Off the Wall: It's already like Christmas
Off the Wall loves its boss.
CHRISTMASTIME IS ALMOST HERE But you may have noticed that. Be sure to save Newsday's big holiday TV kickoff package in tomorrow's Fanfare, highlighting all the season's must-sees, led by "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Tuesday at 8 p.m., CBS/2). This week's other attractions include new holiday episodes of kiddie fave "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" (Dec. 2 at 8:30 a.m., Disney) and the hourlong "Good Luck Charlie: It's Christmas!" (Dec. 2 at 8 p.m., Disney). Christmas is real-ly sweet on "D.C. Cupcakes" (Dec. 2 at 10:30 p.m., TLC). Last, but not least, watch vintage holidays on "Everybody Hates Chris" (Saturday at 9:30 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., BET), "Saved by the Bell" (Sunday 7-8 a.m., TBS), "Scrubs" (Sunday at 3 p.m., Comedy Central), "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" (Sunday night at 12:15 a.m., Cartoon), "Home Improvement" (Tuesday at 7 a.m., TBS), "Becker" (Thursday at 6 a.m., USA; at 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Reelz; Dec. 2 at 9:30 a.m., Reelz), "Frasier" (Thursday at 10 a.m., WE) and "EverybodyLoves Raymond" (Thursday at 5:30 p.m., WWOR/9; and 9 p.m., TV Land).
GOOD BAD 'BOSS' Kelsey Grammer runs roughshod over Chicago as its iron-fisted mayor in "Boss" (Saturday 8 p.m.-2 a.m., StarzEdge). This marathon includes all the episodes aired so far. Series page at starz.com/boss.
AWARDS ALERT Cedric hosts this year's "Soul Train Awards" (tomorrow at 9 p.m., BET/Centric), featuring The Group Formerly Known as The Time (yes, really), plus Natalie Cole, Jill Scott and many others. Go behind the scenes at bet.com.
MYSTERY MOVIES RETURN Years ago, weekly TV mystery movies featured the likes of Columbo and McCloud. Now, they're adapted from bestselling authors. TNT launches its "Mystery Movie Night" with "Scott Turow's Innocent" (Tuesday at 9 p.m., TNT), starring Bill Pullman, with Marcia Gay Harden and Alfred Molina. New movies air Tuesday-Wednesday this month. Titles, video at tnt.tv/mysterymovienight.
HOLLYWOOD HISTORY Can it be that long since we first saw Sylvester Stallone scale the steps of Philadelphia's Art Museum? That's only part of " 'Rocky' 35th Anniversary Special" (Tuesday at 10 p.m., bio), honoring 1976's Oscar-winning underdog tale. Over at Turner Classic Movies, William Powell is December's star of the month, defining suave (and silly) on Thursday nights, starting with '30s crime cases like "The Ex-Mrs.Bradford" (Thursday at 11 p.m., TCM). And there's a cool compare-and-contrast. John Barrymore's 1922 silent feature, "SherlockHolmes" (Dec. 2 at 10 a.m., TCM) unreels as Robert Downey Jr.'s latest is advertised everywhere. More at
tcm.com/this-month.
SERIES PREMIERES Two new sitcoms hit the air: "I Hate My Teenage Daughter" (Wednesday at 9:30 p.m., Fox/5), with Jaime Pressly and Katie Finneran, and "The Exes" (Wednesday at 10:30 p.m., TV Land), with Kristen Johnston. Among the week's new real-lifers: "Baseball Wives" (Wednesday at 9 p.m., VH1), "Triggers: Weapons That Changed the World" (Wednesday at 10 p.m., Military), "DUI" (Thursday at 9 p.m., TLC), "Weed Wars" (Thursday at 10 p.m., Discovery) and "Starving Secrets With Tracey Gold" (Dec. 2 at 10 p.m., Lifetime), featuring the "Growing Pains" star. And "America's Most Wanted" (Dec. 2 at 9 p.m., Lifetime) moves to a new channel.
