‘My Brilliant Friend’ Finale, Tuneful Country Christmas on ABC & Hallmark, Freeform’s ‘No Sleep ‘Til Christmas’
A critical checklist of notable Monday TV:
My Brilliant Friend (9/8c, HBO): The exquisite adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s coming-of-age novel ends its first season with a volatile wedding day for the mercurial Lila (an electrifying Gaia Girace). There’s such authenticity in this depiction of a Naples neighborhood, which gathers for the jubilant event, albeit with an ominous undercurrent as the Solara family (whom Lila despises) seeks a way into the ceremony. Lila’s BFF Elena (Margherita Mazzucco) is distracted by her own feelings of envy and ambition, stirred by fellow student Nino (Francesco Serpico) who encourages her writing — with a secret editing assist from Lila, who considers Elena her “brilliant friend,” although we all sense who’s truly the brilliant mind on the block.
CMA Country Christmas (8/7c, ABC): Reba McEntire, a recent Kennedy Center Honors recipient, returns to host the ninth annual holiday jamboree, joined by the likes of Tony Bennett and Diana Krall (recently seen during NBC’s Rockefeller Center tree lighting), Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Brett Eldredge, Dustin Lynch, Old Dominion, Michael W. Smith, Lindsey Stirling, Dan + Shay, and Amy Grant.
It’s a busy night for Grant, who also headlines Hallmark Channel’s Amy Grant’s Tennessee Christmas — Presented by Hallmark Channel (8/7c), which features classic Christmas tunes performed by Kellie Pickler, Vince Gill and (again) Michael W. Smith.
No Sleep ‘Til Christmas (9/8c, Freeform): It’s rare to find an original premise in the yearly onslaught of holiday-themed TV movies. So hats off to real-life couple Dave and Odette Anable, who star as an insomniac bartender and a similarly sleepless event planner/bride-to-be who discover they can only catch z’s when sleeping next to each other. Could it be Christmas kismet? Probably.
Inside Monday TV: The CW’s superhero crossover event continues on Arrow (8/7c), with Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Barry Allen/Flash (Grant Gustin) still stuck in each other’s bodies — there are worse fates — and heading to Gotham City for answers, where they meet Kate Kate aka Batwoman (Ruby Rose), who leads them to Arkham Asylum… Corbin Bernsen joins CBS’s Magnum P.I. (9/8c) as Icepick, reprising a role from the original series (played by Elisha Cook Jr.). He’s a father figure for Rick (Zachary Knighton), who needs help when his crush (The Sopranos’ Jamie-Lynn Sigler) is in trouble after masked gunmen rob the illegal poker game she was running to pay back a mob debt… In the penultimate episode of National Geographic’s Mars (9/8c), a mutiny threatens the authority of Hana (Jihae), and in happier news, Amelie (Clémentine Poidatz) gives birth to the first Mars baby — albeit two months early… In their third holiday special for the network, Pentatonix: A Not So Silent Night (10/9c), the a capella group is joined in Las Vegas by Voice coach Kelly Clarkson, Maren Morris, Penn & Teller and the Backstreet Boys.
Conversation14 Comments
Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.
Comments are closed on this story.
-
R
I'll watch Magnum tonight. Legends of Tomorrow will be something for me to look forward to on Saturday.
I'm really ticked because my local CW affiliate had problems last night--supposedly due to weather issues, so we saw NO original programming. Which means NO Flash for me. Grrrrr. So I can't watch Episode Two tonight, or Episode Three tomorrow. I'll have to watch all three on the CW website later in the week.
UPDATE: The station will show The Flash tonight at 7pm, so I can watch it right before Arrow, at 8. Yay! (I'll have to miss Jeopardy! though... oh, well, sacrifices must be made.)
2
-
C
Last night's episode is already available On Demand.
-
R
DID watch Elseworlds last night...and WILL DVR Parts 2 and 3...
But...I can foresee that I'll finish all episodes (10) of Nightflyers…(will have 4 to watch)...before I even think about the last 2 Elseworlds Parts...
-
G
Keep your expectations super low when watching Flash. I hope tonight's Arrow has more action. I mean, that's the main reason I would ever watch these shows. So far last season's Earth Crisis/Nazi crossover was infinitely more entertaining for me.
-
C
I'm happy with the amount of action, but I think it took way too much time to set up and keep explaining the switch between the characters. It would have been easier if they'd switched bodies like Freaky Friday.
-
G
Yeah, that would have been a great idea! Simplify the switch. The set up took too much time. Now that the set up is over, I'm sure tonight's Arrow will be better, set in Gotham!
-
G
So far last season's Earth Crisis crossover was much more exciting for me.
-
R
I thought The Flash was pretty good. There HAD to be a certain amount of exposition to explain things, but I think there was a decent amount of action
What I think would have helped was for US (viewers) to see "Arrow" speaking as Barry Allen, and The Flash speaking as Oliver. Also, I didn't get all the animosity for Oliver/Arrow. Yeah, he's not as quippy and light-hearted as Barry Allen/Flash, but Oliver Queen has always been a darker character... no need for everyone to dis him.
Okay, now for Arrow......
Fun point: everyone except Supergirl sees the wrong people? That's weird.
-
G
Exactly, just pretty good. Last year's crossover started out spectacular.
-
-
P
CMA Special looks really good. Amy Grant's has already aired and it was wonderful.
-
O
Oopps. Two P's in a cappella, pplease.
-
C
I guess it's just part 2 of the Arrow crossover and Legends tonight.
-
R
What happened to Nightflyers…(7th episode tonight)…
Did you give up on it?
-
C
Yes, I didn't make it all the way through the 2nd episode. I just didn't care for it.
1
-
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services