Kurt Russell as an unorthodox Santa whose yearly sleigh ride is derailed when two siblings (Darby Camp and Judah Lewis) stow away and cause the sled to crash. Can Christmas be saved? What do you think?
Naturally, there’s more where that came from. New Christmas movies on cable include Hallmark’s Christmas at the Palace (8/7c), starring Merritt Patterson as an ice-skating instructor who falls for her student’s father, the king of San Senova (Andrew Cooper). On Lifetime, The Christmas Contract (8/7c) is basically a reunion of One Tree Hill cast members, including Hilarie Burton, Danneel Ackles, Antwon Tanner and Robert Buckley, with a special musical appearance from OTH alum Tyler Hilton. Many will stick around for ’Tis the Season: A One Tree Hill Cast Reunion (10/9c), which promises some surprise guests.
Mary Poppins Returns: Behind the Magic — A Special Edition of 20/20 (8/7c, ABC): Yes, it’s basically an in-house commercial for the upcoming sequel to 1964’s Oscar-winning Disney family classic. But Mary Poppins Returns is on many a moviegoer’s gotta-see list, and with stars Emily Blunt and Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda joined by original Mary Poppins icon Dick Van Dyke, think of it like a premature DVD extra.
Murphy Brown (9:30/8:30c, CBS): Alone among Thursday’s scripted network series, the sitcom revival airs an original episode, which finds Murphy (Candice Bergen) out of her comfort zone—in the kitchen—when she invites her colleagues as well as Phyllis (Tyne Daly), Miguel (Adan Rocha) and his parents (Valente Rodriguez and Orange Is the New Black’s Selenis Leyva) over for Thanksgiving dinner. It has already been established that son Avery (Jake McDorman) is more adept in the culinary arts. Can he save the day?
Inside Thursday TV: I know you are, but what am I? IFC taps into your inner child with an all-day marathon of the Saturday morning favorite Pee-wee’s Playhouse (starts at 6 am/5c)… A second season of the offbeat cop comedy No Activity streams all eight new episodes for binge-watching on CBS All Access, starring Tim Meadows (SNL) and Patrick Brammall as detectives on an endless stakeout. A corruption scandal within the SDPC rocks their world, and maybe their vehicle… With Fox airing its football game during the day, the network turns over prime time to Masterchef Junior: Celebrity Showdown (8/7c). In the first battle, Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet and Empire’s Terrence Howard are paired with Junior alums for a Mystery Box challenge. Then How I Met Your Mother’s Alyson Hannigan and Rel’s Lil Rel Howery play a tag-team challenge with their own 9-year-old daughters. And finally, NFL Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice pair up with past Junior winners in a cooking scrimmage.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm thankful for this site, where we found a nice little niche to talk about TV (and classic movies, right Fred?) with a small and friendly bunch. Thanks.
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You too. Don't encourage Fred...he'll start making lists again! LOL
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Although I'm a "Cat Person"...I always check out The National Dog Show...(even if just for "background")…
And...speaking of "background"...I'm DVRing the Pee-wee’s Playhouse episodes...just...BECAUSE...
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Strange that Murphy Brown will be a new episode, but I'll have to watch it over the weekend.
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I'll just watch it on the network site as I had the last three...
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CBS probably burning it off. Ratings have been awful. Enjoy it while it lasts, unlikely it will be renewed, but lower rated shows have been renewed so best of luck!
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That MasterChef special sounds like fun! I didn't notice Mary Poppins in the listings. (Oh, I see why...because it only says "20/20" there.) He didn't mention Chimpsgiving! Two new shows about chimpanzees on BBC America tonight!
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ABC uses the name 20/20 for any entertainment or news story these days, it's a true TV magazine program.
II already watched a couple of terrific movie classics:
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (so many imitators after this masterpiece) and A Street Car Named Desire ( Marlon Brando had a very high pitched voice back then).
I'm curious about the new Mary Poppins sequel, I might check out the ABC special. Might even search for the original Disney masterpiece. . I still have a huge DVD collection of James Bond , Disney. Pink Panther and Alfred Hitchcock movies.
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I worked in electronics in the 80s when VCRs were still all the rage, and because movies were so expensive back then, they only allowed us to have 2 of them for demos. One was Mary Poppins, and after hearing that over and over and over for months on end, I couldn't watch it (or even listen to it) for years!
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Fred, I just happened to see a headline on this site that ABC cancelled Take Two. Sorry, bud!
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I have most of the Pink Panther movies including Alan Arkin's Inspector Clouseau, Ted Wass' Curse of the Pink Panther, Roberto Begnini's Son of the Pink Panther, and Steve Martin's The Pink Panther. The only one I don't have is Martin's The Pink Panther 2. I didn't like Arkin's version but enjoyed both of Steve Martin's and the Wass and Roberto ones. But Peter Sellers is the definitive French detective...Oh, and I've only seen Warren Beatty's version of HCMJ, Heaven Can Wait which I remember enjoying...
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Yes Peter Sellers was the best to me also, but Steve Martin was quite good. I also didn't like Arkin as Inspector Clouseau. But I liked Arkin's many other performances.
Warren Beatty was terrific in Heaven Can Wait, didn't love Chris Rock's version (Down To Earth, but the original Here Comes Mr.Jordan was tops! I'm biased toward really old classics
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Thank you! Now the only other summer show I'm awaiting word about is WGN's Carter. However Comcast dropped that network off my already very expensive package. I called them about it and Comcast said they aren't carrying the network any longer at least not in my area.
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I also worked in electronics in the late 80s. Some of the demos they played were Batman (Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson version) and Little Mermaid. I always though Batman was a stupid choice because it was too dark and gloomy and didn't enhance the TV screens . The brighter and more colorful Little Mermaid was perfect.
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Like Burden of Truth, Carter is produced in Canada, so it might depend on whether CTV renews it. Here's hoping!
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I'm still getting WGN. However, to watch shows on their site you need to sign in with your provider, and they don't offer Comcast as a choice anymore.
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We had Close Encounters which was also rather dark, so it seldom got played. A colorful cartoon would have been perfect.
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How do you feel about A Star is Born? I thought Judy Garland's version was much better than the original, but I hated Streisand's version even though I normally love her. Gaga's version has gotten some great reviews, but overall, I think Garland's version will remain the best one.
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Haven't seen Gaga's version or the original, but will when I find them Free On Demand. I usually love Streisand but that was one her weaker films. Garland gets my vote as well.
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Disney animation usually looked best on the TV screens. Sony was tops followed by solid brands like Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba. Bach then the low end brands were Samsung and Gold Star (now LG).
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Let me know if you get word before me. If Carter is renewed, I will have to pester Comcast to offer WGN again.
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Comcast told me last month that they dropped it. If Carter isn't renewed, it won't matter much to me. Although I have watched many reruns of Last Man Standing on WGN when I had the channel.
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I didn't know Gold Star became LG. Gold Star was real crap back in the day, and LG seems like a pretty decent brand. Sharp was always my favorite when it came to quality for the price.
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Well, Comcast (the company) didn't drop WGN. Maybe your local branch of Comcast did, or maybe (as I've often found with them) the person you talked to didn't know what they were talking about.
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The Original was a drama with no music in it, but it was a good solid film and one of the better films of the early talkie era. The star, Janet Gaynor, was the first Oscar winner who was also nominated for A Star Is Born.
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Agreed, Sharp was a solid value brand. And Gold Star was the worst! I recall sometime in the 90s or early 00s when they changed the name to LG. They massively improved the quality.
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