Time-Sensitive
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PERI O DI C ALS Class Publication Postmaster please deliver by the 1st of the month
TV’s Top Cop Award Goes To Jane Rizzoli
2014 Viewers Voice Awards WINNERS LIST INSIDE Best New Series: The Blacklist
Channel Guide magazine
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Katherine Heigl On NBC’s “State Of Affairs”
FACTS
On Sleep & Why You Need More Of It! pg. 14
pg. 12
channelguidemag.com
LIVE & UNTETHERED!!!
OLIVE KITTERIDGE
Nik Wallenda Attempts Highest Skyscraper Walk
Frances McDormand Brings The Beloved Book To HBO pg. 16
FUNNIER THAN EVER
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pg. 6
LISA
KUDROW
Available This Month November 2014
MAKES “THE COMEBACK” pg. 18
Tricia Helfer Talks Syfy’s New
ASCENSION pg. 13
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{SHORT LIST}
Nov.
We Break Down The Month’s Biggest And Best Programming So You Never Miss A Must-See Minute.
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One Starry Christmas, Hallmark Channel — Original Film Finding Bigfoot, Animal Planet — New Episodes Skyscraper Live With Nik Wallenda, Discovery Channel Olive Kitteridge, HBO — Original Miniseries
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Over the Garden Wall, Cartoon Network — New Miniseries
<
The Nine Lives of Christmas, Hallmark Channel — Original Film
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Angels and Ornaments, Hallmark Channel
One Christmas Eve: © Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions Credit: Erik Heinila Ascension: Credit: Jan Thijs/Syfy Over The Garden Wall: © Cartoon Network
Covert Affairs, USA Network — Season Premiere White Collar, USA Network — Season Premiere
A Royal Christmas, Hallmark Channel — Original Film
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The Christmas Shepherd, Hallmark Channel — Original Film Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries — Original Film Jay Leno: The Mark Twain Prize, PBS
Not all networks available in all areas. PBS programming varies regionally.
Booze Traveler, Travel Channel — New Series
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The Sisterhood, Lifetime — New Series
The Whale: Devil of the Deep, Animal Planet — Original Film
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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, NBC
NHL Thanksgiving Showdown: N.Y. Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers, NBC One Child, SundanceTV
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Christmas Under Wraps, Hallmark Channel — Original Film Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever, Lifetime — Original Film
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One Christmas Eve, Hallmark Channel — Original Film Sleepless in America, NGC The Tree That Saved Christmas, UP — Original Film
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State of Play, HBO — Season Premiere
EAT: The Story of Food, NGC
The Game, BBC America — New Series Fix My Choir, Oxygen — New Series The Exes, TV Land — Season Premiere Hot in Cleveland, TV Land — Season Premiere
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State of Affairs, NBC — New Series
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Navy Seals: Their Untold Story, PBS
Northpole, Hallmark Channel — Original Film Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B, Lifetime — Original Film The Missing, Starz — New Series
MasterChef Junior, FOX — Season Premiere Search for the Lost Giants, History — New Series Life Below Zero, NGC — New Episodes
Chug, NGC — New Series Crowd Control, NGC — New Series Eric Greenspan Is Hungry, NGC Ascension, Syfy — New Event Series
A Cookie Cutter Christmas, Hallmark Channel — Original Film The Comeback, HBO — Season Premiere Getting On, HBO — Season Premiere The Newsroom, HBO — Season Premiere
Hitmakers, PBS
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{CONTENTS} 11.14 CHANNELGUIDEMAG.COM
24 16 Features
Favorites
8 PopQuiz: Talking Turkey-Day TV
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State of Affairs: Credit: Michael Parmelee/NBC.
This month’s quiz is stuffed with fun facts about Thanksgiving-themed specials and episodes — from Charlie Brown to SNL!
10 2014 Viewers Voice Awards Winners!
A Royal Christmas: © Crown Media United States, LLC.
TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles scores decisive victories in our annual awards — chosen entirely by you!
Cover: Lisa Kudrow: © Gilles Toucas Photography. All Rights Reserved. Olive Kitteridge: © Jojo Whilden/HBO.
12 Katherine Heigl’s New
Resources WHAT’S ON DAILY
Best Bets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
We talk with the former Grey’s Anatomy actress, who returns to TV as co-executive producer and star of NBC’s edgy political thriller.
Program Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Is the second time the charm for HBO’s groundbreaking, Emmynominated comedy, which returns to the network nine years after it was axed? We get the details from creators Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King.
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News & Views PopQuiz What’s New On Demand Premieres Movies Family & Lifestyle Sports
“State Of Affairs”
18 “The Comeback” Comes Back!
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Olive Kitteridge
Not all services are available in all areas.
THE SOURCE How To Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S1 Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S1 Premium Profiler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S4 Movies, Specials, Sports, Local Listings & More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S6
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12
A Royal Christmas
State Of Affairs
GET MORE ONLINE! channelguidemag.com Questions or comments about this magazine? Call us at 888-333-5388 or contact us at
[email protected] You can also write: NTVB Custom Media Attention: Editor 1720 W. Florist Ave, Suite 150 Glendale, WI 53209-3836 CHANNEL GUIDE® magazine (USPS 719-690) (ISSN 1042-1238), Volume 31, Issue 11, is published every month by NTVB Custom Media, LLC, 1720 W. Florist Avenue, Glendale, WI 53209-3836. Periodicals postage rates paid at Milwaukee, WI and at additional mailing offices. The goal of NTVB Custom Media, LLC is to deliver your publication by the 1st of each month. If you are experiencing delivery delays, or your publication arrives damaged, please contact the U.S. Postal Service at your area post office to obtain a publication watch form. You can also log on to channelguidemag.com/delivery/, or call 1-800-275-8777. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CHANNEL GUIDE® magazine, 1720 W. Florist Avenue, Glendale, WI 53209-3836. NTVB Custom Media, LLC is not responsible for changes in programming times and dates. CHANNEL GUIDE® magazine is a publication of NTVB Custom Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. © 2014, NTVB Custom Media, LLC. For questions or comments about this magazine, contact us at
[email protected] or NTVB Custom Media, LLC, Attention: Editor, 1720 W. Florist Ave, Suite 150, Glendale, WI 53209-3836. If you are moving to a new address, please visit your local Post Office and complete USPS Form 3575, or access the web at moversguide.usps.com
Channel Guide Magazine 3
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{NEWS & VIEWS} Editor’s Note
Good Sleep, Good TV It’s 6:30am and I’m at work writing this letter, which means I’ve only logged six hours of sleep — a somewhat normal occurrence; however, it’s one that makes me legitimately part of the nation’s 40 percent of adults who are chronically sleepdeprived. And according to National Geographic Channel’s Sleepless in America, if I keep this up, it could kill me. Two of the forces behind this fascinating documentary, airing this month, discussed the repercussions of sleep deprivation with Lori Acken in grave detail (page 14), and it’s truly a must-read feature — and a must-view program. Adding to my lack of sleep — and I’m honestly not even complaining — is the sheer volume of really, really good TV. From the hilarious Lisa Kudrow returning to HBO in The Comeback to James Nesbitt in the heart-wrenching Starz limited series The Missing, this month alone I’ll be adding another two hours a week to my already busy viewing schedule. Plus, November also brings Frances McDormand’s Olive Kitteridge and that damn Nik Wallenda, who’s got to do another one of those agonizing tightrope walks that I simply can’t turn away from. Is anyone else like that? Lastly, on behalf of the staff at Channel Guide Magazine, I’d like to extend Thanksgiving blessings to you. Happy Thanksgiving!
MEET THE CREW
BARB
JEFF
Barb Oates, Editor in Chief
Random Rants & Raves READERS RESPOND
We asked: Did you ever dress as a TV or movie character for Halloween? Does Cookie Monster count as a TV character? I took a flat paper bag big enough for my head to fit inside and folded down the corners. Then I took squares What TV show of blue crepe paper, are you most layered and crinkled thankful for — them and pasted onto the bag to and why? them resemble fur. I had Email us at letters@ ping-pong balls for my ntvbmedia.com eyes. I wore a royal blue sweatshirt, sweatpants, mittens and sneakers. I carried a bag of cookies and went around saying, “Me want cookies.” — Natalie
QUESTION OF THE MONTH:
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LORI
First on my list to DVR: Starz’s The Missing I will be physically ill watching: Nik Wallenda’s live tightrope walk on Nov. 2
First on my list to DVR: Sleepless in America on NGC My favorite TV show Thanksgiving episode: Cheers
First on my list to DVR: Olive Kitteridge on HBO Why I don’t get eight hours of sleep: Damn you, Jimmy Fallon!
We asked: What would it take for you to stop watching the NFL? When I was young, a not-so-famous player from a famous team wanted to date me. Just his playing football as a profession was a huge turnoff. Handsome, but can you say ignorant? The odd thing was, I dated a baseball player and he was absolutely brilliant. I think there are intelligent football players, but few and far [between]. Players are more violent and dumb than ever before. — Whooperwill The letters and opinions above reflect the views of Channel Guide Magazine and its readers. Letters may be edited for clarity or length. Send your letters to: letters@ ntvbmedia.com or write to Random Rants/ Raves, Channel Guide, 1720 W. Florist Ave., Suite 150, Glendale, WI 53209.
First on my list to DVR: Ascension on Syfy Someday I’ll bingeview: Party Down
RYAN
KELLIE
First on my list to DVR: New episodes of Life Below Zero on NGC Favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal: I could eat turkey dressing all day long N
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This Month’s Returning Favorites
Pushing Buttons | By Lori Acken
Illustration: Credit: Nate Reysen.
SLEEPLESS On MY Sofa When I first saw this month’s can’t-miss National Geographic Channel documentary Sleepless in America previewed at a summer press event, I knew I had to cover it. Next to sucking down more coffee than a woman my size should be able to hold and reading entire novels in the bathtub on weekends, being a crummy sleeper is my biggest talent. Yes, I know. Dubious Talent No. 1 and Dubious Talent No. 3 are probably related. But I switch to decaf by midafternoon. And I was a crummy sleeper long before I became Folgers guzzler par excellence. Realizing that I am a much better mother, spouse, colleague and friend with a good night’s rest, I eventually sought the help of my doctor. I took my medicine. I kept my bedtimes and wake times constant and made sure that each were as reasonable as a parent of four can manage. I left the job at the office, the cellphone on the counter, the laptop on the desk and hauled the TV out of our bedroom, too. Then I realized I was never going to fold, iron and put away the laundry if I didn’t have Snapped reruns to accompany the job, so I hauled the TV right back in. But I stuck to reading after I hit the sack, I swear. Soon enough, the kids grew up and moved out and I stopped sleeping with one eye and ear open. I chilled out. The
cat got older and adopted my bedtime, too. And decent sleep returned without fanfare. Well, briefly. Then I realized that, with no kids to tend and the approximately 97 percent reduction in housework that resulted, I was actually awake enough to watch stuff that came on at 10pm or after. And I liked a lot of it. I had time to watch the stuff that had been collecting (and collecting mold) on the DVR, too. And then Jimmy Fallon took over The Tonight Show, tempting me with performances, interviews and stunts guaranteed to be water cooler talk the very next morning, which rendered the DVR no help. That was all she wrote. With a non-negotiable 6am alarm and an equally non-negotiable Fallon addiction, I’m back to bad sleep. And frequently coming to at 3am, facedown on the sofa with the remote in my hand and a deeply annoyed cat at my feet. You should see how much coffee I can choke down now, with n-n-n-nary a shake to my hand! But since many of the insomniarelated maladies in Sleepless in America hit mighty close to home — some a deadon bull’s-eye — I’m rethinking my priorities and my late-night TV consumption, too. So open wide, little DVR. And no one tell me what happens on Fallon.
Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet (new episodes) — Nat Geo Wild (Nov. 1) Finding Bigfoot (new episodes) — Animal Planet (Nov. 2) The Curse of Oak Island (Season 2) — History (Nov. 4) Life Below Zero (new episodes) — NGC (Nov. 4) The Exes (Season 4) — TV Land (Nov. 5) Hot in Cleveland (Season 6) — TV Land (Nov. 5) Covert Affairs (new episodes) — USA Network (Nov. 6) White Collar (Season 6; final season) — USA Network (Nov. 6) The Comeback (Season 2) — HBO (Nov. 9) Getting On (Season 2) — HBO (Nov. 9) The Newsroom (Season 3; final season) — HBO (Nov. 9) State of Play (Season 2) — HBO (Nov. 18)
YANKED!: Recently Canceled Shows A&E quietly canceled crime drama Longmire after three seasons, though the show could end up elsewhere. ... TBS cut CeeLo Green’s The Good Life short after one season because of low ratings (and CeeLo’s regrettable tweets). ... After three seasons, TNT canceled its reboot of Dallas.
What Happened To The Hub? Discovery Communications and Hasbro officially changed the name of The Hub to Discovery Family Channel (DFC) on Oct. 13. The arrangement gives Discovery 60 percent ownership in the network, with Hasbro’s share decreasing to 40 percent, in an effort to broaden its programming focus to serve families in primetime. Channel Guide Magazine 5
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{HYPE}
UpIn The Air
Kid-Chen
Talented Tweens Storm The Kitchen For Season 2 Of “MasterChef Junior.”
on helicopters), as well as a first for him — walking up a considerable incline on the wire. “I spent a lot of time on rooftops looking around in the evening, and this was one that just really showcased the city. It was absolutely beautiful. And just to make it a little more dramatic, I decided to walk uphill at a 15-degree incline. So rather than walk from one rooftop to another directly across, or from one rooftop into the window of another, which I’ve done in the past, I decided to create a little more of a challenge for myself.” This is the first time Wallenda has walked on an incline such as this, and it required a new sort of training for him. “It’s a lot about strengthening the legs,” he says. “Normally, the hardest part of walking the wire, believe it or not, the part that strains the quickest are your arms because of that balancing pole. With this one, it’s a combination of my arms and my legs.” And, heaven forbid, if his arms and legs give out, or a sudden burst of wind knocks him around on the wire, Wallenda explains his “out.” “My entire life I’ve trained that if there’s ever an issue, that I go down and grab that wire. The wire is always a safe haven; it’s always at my feet, and I would go down and grab that wire and hold on. I’ve got rescue teams that can be to me within minutes anywhere on that wire.” Skyscraper Live With Nik Wallenda > Discovery Channel > Live Nov. 2
MasterChef Junior > FOX > Tuesdays beginning Nov. 4
Skyscraper Live: Credit: Discovery
After making around 13 million television viewers’ hearts stop during last year’s gripping wire-walk across a portion of the Grand Canyon, Nik Wallenda is ready to have audiences wracking their nerves again. “I love challenging myself,” Wallenda tells us in an interview. That is obvious when one hears about his latest wire-walking attempt, which will be covered in the live Discovery Channel special Skyscraper Live With Nik Wallenda. Wallenda will be engaging in a two-part walk between notable Chicago buildings (the second part of which will find him blindfolded). This is the highest skyscraper walk in the famed history of the 220 Wallenda family — more than countries 50 stories high. will air “I wanted to do Wallenda’s something in a big city,” walk live explains Wallenda. “One of the first attractions to Chicago was the [nickname], the Windy City ... because as a wire walker, of course your biggest enemy is the wind.” And Chicago in November is likely to have a good amount of wind, especially when Wallenda says that they chose the windiest area of the city. But the drama of Skyscraper Live won’t be limited to Wallenda merely balancing on the wire. He explains the breathtaking view of the area (which the TV audience will see via dozens of cameras positioned around the city and
MasterChef Junior: © 2013 FOX Credit: Greg Gayne
Nik Wallenda Attempts Another Death-Defying Wire-Walk. By Jeff Pfeiffer
While most parents shudder at the thought of their children handling cutlery, and most tykes subsist on a diet of macaroni and cheese, a handful of kids are already exploring the world of haute cuisine. Under the tutelage of and judged by chef Gordon Ramsay, restaurateur Joe Bastianich and chef Graham Elliot, pint-size chefs will compete in Season 2 of FOX’s culinary competition MasterChef Junior. Like the grownup version of the show, MasterChef Junior is a search for America’s best home cooks. But here, the cooks are ages 8-13, and one of the 16 kid-testants will take home a $100,000 prize. Chef Gordon Ramsay is not as harsh on his smaller contestants as he is in his other FOX shows, MasterChef and Hell’s Kitchen. He’s actually playful and his interactions with the witty kidtestants are the highlight of the show. The kids are precocious and exude culinary confidence that belies their tender years. And of course, there’s the food; within minutes of the start of the first mystery box challenge, kids are chopping, mixing and searing food that outclasses anything that I’ve served lately. Maybe I need to take notes when I watch, for I have little doubt that some day, these mini cooking stars will be earning Michelin stars.
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On The Menu: © Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Credit: CHRISTOPHER BEYER
By Kellie Freeze
77Q
Questions With … Ty Pennington of TNT’s “On The Menu.” By Barb Oates
Last month TNT introduced us to the first cooking competition series where viewers actually get to taste each week’s winning dish in On the Menu, which airs Fridays. Ty Pennington hosts the series and legendary chef Emeril Lagasse lends his expertise to the everyday cooks. The day after each episode, you can go to the featured restaurant chain and actually try the winning dish! Upcoming episodes include Emeril’s (Oct. 31), The Cheesecake Factory (Nov. 7), Cabo Wabo Cantina/Sammy’s Beach Bar & Grill (Nov. 14), Outback Steakhouse (Nov. 21), Buca di Beppo (Nov. 28) and Dickey’s Barbecue Pit (Dec. 5). Pennington, who tells us he’s “a sucker for any exciting competition” and “I LOVE good food,” is the perfect fit as host. Here he answers our “7 Questions.”
1 2 3 4 5
You’re at a magazine rack and can only pick three titles. Which ones do you choose? Dwell, Rolling Stone, Surfer and National Geographic. If your TV carried just three shows or networks, what would they be? TNT, HBO, ESPN.
On The Menu: © Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Credit: CHRISTOPHER BEYER
What are three things you have to have in your fridge or pantry? Fresh-squeezed tangerine juice, arugula, Ritter Sport chocolate bars. What’s a movie you can watch over and over again? Spinal Tap.
Tell us about a time when you were starstruck. When Halle Berry stopped by the opening-night party of my store in Venice years ago, and I had to stare at the ceiling so my eyes wouldn’t drift below eyeline and be fixed on her flawless figure.
tried and, if so, how honestly do you let them know what you think? Is it hard for you to give criticism? Ha! No, I love delivering a little funny criticism — it’s my favorite part because I want these cooks to do the best they can. But in the end it doesn’t matter what I think because it’s the people in the restaurant that have the most brutal and honest reactions to the dishes and ultimately sway the decision of which dish ends up on the menu.
Available This Month
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What has been your strangest fan encounter? A group of Italian tourists at JFK thought I was Bear Grylls — we took pictures and the whole nine yards. It was hilarious ... for me!
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In On the Menu, have you had an instance yet where you really didn’t care for something you’ve
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{POPQUIZ}
TURKEY TIME
After giving thanks and stuffing your tummy, push back from the table and take our gobbling-good PopQuiz to see how well you know your turkey-day TV. By Kellie Freeze Name the medical malady afflicting the staff of the 4077th in the M*A*S*H episode “The Yalu Brick Road” (1979).
In what year was the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade first televised nationwide?
In the memorable Friends episode “The One With All the Thanksgivings” (1998), which two characters shove turkeys onto their heads? A) Chandler and Joey B) Joey and Monica C) Ross and Phoebe D) Rachel and Ross What happens at the end of the Cheers episode “Thanksgiving Orphans” (1986)?
In A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973), what food was not served in Charlie’s backyard Thanksgiving dinner? A) Buttered toast C) Popcorn B) Jelly beans D) Turkey This Is America, Charlie Brown (1988) identifies the Mayflower passenger who fell overboard and was rescued. Who was he? A) Military officer Myles Standish B) Manservant John Howland C) Barrel-maker John Alden D) Colony doctor Samuel Fuller Name the comedian who cowrote and performed “The Thanksgiving Song” on Saturday Night Live in 1992.
How many Thanksgiving dinners did Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory (Alexis Bledel) eat in Gilmore Girls’ “A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving” (2002)? A) 0 B) 2 C) 4 D) 6
In Seinfeld’s 1994 Thanksgiving episode “The Mom and Pop Store,” which famous parade balloon does Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) accidentally pop? A) Woody Woodpecker C) Garfield B) Betty Boop D) Superman How Did 8-10 Gobble gobble!
YOU
Score?
5-7 Have seconds. 1-4 Eating leftovers.
Macy’s Parade: Newscom/ZUMAPRESS.com Credit Globe Photos
True or False: In The Cosby Show’s Season 6 Thanksgiving episode, Cliff (Bill Cosby) is repeatedly sent out into a blizzard to buy forgotten groceries.
Short Takes Industry News, Opinion & More. By Barb Oates
Friends: Credit: NBC
NBC’s upcoming event miniseries The Slap gives an unflinching look at how one little slap can have a huge impact. The suburban drama centers around Hector, who is celebrating his 40th birthday while navigating family politics, awkward friendships and the younger woman he’s secretly seeing on the side, when his hotheaded cousin slaps another couple’s misbehaving child. This moment will ignite a chain of events that will uncover long-buried secrets within this group ... and challenge the core values of everyone involved. Already signed on to the NBC drama are Zachary Quinto, Brian Cox, Peter Sarsgaard and
Mary-Louise Parker. The miniseries is based on the 2011 Australian series and 2008 novel by Christos Tsiolkas.
Karen Kingsbury’s Bestsellers Come To Hallmark
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: © 1973 United Feature Syndicate Inc. All rights reserved.
The Story Behind “The Slap”
Karen Kingsbury’s The Bridge and A Time to Dance will be translated into film as part of a development deal Hallmark Channel made with the New York Times best-selling author. The Bridge is planned for a 2015 holiday premiere. “I am beyond thrilled to begin this partnership. My readers will count down the days till the first of these two future classic movies,” Kingsbury says.
ANSWERS: 1. 1948; 2. False. Cliff was sent out into a rainstorm; 3. B) Joey and Monica; 4. A food fight; 5. D) Turkey; 6. B) Manservant John Howland; 7. Adam Sandler; 8. Salmonella; 9. C) 4; 10. A) Woody Woodpecker 8 Channel Guide Magazine
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{HYPE}
A Little Less Goofy After A Health Scare, Kristen Johnston Returns to “The Exes.” By Kellie Freeze
The Exes: Credit: TV Land.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: © 1973 United Feature Syndicate Inc. All rights reserved.
Friends: Credit: NBC
Macy’s Parade: Newscom/ZUMAPRESS.com Credit Globe Photos
TV Land’s hilarious comedy The Exes returns for a fourth season of the riotous antics of divorce attorney Holly Franklin (Kristen Johnston), her sunny assistant (Kelly Stables) and the three recently divorced roommates (Donald Faison, Wayne Knight and David Alan Basche) who live across the hall from her in the building she owns. Last season, Johnston, who won two Emmy Awards as alien Sally Solomon on 3rd Rock From the Sun, started having difficulty moving her body and her memory becam unreliable. “It was almost impossible to remember lines and I couldn’t hold my head up without a brace, so I could only work for an hour at a time,” she recalls. Her illness was eventually diagnosed as lupus myelitis, an autoimmune disease in which her body’s immune system attacks her spinal cord. While Johnston sought treatment for the rare disease, Leah Remini (The King of Queens) was brought in to fill the void left by her departure. This season, Remin returns for five episodes to complete her character’s story ar and Johnston is excited to share screen time with a woman she calls “a forever friend.” When we spoke, Johnston hinted at a “season-long story about Holly … and getting married. [Laughs] The midway point ends with a wedding and that’s all I’ll say.” Originally, that episode was written as the season’s finale, but TV Land was so enamored with the show’ direction that it upped the season from 12 to 24 episodes and paired The Exes with another TV Land sitcom smash, Hot in Cleveland. “At TV Land, they love comedy,” says Johnston. “For those of us in the world who make our bread and butter through sitcoms, we’re very grateful to them.” When asked if the role of Holly has changed, Johnston is introspective. “The role has changed,” she says. “It’s gotten deeper, in a weird way. I seem a little less goofy, she’s just a little more — there’s actually some depth to her, which is a byproduct of me and what I’ve gone through.” Johnston’s lupus is now in remission, and she’s thrilled to be back at work. She looks forward to sharing The Exes with her fans, old and new. “It’s not brain surgery — we’re not changing the world,” she laughs. “But it is, in my humble opinion, 22 minutes of seriously funny acting and it’s just a joyful way to spend 22 minutes.” The Exes > TV Land > Wednesdays beginning Nov. 5 N
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THE 3RD ANNUAL CHANNEL GUIDE MAGAZINE
VIEWERS VOICE AWARDS
WINNERS
If there’s anything we learned in this year’s Viewers Voice Awards, it’s that you love Sleepy Hollow and that Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) has one serious fan base. Almost 50,000 votes helped secure the no-nonsense, all-too-relatable detective from TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles as the 2014 Top TV Cop. Other fun findings included Todd Chrisley and Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) beating out Kim Kardashian in the “Most Drool-Worthy Wardrobe” category. Find out who else won top honors from fans across the country in Channel Guide’s 2014 Viewers Voice Awards.
The Blacklist, NBC . . . . . . . . . .27.7% Sleepy Hollow, FOX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.5% Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC . . 13.4% Fargo, FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.5% True Detective, HBO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5% Brooklyn Nine-Nine, FOX . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0% Tyrant, FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4% Masters of Sex, Showtime . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9% The Lottery, Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6% Satisfaction, USA Network . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1% The Knick, Cinemax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6% While Red Reddington (James Spader) may not have taken the Best Baddie award, he did help secure The Blacklist as 2014’s Best New Series. “There’s no question that on our show we attempt to turn things on their ear when we’re able to,” Spader said. He also teased that there will be several cliffhangers this season, including the midseason finale, as well as in a two-part, post-Super Bowl episode. 10 Channel Guide Magazine
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Sleepy Hollow, FOX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.1% Game of Thrones, HBO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.4% The Good Wife, CBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2% Criminal Minds, CBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.8% The Walking Dead, AMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1% Grey’s Anatomy, ABC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5% Scandal, ABC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5% Orphan Black, BBC America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1% Pretty Little Liars, ABC Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6% Masters of Sex, Showtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7% The freshman series from FOX, now in its second season, took top honors. We talked to the star of the series, Tom Mison, who shared a secret ritual he does to slip into his character of Ichabod Crane. “No one in the world knows this,” Mison said, dropping his voice a bit conspiratorially. “I have a little Sleepy Hollow playlist on a day when the wig and coat are not enough, and that playlist helps a lot.” He listens to Tom Waits — because who screams “Revolutionary era” more than the gravelly voiced singer?
Most Chilling/Creepiest TV Series
Sleepy Hollow, FOX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35.2% The Walking Dead, AMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.1% The Strain, FX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.8% Penny Dreadful, Showtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.9% The Returned, SundanceTV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1%
Note for you math whizzes: Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
Sleepy Hollow: © 2014 Fox Broadcasting Co. Credit: James Dimmock
Best New Series
Best Drama
The Blacklist: © 2013 NBCUniversal Media, LLC Credit: Patrick Ecclesine
Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon), Rizzoli & Isles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97% Harmon), NCIS . . . . . . . . 1.0% Leroy Gibbs (Mark Harmon) Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), Castle . . . . . 0.8% Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch), Sherlock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2% Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg), Blue Bloods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1% Little love was given to Criminal Minds’ Spencer Reid, Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Jake Peralta, The Following’s Ryan Hardy and a few others. Instead, it was all about Jane. Here’s what readers had to say: “I don’t understand why Rizzoli & Isles is constantly ignored when awards time comes around. The show has excellent actors and great scripts. I never miss a minute of this wonderful series on TNT.” — Norma “I’ve been watching Rizzoli & Isles for five years and every awards show they have, Rizzoli & Isles has never been acknowledged — that must be changed.” — Rosetta
Rizzoli & Isles: ™ & © Turner Entertaiment Network, Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved Credit: James White
TV’s Top Cop/Detective
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The Big Bang Theory: ©2014 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Credit: Sonja Flemming.
Supernatural: © 2013 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved. Credit: Nino Muñoz
The Good Wife: © 2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. Credit: Justin Stephens Chrisley Knows Best: © 2014 USA Network Media, LLC Credit: Andrew Eccles
The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: © 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Credit: Monty Brinton
TV’s Best Baddie
Best Comedy
Peter Pan (Robbie Kay), Once Upon a Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36.5% Spader), Red Reddington (James Spader) The Blacklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.0% Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton), Fargo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.9% Joe Carroll (James Purefoy), The Following . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1% Big Jim Rennie (Dean Norris), Under the Dome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.8%
The Big Bang Theory, CBS . . . . . . . . . . . 47.1% Playing House, USA Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42.4% Modern Family, ABC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.9% Key and Peele, Comedy Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.3% Impractical Jokers, truTV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0% The Millers, CBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0% Parks and Recreation, NBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0% Community, NBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.9% Brooklyn Nine-Nine, FOX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.7% Veep, HBO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.7%
Most Drool-Worthy Wardrobe
Best Family Values
Jen Arnold and Bill Klein, The Little Couple, TLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59.8% The Goldbergs, Goldbergs The Goldbergs, ABC. . . . . . . . 13.8% The Duggars, 19 Kids and Counting, TLC . . . . 6.7% The Browns, Alaskan Bush People, Discovery Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3% The Chapmans, Dog and Beth: On the Hunt, CMT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2% The Starks, Game of Thrones, HBO . . . . . . . . . 4.9% The Lannisters, Game of Thrones, HBO . . . . . 3.0% The Thompsons, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, TLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%
Best Paranormal/ Monster Series
Supernatural, The CW . . . . . . . . . 33.3% Under the Dome, CBS . . 26.9% Falling Skies, TNT . . . . . . . 17.8% The Leftovers, HBO . . . . . 7.8% Ghost Hunters, Syfy . . . . . 7.4% Finding Bigfoot, Animal Planet . . . . . . . . . . 5.8% Mountain Monsters, Destination America . . . . . . 1.0%
Best Besties
Jane and Maura, Rizzoli & Isles . . . . . . 83.6% Maggie and Emma, Playing House . . . . . . . . . . . 15.6% Troy and Abed, Community. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2% Leslie and Ann, Parks and Recreation. . . . . . . . . 0.2% Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna, Pretty Little Liars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2% Morgan and Dorothy, #RichKids of Beverly Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%
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TV’s Most Devastating Moment
The Good Wife — Will Gardner taking a bullet to the neck . . . . . . . . . . . 29.1% Supernatural — Dean’s demon-eyes reveal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.0% The Walking Dead — Carol telling Lizzie to look at the flowers before putting her down . . 20.0% American Horror Story: Coven — Delphine LaLaurie’s (Kathy Bates) beheading. . . . . 9.1% Game of Thrones — When Daenerys locks up and leaves her dragons. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.8% Homeland — Brody’s hanging . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9%
Best Redneck Series
Duck Dynasty, A&E . . . . . . . . . . . 46.7% Call of the Wildman (Turtleman), Animal Planet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.0% Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, TLC . . . . . 13.5% Alaskan Bush People, Discovery Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.1% Party Down South, CMT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.6%
Best Person To Keep You Up At Night Craig Ferguson . . . . . . . . . 72.0% Jimmy Fallon . . . . . .14.5% David Letterman . .4.3% Jimmy Kimmel . . . .4.1% Jon Stewart . . . . . . .2.1% Stephen Colbert . .2.0% Seth Meyers . . . . . .0.9%
Todd Chrisley, Chrisley Knows Best . . . . . . 45.4% Bomer), Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) White Collar. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.1% Kim Kardashian, Keeping Up With the Kardashians. . . . . 10.0% Mindy Lahiri (Mindy Kaling), The Mindy Project . . . . . . . . 6.7% NeNe Leakes, The Real Housewives of Atlanta . . . . 5.0% Morgan Stewart, #RichKids of Beverly Hills . . . . . . . . . . 4.7%
Other 2014
WINNERS Most Bewitching Witch
Queen Regina (Lana Parrilla), Once Upon a Time . . . 56.1%
Best Game Show
Family Game Night . . . . 33.3%
Best TV Flashback
The Goldbergs . . . . . . . . . 29.5%
Best Kitchen Conundrum
Hell’s Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . 30.5%
Best Talent Test
Dancing With the Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.1% Channel Guide Magazine 11
10/16/14 8:34 AM
What’s NEW?
A Quick Preview Of New Series & Specials Airing This Month.
For dramatic purposes, we have to have her be a little off the rails. — Katherine Heigl on her character’s risky behavior
Ah, there’s nothing quite like coming home to relax after a hard day of work in Kabul, Afghanistan. “I finished work early today,” Katherine Heigl says. “I can sit down and watch TV because my kids are at school and my husband is off working, so I finally have a quiet house.” Kabul, in this case, is a film set in Santa Clarita, Calif., where Heigl is shooting flashback scenes for her new NBC political thriller State of Affairs, from executive producer/director Joe Carnahan (The Blacklist). Heigl stars as Charleston “Charlie” Tucker, a top CIA analyst responsible for assembling the President’s Daily Briefing (PDB or “The Book”) informing the president of the day’s
highest-priority national security hot spots. But she also has a tragic personal link to POTUS Constance Payton (played with power and pathos by Alfre Woodard): Charlie was engaged to Payton’s son and witnessed his violent death during a terrorist ambush in the Middle East. Foreign policy is a personal matter for Charlie and her commander in chief, and both struggle internally with their trauma. For Charlie, it’s trying to fill in the emptiness with drinking and casual sex. “I think you need some connection with these people on a personal level to delve into their world and see them as real human beings and not just robots going about the business of analyzing,” Heigl says of Charlie and her cohorts. The realism
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State of Affairs: Credit: Michael Parmelee/NBC
STATE OF AFFAIRS
Katherine Heigl Briefs Us On Her Daring New Political Thriller. By Ryan A. Berenz
State of Affairs > NBC > Mondays beginning Nov. 17 NMSO
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Tricia Helfer Goes Retro, Returning To Her Sci-Fi Roots For “Ascension.” By Eric Kohanik
Ascension: Credit: Syfy
State of Affairs: Credit: Michael Parmelee/NBC
of the characters and their cloak-anddagger world is achieved in part due to contributions from real CIA veterans Henry Crumpton and Rodney Faraon, who shared their experiences and let Heigl into the “inner circle” of the intelligence community. “You’re getting to work at 2 in the morning preparing the brief for the day, and you usually brief the president sometime in the morning,” Heigl says, “and then you’re done until 2 in the morning. So they would go to this bar in Maryland and just get hammered and blow off steam, which is slightly terrifying if you think about it!” So the CIA briefs POTUS with a hangover? “These guys are serious CIA. They do not come into work hung over,” Heigl reassures us. “Charleston will, on occasion. For dramatic purposes, we have to have her be a little off the rails.” State of Affairs is a bold venture for Heigl, who is royalty among rom-com movie stars but has not done a TV project since leaving Grey’s Anatomy in 2010. She has grown up personally and professionally in the past four years. “I took a couple of years off to just really be with my family,” she says. “And I needed that time. I needed to be a mom and be a wife and be a friend and really revel in that and remember what it is I feel so passionate about in this industry.” In addition to starring, Heigl also shares State of Affairs’ executive producer credit. It’s her first TV series experience at this level, and she says it took about a week of filming before she found a nice balance between acting and all the behind-thescenes duties. “I didn’t realize exactly what I was walking into. But I’ve loved it. It’s really been satisfying and exciting work for me,” she says. “I’m having the time of my life. I love every bit of this. I feel immensely connected to the show. I feel immensely connected to my character. I feel immensely connected to the success of it or the failings of it. It’s so a part of me because I got to be so a part of it on these levels.”
E ited r AT r Lim embe PD ou ec U t, 6-H s In D igh erie 3-N nt S e Ev
Ascension
Tricia Helfer admits she has somewhat of a soft spot for science fiction. But there’s a good reason. “I started my career with Battlestar Galactica,” the 40-year-old actress explains. “And I got lucky for my first job to be on something that was so character-driven and something that made people think.” It was that combination of strong characters and storylines that drew Helfer to her latest TV project: Ascension, a six-hour series inspired by Project Orion, a real top-secret space mission authorized by President John F. Kennedy. Ascension is a complex drama ensconced in sci-fi adventure and wrapped up in a murder mystery. The story revolves around the inhabitants of the USS Ascension, a massive spacecraft that has been on a covert mission since the height of the Cold War in the 1960s, sending 600 men, women and children into space on a 100-year quest to save the human race by populating a new world. “I was fascinated by the idea,” says Helfer. “I thought it’s interesting to have this alternate reality, sort of a ‘Plan B’ for humanity. For me, it was all about the characters and the ‘what if’ stories. What if these people were in space on this journey?” The series opens 50 years into the mission, with those aboard the USS Ascension contending with a number of conflicts, including the first ever homicide on the spaceship. Brian Van Holt stars as William Denninger, the current captain of the ship. Helfer costars as his wife, Viondra. “She is very manipulative and wanting to make something out of her life,” Helfer explains. “She gave up the right to have children, so she feels that she is sort of the mother of the people on the ship — the mother of humanity in a way.” The Denningers have both worked their way up from lower-class beginnings to the top of the ship’s hierarchy. And although the show is set in the present, Ascension is filled with lots of retro elements in terms of fashion, music and attitudes. Tricia Helfer “A lot of their morals and their values that we’re dealing with are still from the early ’60s,” Helfer points out. “The ‘woman behind the man’ is still much more [common] than we would see in our society here on Earth today.” Ascension > Syfy > Dec. 15-17 Channel Guide Magazine 13
10/16/14 11:23 AM
{WHAT’S NEW}
SLEEPLESS In America
A high-stakes world of covert espionage awaits Tom Hughes in “The Game”
NGC Reveals Why The “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” Mentality Could Actually Kill You. By Lori Acken Did you know that at this very moment there exists a single, enormously effective weightloss aid, chronic disease fighter, mental health booster and student achievement enhancer — and it’s available to everyone and free for the taking? All you have to do to reap these benefits is get eight hours of uninterrupted shut-eye. You just groaned, didn’t you? We humans are the only species that willfully deny ourselves sleep and — cellphones, remotes and tablets in hand and in bed — Americans are experts at it. Forty percent of the nation’s adults and a whopping 70 percent of its high-school students are chronically sleep-deprived according to National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines. And it’s not just making us exhausted and irritable. It’s killing us. “We are tapping into a moment where sleep is getting a level of attention and recognition that people like Dr. Matt Walker [director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley] have long been yearning for in terms of sitting on this growing body of evidence that there are serious consequences to the sleep-loss epidemic — but they’ve
The Game
Tensions Are High In BBC America’s New Spy Thriller. By Jacqueline Cutler
The Game > BBC America > Wednesdays beginning Nov. 5 14 Channel Guide Magazine
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Sleepless in America > National Geographic Channel > Nov. 30
Science of Sleep graphic: Credit: NGC
Sad News
The Game: © 2014 BBC Credit: Des Willie
BBC America’s six-episode series The Game stars Tom Hughes (Dancing on the Edge) as MI5 agent Joe Lambe, a young man haunted by his lover’s murder and his own betrayal against his country. “He is a bit of an enigma,” Hughes says of his character. “He’s a man that possesses hidden and mysterious talents that he spent his life lying about — what he is truly thinking and feeling.” Creator Toby Whithouse (Being Human) captures the tensions and mood of 1972, and to ensure accuracy, he interviewed actual spies. “Perhaps, not surprisingly, they tend to be quite circumspect about their methods,” Whithouse says. “Someone from MI6 thanked me for creating an imaginary world. It is almost like the supernatural — the only ones who know it are in it.” All of it feels very real, and viewers will be lured in to see what this Soviet plot is and who is involved.
been screaming into the wind,” says John Hoffman, Emmy-winning producer of Children in War, The Alzheimer’s Project and The Weight of the Nation, whose The Public Good Projects teamed up with National Geographic Channel, the NIH and leading sleep researchers to produce the eye-opening NGC documentary Sleepless in America. “I hope that we can be an amplifier for them, a megaphone to make people understand that this is far more serious than they’re aware.” “The elastic band of sleep deprivation can stretch only so far before it snaps,” Dr. Walker explains, “and I think that’s exactly what this documentary is going to demonstrate. We’re starting to see this weathering of that elastic band of sleep deprivation in numerous medical conditions: anxiety, depression, stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer. My hope is that the documentary starts to break down some of that stigma in industrialized nations that getting sufficient sleep is equivalent to laziness.” “The answer isn’t hard,” Hoffman concluded. “You have to get more sleep. You just have to do it.”
Researchers are now discovering that sleep disorders aren’t just a byproduct of mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. “Based on modern-day research, we’re starting to understand that sleep abnormalities make a significant contribution to the development of those psychiatric conditions,” Dr. Walker reveals.
Add Sleep, Subtract Pounds University of Pennsylvania research has shown that skipping sleep increases cravings for fatty foods by 33 percent, adding an extra 500 frequently empty calories to the diets of poor sleepers. N
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12 Essential Facts About …
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP
Devise A Better Plan One thing everyone can do to get a better night’s sleep — leave the electronics out of the bedroom. Sixty percent of us bring our cellphones and other electronic devices along when we retire for the night. “The problem is that we can’t resist the stimulation — it’s too rewarding,” says Hoffman. “It’s exceeding anything that we were designed to experience, so it’s keeping us up beyond what we’re designed for.”
Sleeper, Heal Thyself “Sleep is critically essential for most all body functions and one of those is your immune health,” says Dr. Walker. “We know that there are a number of immune system components that help fight malignancy — fo example, one called natural killer cells. These will actually latch onto tumors and release a protein into them that destroys the tumors. After one night of sleep deprivation, there is about a 70 percent reduction in your natural killer cell activity.” N
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Pills Aren’t The Answer Twenty percent of Americans regularly take sleep medication. “One of the most important parts of the documentary is to reveal that we now have good, non-drug-related methods for improving sleep specifically called cognitiv behavioral therapy for insomnia [CBTI],” says Dr. Walker. “When you stop sleep medications, most people go back to bad sleep again; when you stop sessions with a CBTI therapist and you continue to practice those methods, you continue to obtain good sleep for the long term.”
The Kids Aren’t Alright With most high schools starting before 8am, sleep has become an elective for American teens. “There are school systems that have delayed their start time and the positives that result are just fantastic,” Hoffman says. “SAT scores going up. School sports teams performing better. Fewer kids in car accidents. But if we’re going to pay more attention to traffic patterns and school bus schedules then we’re going to have all these kids who are suffering. What are our priorities?”
Shifting Our View Of Shift Work Nearly half of the 15 million people who work the night shift are sleep deficient. Dr Walker says the link between sleep loss and cancer is so strong that the World Health Organization has now classified shift work as probable carcinogen. Channel Guide Magazine 15
10/16/14 11:23 AM
{WHAT’S NEW} Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins
Olive Kitteridge HBO And Frances McDormand Bring Elizabeth Strout Bestseller To Poignant Life.
Like many readers of Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2008 novel Olive Kitteridge, actress Frances McDormand fell in love with the character-rich examination of small-town secrets and happily shared it with her friends. One longtime pal called her soon after, wondering if McDormand would find a way to play the plainspoken Olive onscreen. McDormand said no, unwilling to dilute the power of Strout’s words. “For me, acting has always been just a social extension of my private reading life,” says the lifelong book collector, “so I was never interested in reading books as material to develop into other projects.” A serendipitous encounter with The Wire creator David Simon, however, convinced McDormand that limited-series television could serve the kind of deeply felt, woman-centric stories she longed to produce — including that of Olive Kitteridge. McDormand (wife and muse of legendary filmmaker Joel Coen) optioned the book, tapping screenwriter Jane Anderson to help her condense its 13 interwoven narratives down to the novel’s very essence — a quarter-century in the marriage of Olive, whose eccentric ways mask a wounded soul, and her husband, Henry, a warmhearted pharmacist who does his best to care for his wife and cushion others from her candor. Five years in the making, McDormand’s extraordinary four-part Olive Kitteridge debuts this month on HBO, featuring her Burn After Reading costar Richard Jenkins as Henry. “I tear up every time I think about him,” says McDormand of Jenkins, with whom she spent weeks rehearsing before either set foot on set. “We have three fundamental things that moored us as Olive and Henry. One is that we are not movie stars. We are working character actors and that’s how we go about the business 16 Channel Guide Magazine
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of what we do. The second is that we both have a background in theater. And third, we’ve both been married to the same people for over 30 years. We both believe in the institution of marriage, and we both intend to die with our chosen partners. That was the story we wanted to tell.” So, while Henry is often the target of Olive’s harshest observations, Jenkins instantly grasped their bond. “These two really got a lot from each other that neither one of them had in themselves,” he muses. “And Olive is right most of the time. You understand these people because you see yourself in them.” McDormand says she and Anderson especially connected with Olive’s relationship with the Kitteridges’ only child, Christopher (John Gallagher Jr.), who can stomach neither his mother’s rigidity nor his father’s peacemaking nature. “I have a son, he’s my only child, and Jane has a son exactly the same age,” says McDormand. “She’s been with her partner for as long as Joel and I have been together, and both our sons went off to college the summer we did Olive Kitteridge, so we were going through so much of this as we were writing it together. We found solace in the work and it helped us back off of our sons. Olive is better at other people’s problems than her own, so she’s never going to be successful with Christopher, because she’s too close. She’s too afraid of failing him.” McDormand’s Moonrise Kingdom cohort Bill Murray shines as widower Jack Kennison, Olive’s unlikely late-inlife ally. “Isn’t he just gorgeous?!” she trills. “Bill never left his inner child — his inner child has been his outer child forever — but Jack is a full-fledged grownup. A grieving grownup. That was heaven for Bill to play.” And — like the rest of Olive Kitteridge — for viewers to behold. Olive Kitteridge > HBO > Nov. 2-3
Olive Kitteridge: © Jojo Whilden/HBO
By Lori Acken
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Benched
Comedy’s Part Of The Verdict In New Series.
The
By Jeff Pfeiffer
MISSING
The Missing: © New Pictures Limited/ Company Television Limited 2014 Credit: Jules Heath
Olive Kitteridge: © Jojo Whilden/HBO
Benched: © 2013 USA Network Media, LLC Credit: David Moir
An Emotionally Arresting Thriller About A Father’s Obsession With Finding His Son. By Barb Oates
If you’re a parent, there’s a good chance you’ve had one of those terrifying moments. You’re at the mall, a festival, the zoo — in public — and for a brief bit of time you lose track of your child. Your heart races. Your eyes search frantically. Panic sets in. Then relief — you spot him/her. Not so, for this latest dramatic thriller. James Nesbitt gives a careerbest performance in Starz’s eight-part series The Missing portraying — in heartbreaking detail — the life of Tony Hughes, a man utterly obsessed and emotionally destroyed by the disappearance of his 5-year-old son. It was 2006 when Tony and his wife Emily (Frances O’Connor), along with their son Oliver, were enjoying a summer vacation abroad in France
James Nesbitt’s performance will haunt you when Oliver disappeared. The events of that day and subsequent days are explored simultaneously, as the series shifts between present day and 2006. “I think why Emily and Tony are screwed right from the moment of the disappearance is because they are not together when Oliver goes missing,” Nesbitt tells us. “What defines Tony that no one else can have is his guilt — that’s what’s so awful. I dabbled a lot with just feeling so bad for him. At some point of his life every day he
asks: Why did I stop holding his hand? Why was I drawn into the match? Why didn’t we just leave? … I think the only thing that keeps Tony going is the thing that destroys him.” For Nesbitt to truly find Tony from the character’s perspective and not his own — as he too is a father, to two daughters — he spent his rehearsal time cocooned in an apartment in Belgium where the series was being filmed. “I got the art department to send me all the stuff that Tony would have — all the files he collected over the years, all the sightings, all the police reports, so my apartment was kind of haven to all of that. I lived kind of an isolated life like Tony, and it was through that that I really was able to successfully [find] the shock of that, the guilt, the horror, the drive, the determination, the isolation — everything that is kind of destroyed in Tony’s life but also keeps him going.” As the series unfolds, it seems as if innocence escapes many of the individuals helping Tony and Emily. “Tony’s the only one you know who is 100 percent innocent,” O’Connor says. “Even my character, I think, on some level is up for grabs in terms of what has happened. … Emily is so open and you see she really loves her son and is present in life at the start of it, and then she’s so closed off, you do wonder what happened. Is she involved? … That’s good storytelling.”
Throughout TV history, we’ve certainly learned that courtrooms are good locations for drama. But the comedic elements of the legal system don’t often get touched upon, aside from occasional scenes in a sitcom and the absurdist take of Night Court in the early ’80s. Benched is a fairly traditional character-driven comedy about corporate lawyer Nina Whitley (Eliza Coupe), who — after a workplace meltdown — finds herself out of her high-paying gig and desperate for work. Shunned by the world she once knew, she lands in the Los Angeles Public Defender’s Office, where she finds herself defending people from a walk of life she likely never encountered. Much of the comedy, at least in the initial episodes, Eliza come from Coupe Nina reorienting herself amid the unique characters who pass through the court, from the defendants themselves to the judge and bailiffs. Outside of court, Nina’s coworkers Phil (Jay Harrington), Carlos (Oscar Nuñez) and Cheryl (Maria Bamford) provide other sources of laughs. Familiar tropes are encountered, from Nina being the fish out of water to the attraction starting to develop between her and Phil. Benched is somewhat predictable at times, but the cast is very likable, and the show sometimes has important things to say about the underprivileged who are liable to fall through the cracks in the legal system, without pounding us over the head with a gavel to deliver the message.
The Missing > Starz > Saturdays beginning Nov. 15
Benched > USA Network > Tuesdays beginning Oct. 28
James Nesbitt
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COMEBACK COMEBACK THE
Valerie Cherish Is Back — And This Time, She Will Be Heard. By Lori Acken
Kudrow on her returning costars: Juna (Malin Akerman): Chris (Kellan “Juna is a big movie star Lutz): “She runs now and she’s always working and not always in the country, but when she’s around, they see each other.”
into Chris at a Juna party and he’s a big movie star, too. And Kellan literally grew inches from nine years ago!”
Jane (Laura Silverman):
“We got her back in the second episode. She had won an Oscar for a documentary on lesbians in concentration camps, but she’s dropped out. Valerie’s trying to talk her into coming aboard for this.”
Gigi (Bayne Gibby):
“For certain people, it’s like cameos. Valerie runs into them, like you do in life. She runs into Gigi, and she also goes to see Tom Peterman and we get a little interesting backstory.”
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Jimmy Burrows (James Burrows): The veteran
Mickey (Robert Michael Morris):
producer is back as a brasstacks version of himself. “The guy who said, this isn’t your show. You’re not It anymore. That brutal guy.”
Valerie’s stylist has embraced his homosexuality and is even more certain that he is indispensable to her life and career.
do that. Oh, right. It’s not me,’ and all the things that come with that.” “We are trying to reflect the current television landscape, so it’s a complicated mix of comedy and sex and tragedy and drugs,” King says. “But our main goal is to have Valerie evolve. It might not be what you think is a big evolution, but Valerie is becoming self-aware — How much of you is for sale? What is more important to Creators Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow
you, your career or your marriage? Where does your heart take over your ego? These are things that I wanted to explore as a person being in television for so long.” Season 2 also features Valerie’s serenely awkward adventures in selfpromotion, social-media style. “What’s fascinating to me is now everybody is in their own microcosm of showbiz because they are all creating a character called them on Facebook and Twitter,” King says. “That is all a part of Valerie: ‘Do you approve of me? Am I selling you the version of me that I want you to see?’ That is why Valerie is still valid in 2014 — because everybody is a little bit Valerie. “It remains to be seen if we really went too far again,” King muses, “but if we were really coming back, we wanted to give people a show. A bigger show. A darker, deeper show. But this time hopefully we are not too far ahead of the curve. On second thought, I hope we are! But maybe just a little bit — not too far.” The Comeback > HBO > Sundays beginning Nov. 9
Mark Berman (Damian Young): Billy (Dan Bucatinsky): Yes, Valerie’s still married to her Love Ball and the couple still lives in the same Bel Air home. “Of course they could have moved in nine years, but there is something great about having that house back!”
The former Scandal star does double time on the series, serving as executive producer and playing the role of Billy, Valerie’s put-upon publicist.
Kellan Lutz: Icon Sports Media, Inc. Credit: Paul Hebert/Icon SMI
King continues. “When I did Sex and the City, the thought that single women were treated like lepers was already in people’s minds. I always felt we were the first people to say it, but we just gave voice to that thought. With The Comeback, we were ahead of the thought process. People got confused because they never saw things like The Real Housewives, so they didn’t know what Lisa was doing — ‘Is she Lisa or is she Valerie?’ But Lisa said to me, ‘Michael, this is exactly what we set out to do.’” So where will tthe new season pick up, now that Val has had nine realitysaturated years to thicken her skin? Kudrow says the very first one opens with a montage of clips that reveal her path to her current adventure, creating a pilot pitch for Bravo’s Andy Cohen and a group of USC students — including her husband Mark’s nephew — with a wizened eye toward the super-famous Housewives she sees ruling the television landscape. That is, until she gets wind of an even bigger opportunity. One that reunites her with her former producer Paulie G (Lance Barber). “To me, that was unfinished business: What was his problem with her?” says Kudrow. “The reality cameras were annoying, but there was something that felt deeper and more personal, that we never really addressed, which made me feel like that was not fair to the human being that was underneath Paulie G. So we explore that. A lot.” Turns out Paulie is fresh out of a second stint in rehab and exorcising his demons via an autobiographical dramedy he’s sold to HBO called Seeing Red, which details his travails with a neurotic, redheaded actress while running a sitcom. “There’s this version of her written in a scripted show and Valerie’s like, ‘Well, that’s not right!’ — until there’s an opportunity to get the role,” Kudrow smiles. “Then the actor in her is like, ‘It’s a good role … OK, it’s not me.’ But it was you. ‘It’s not me. It’s a character.’ And she gets confused about, ‘I would never
The Comeback: © HBO Credit: John P Johnson
C
all it TV’s comeback of the decade — because 10 years is nearly how long HBO’s rule-breaking series The Comeback has taken to make its much-discussed, highly anticipated return to the network. In the summer of 2005, former Friends star Lisa Kudrow, her producing partner Dan Bucatinsky and Sex and the City’s Michael Patrick King debuted the 13-episode, dual-camera series, which starred Kudrow as fading actress Valerie Cherish, who allows a reality TV crew to capture her humbling return to the small screen in a hormonal teen sitcom. Critical acclaim — and three Emmy nominations — followed. So did cancellation. Problem was, limited series were a premium-cable novelty at the time and reality TV was in its infancy. Viewers simply did not know what to think of Valerie Cherish and her world. “We were working on something and Michael just stopped everything and looked at me and said, ‘We might be too far ahead of the curve,’” Kudrow recalls. “I went, ‘Whaaaaat?’ And he said, ‘It’s good to be a little ahead of the curve, but not too far ahead … and what if we’re, like, too far ahead?’ I said, ‘Oh, nonsense!’ and we got back to work. But I’ll never forget that, and the past nine years we’ve had a lot of time to think about what happened.” “I got nervous that the rhythm and energy was like nothing I had ever seen before,” King explains. “There had never been a show where the main character is never offscreen. It was a very complicated new palette, and because Lisa is so brilliant at feeling something and letting you feel it and then covering it up with the ‘Valerie veneer,’ it was asking the audience to figure it out themselves. We did not tell people how to think. There is no laugh track or music until the end credits. “And the other thing that made me nervous was that no one had seen a woman put herself in front of the camera and be happy to grind herself up for fame,”
© Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
© 2013 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
{MOVIES ON DEMAND} NEW RELEASES
22 Jump Street
(Fantasy) We’ve long heard the story of Princess Aurora, cursed to a deep sleep. After being robbed of her youth, Maleficent tries to ge even with the man she loved, only to find that maybe the person sh was cursing was someone who had the key to peace. Told through Maleficent’s eyes, this will not be the story that you have come t know. It is a visual spectacle to be seen. Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley (PG, 1:37) (HD) Premieres Nov. 4
(Comedy) Schmidt and Jenko are back, and Capt. Dickson is sending them to college. It’s the same plot as in 21 Jump Street — find the dru dealers to get to the suppliers. But we get a bigger budget in this film so expect louder explosions and a keg full of collegiate laughs. This sequel knows where to hit the funny bone and goes right after it. Stay through the credits for one last scene. Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube (R, 1:52) (HD) Premieres Nov. 18
Jersey Boys © 2014 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. AND RATPAC ENTERTAINMENT
(Drama) The rise and struggles of The Four Seasons are told through this film from legendary director Clin Eastwood. Frankie Valli had a voice that made people take notice. When he was growing up in New Jersey, he met the friends who would eventually become the group behind countless hits. John Lloyd Young, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken (R, 2:14) (HD) Premieres Nov. 11 20 Channel Guide Magazine
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© 2014 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. AND METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURES INC.
Maleficen
Availability dates subject to change.
If I Stay (Drama) A tragic accident has Mia Hall fighting for survival. As she is walkin the fine line between life and death, he reasons to live and to die explode in front of us, from relationships to family and friends and so much more. Will she stay with the living or has her time come? Chloë Grace Moretz, Mireille Enos, Jamie Blackley (PG-13, 1:47) Premieres Nov. 18 (HD)
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™ & © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Films Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
© 2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc
© 2014 DreamWorks Animation LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Titles available same day as DVD release
Tammy
Let’s Be Cops
(Animated) Dragons are no longer feared, but Hiccup still yearns for adventure. Venturing out into the great unknown, Hiccup and Toothless, his Night Fury dragon, find a land filled with dragons. That wondrous land is in jeopardy, but a mysterious Dragon Rider is trying to save the dragons. Voices of Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, America Ferrera (PG, 1:42) (HD) Premieres Nov. 11*
(Comedy) After losing her job, Tammy realizes she must make some changes. So the logical answer is to set out on a cross-country journey with her grandmother Pearl. Along the way they will encounter a variety of people and places and try to make sense of things. Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates (R, 1:37) (HD) Premieres Nov. 11
(Comedy) A costume party is a time when anyone can change their identity for one night. When Ryan and Justin make the decision to dress up as cops, they take it to another level. As people start to mistake them for genuine cops, things get real, and they find themselves in the middle of an actual case. Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr., Rob Riggle (R, 1:44) (HD) Premieres Nov. 11*
© 2013 Lionsgate. All Rights Reserved.
© 2013 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
© 2014 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Hercules
Planes: Fire & Rescue
(Action) Hercules leads his band of fighters into battle to collect money, fighting on any side — until one battle opens his eyes to the ruthlessness that exists within some of his employers. Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, John Hurt (PG-13, 1:38) (HD) Premieres Nov. 4
(Family) Dusty Crophopper is back. He has been dominating the air race circuit but is greeted with devastating news that may never let him race again. Dusty hopes to return to racing; in the meantime, he heads out to help his friends by learning how to fight fires from the air. Voices of Dane Cook, Ed Harris, Julie Bowen (PG, 1:23) (HD) Premieres Nov. 4
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*Premiere date or availability varies for some cable systems.
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas (Comedy) Madea and her friend visit the country. As you can imagine, the mix of the country and the city creates laughter with Madea doling out her unique wisdom to the town as they prepare for Christmas. Tyler Perry, Tika Sumpter, Kathy Najimy (PG-13, 1:40) (HD) Premieres Nov. 25 Channel Guide Magazine 21
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The Expendables 3
(Action) Barney leaves his team behind to assemble a new and younger group of Expendables. Although he tries to keep his old friends out of harm’s way, they won’t let Barney go it alone against a nemesis from their past. Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Antonio Banderas (PG-13, 2:06) (HD) Premieres Nov. 25
© Roadside Attractions
© 2014 The Weinstein Company
© Lionsgate and Millennium Films
{MOVIES ON DEMAND} NEW RELEASES
The Giver
(Drama) Children in this seemingly perfect world are assigned jobs as adults. Jonas was last to be assigned, and it was he who was set to receive the knowledge of the things that no one talked about. His sessions with The Giver will expose him to more than his regulated life, but will it change things? Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites (PG-13, 1:37) (HD) Premieres Nov. 25
A Most Wanted Man
(Thriller) In Hamburg, Germany, a man turns up in the Islamic community claiming a large fortune. German and U.S. security agencies are on high alert as they attempt to establish if he is a victim or an extremist. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe (R, 2:02) (HD) Premieres Nov. 4
ALSO AVAILABLE
(Comedy) The Old West is a tough land to live in; people die around every corner. When the lovely Anna comes to town, Albert will need to throw caution to the wind and win the girl. Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson (R, 1:56) (HD)
(Horror) The annual Purge takes place in an effort to decrease crime. For 12 hours, all crime is legal, including murder. Surviving the night is all that matters. Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford (R, 1:43) (HD)
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Earth to Echo (Family) A small community is moving as they make way for a new freeway. When a group of young friends discover a map on their smartphones, they decide to have one last hurrah and follow it. What they find is a ver special visitor just trying to get home. Teo Halm, Astro, Reese Hartwig (PG, 1:31) (HD)
Movies available in 3-D require a 3-D television.
© 2014 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
The Purge: Anarchy
© 2013 RML Echo Films, LLC
A Million Ways to Die in the West
© 2014 Universal Pictures
© 2014 Universal Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Coming Soon
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{MOVIES} MEOW Humbug! Internet’s Cranky Kitty Stars In Her First Film.
The Whale: © BBC Credit: Nick Wall Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B: ©2014 Lifetime Photo Credit Christos Kalohoridis Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever: © 2014 A&E Television Networks, LLC. All rights reserved Credit: Justin Stephens
talk. The twosome form a close bond, work together to thwart a dognapping, and Grumpy Cat learns the real meaning of Christmas. Despite the frenzied buzz surrounding the family flick, Grumpy Cat is taking the attention in stride. “She was born a star, but she’s pretty much indifferent to the fame. She could care less,” confesses Bundesen. Actress Aubrey Plaza, whose Parks and Recreation character April Ludgate is a deadpan youthful curmudgeon, will provide the frowning feline’s voice in the film. When asked what Grumpy Cat would think of her first film experience, Grumpy’s owner riffed, “I made a movie once, and I hated it.
Aaliyah Haughton — better known as Aaliyah — was the multitalented Brooklyn native who paved the way for superstars like Beyoncé and Rihanna. By the time she boarded a chartered aircraft back to the U.S. after a 2001 Bahamian video shoot, the 22-year-old stunner was a multiplatinum-selling recording artist beginning to make a splash in feature films. And when the dual-engine plane plummeted to the ground shortly Alexandra Shipp after takeoff, killing everyone aboard, one of entertainment’s most promising stars was extinguished. Now Lifetime chronicles Aaliyah’s journey — from her debut on Star Search at age 10 through the personal and professional controversies that surrounded her as she rose to fame — in the biographical film Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B. Starring Alexandra Shipp, the film is based on the bestseller Aaliyah: More Than a Woman by former Time magazine music editor Christopher John Farley.
Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever > Lifetime > Nov. 29
Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B > Lifetime > Nov. 15
Whale Of A Tale By Jeff Pfeiffer
Martin Sheen
Lifetime’s Long-Awaited Aaliyah Biopic Is Here. By Lori Acken
By Kellie Freeze
America’s favorite sourpuss is leaping from the world of Internet memes to the small screen in her first movie, Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever. Grumpy Cat found stardom when a picture of the kitty with the permanent scowl first appeared online. And when owner Tabatha Bundesen posted a YouTube video, she reveals, “Within 36 hours we had over a million views, and within three days, we were getting media requests.” But Grumpy the cat is actually not grumpy. “She’s actually very calm and sweet,” says Bundesen. “Grumpy is actually only a reputation.” In the Lifetime holiday film, Grumpy Cat lives in a mall pet shop and meets a young girl who realizes that she is the only person who can hear this unique cat
FALLEN STAR
“From the network that brought you Mermaids,” read the title card ahead of the trailer for Animal Planet’s self-described “scripted event” The Whale: Revenge From the Deep. That may be enough to either intrigue or dissuade any number of people who either liked or disliked Animal Planet’s previous forays into scripted fare like Mermaids, but the trailer does look promising (a completed version of The Whale was not ready for us at presstime). Add to that the fact that Martin Sheen headlines the film based on a gripping true-life tale,
and that’s enough to get us to dive in. The production is a retelling of the sinking of the Nantucket whaling ship Essex in 1820 after being struck by a sperm whale. The crew was left to spend months adrift in the South Pacific, with eight survivors eventually being rescued. The film is based on the accounts of the ordeal written by first mate Owen Chase and the captain, George Pollard Jr. The sinking of the Essex by a great whale was said to be an inspiration for Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby-Dick. The Whale: Revenge From the Deep > Animal Planet > Nov. 26 Channel Guide Magazine 23
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{FAMILY & LIFESTYLE} Josh Hopkins, Bailee Madison, Max Charles, American Idol winner Candice Glover, Robert Wagner and Jill St. John Sunday, Nov. 16 Angels and Ornaments, starring Jessalyn Gilsig Saturday, Nov. 22 A Royal Christmas, starring Jane Seymour, Lacey Chabert and Katherine Flynn Sunday, Nov. 23 The Christmas Shepherd, starring Teri Polo
Saturday, Nov. 1 One Starry Christmas, starring Sarah Carter and George Canyon Saturday, Nov. 8 The Nine Lives of Christmas, starring Brandon Routh and Gregory Harrison Sunday, Nov. 9 A Cookie Cutter Christmas, starring Erin Krakow and Alan Thicke Saturday, Nov. 15 Northpole, starring Tiffani Thiessen,
Saturday, Nov. 29 Christmas Under Wraps, starring Candace Cameron Bure Sunday, Nov. 30 One Christmas Eve, a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation starring Anne Heche In addition to premiering two original films this holiday season, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries introduces Christmas Classics Thursday Nights, the weekly airing of classics including A Christmas Carol (1951), Holiday Affair (1949), It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947) and Christmas in Connecticut (1945). Check your Movies section for dates and times to watch these beloved holiday treasures.
On Our Radar
Over The Garden Wall
Wirt and Greg and a watermelon car
Cartoon Network is set to premiere its first ever cartoon miniseries Nov. 3. Over the Garden Wall is about brothers Wirt (Elijah Wood) and Greg (Collin Dean), who find themselves in an enchanted land and try to find their way home with the help of an elderly woodsman and a bluebird named Beatrice (Melanie Lynskey). The 10-episode miniseries follows the group as they interact with various magical characters, including those in a village where all of the residents have vegetables for heads. “It’s similar to Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz,” says show creator Pat McHale, who wrote and directed the award-winning short on which the series is based.
Over the Garden Wall > Cartoon Network > Mondays beginning Nov. 3
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Tony Romo: Credit: Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire CEY/Newscom.
If you start humming holiday tunes as soon as the last trick-or-treater leaves your doorstep, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries have you covered for your early yuletide needs. Starting Oct. 31, each network begins airing 1,300 hours of holiday programming as part of their annual Countdown to Christmas and Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas events. We’ve culled through hours and hours of terrific holiday programming to find the original movies premiering in the
month of November and listed them here (all programs are on Hallmark Channel unless noted). Both networks want to be your TV’s holiday home, so hang up your stockings, put up your feet and get ready for cozy Christmas fun.
LeBron James: Credit: Robert Duyos/Sun-Sentinel/ZUMAPRESS.com/Newscom.
Hallmark Channel And Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Get The Holiday Spirit. By Kellie Freeze
Over The Garden Wall: © Cartoon Network
“YULE” Love It!
Sunday, Nov. 23 on sister network Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas, starring Eric Mabius, Kristin Booth, Crystal Lowe, Geoff Gustafson, Marion Ross and Rob Estes
Northpole: © 2014 Crown Media United States, LLC
Josh Hopkins and Tiffani Thiessen star in “Northpole”
{SPORTS} THE
DEPTH CHART College Football
Return Of The
KING
After four seasons, four NBA Finals appearances and two NBA titles in Miami, LeBron James returns to Cleveland
LeBron James Proves You Can Go Home Again.
The seventh annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon airs Nov. 17-18 with games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. Nov. 18 includes the State Farm Champions Classic with Michigan State vs. Duke and Kansas vs. Kentucky on ESPN.
NHL Thanksgiving Showdown
Call it “The Undecision.” After taking his talents to South Beach in 2010, LeBron James takes his talents back to the place where he first took them, the Cleveland Cavaliers. King James joins Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving to try to win a title for his hometown Cavs, while the rest of the NBA’s elite try to spoil his homecoming. Circle these nine dates to watch the Association’s biggest displays of star power:
NASCAR Ford EcoBoost 400
game back in a Cavs uni, and it’s vs. Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks.
Nov. 19 Spurs at Cavaliers and Lakers at Rockets (ESPN): The champion Spurs visit LeBron’s Cavs, and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers visit Dwight Howard’s Rockets.
Dec. 25 Wizards at Knicks (ESPN), Thunder at Spurs and Cavaliers at Heat Tony Romo: Credit: Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire CEY/Newscom.
College Basketball
By Ryan A. Berenz
Oct. 30 Knicks at Cavaliers and Thunder at Clippers (TNT): It’s LeBron’s first
LeBron James: Credit: Robert Duyos/Sun-Sentinel/ZUMAPRESS.com/Newscom.
Top games on the college gridiron include Notre Dame vs. Navy and Florida vs. Georgia (CBS, Nov. 1), Ohio State at Michigan State (ABC, Nov. 8), LSU at Texas A&M (ESPN, Nov. 27), and Stanford at UCLA (ABC, Nov. 28).
(ABC), Lakers at Bulls and Warriors at Clippers (TNT): Five big Christmas gifts, including a West finals rematch, LeBron back in Miami and the Bulls’ Pau Gasol vs. his former team.
Jan. 19 Pistons at Hawks (ESPN), Mavericks at Grizzlies (NBA TV), Bulls at Cavaliers and Lakers at Suns (TNT): Four big MLK Day games, highlighted by Derrick Rose’s Bulls vs. LeBron’s Cavs.
Jan. 25 Heat at Bulls and Thunder at Cavaliers (ABC): Luol Deng takes on his former Bulls teammates, followed by Kevin Durant vs. LeBron.
A good old-fashioned rivalry is in store for Black Friday’s good old hockey game between the N.Y. Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers Nov. 28 on NBC. The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup comes down to four finalists at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and the driver with the best finish wins the season championship. ESPN (Nov. 16)
Thanksgiving Day NFL If there aren’t enough divisional rivalries among your Thanksgiving guests, the NFL provides three more Nov. 27: Chicago at Detroit (CBS), Philadelphia at Dallas (FOX) and Seattle at San Francisco (NBC).
Feb. 8 Clippers at Thunder and Lakers at Cavaliers (ABC): Chris Paul vs. KD, followed by Kobe vs. LeBron? We’ll watch that.
March 12 Cavaliers at Spurs and Knicks at Lakers (TNT): LeBron and the Cavs take another shot at the champs, then Knicks president Phil Jackson and coach Derek Fisher revisit L.A.
March 25 Clippers at Knicks and Thunder at Spurs (ESPN): Frontcourt fight with
How ’bout them Cowboys? Tony Romo tries to upend the Eagles on turkey day.
Blake Griffin’s Clippers vs. Melo’s Knicks, plus another West finals rematch.
March 31 Spurs at Heat and Warriors at Clippers (TNT): A Finals rematch is followed by the rock’em, sock’em Warriors-Clippers rivalry. N
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{SPECIAL EVENTS}
The first FC event in Mexico features heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez in a title defense against Brazilian powerhouse Fabricio Werdum. Also on the card in Mexico City is Jake Ellenberger vs. Kelvin Gastelum.
Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao puts his welterweight title on the line against challenger Chris Algieri at the Venetian Macao’s Cotai Arena in Macau, China.
LIVE! Nov. 15 10pm ET/ 9pm CT/ 8pm MT/ 7pm PT Countdown Show Prior • Only $44.99 for Standard Definitio
LIVE! Nov. 22 9pm ET/ 8pm CT/ 7pm MT/ 6pm PT Countdown Show Prior • Only $59.99 for Standard Definitio
Available in
Available in
T
T
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{SHORT LIST}
Nov.
We Break Down The Month’s Biggest And Best Programming So You Never Miss A Must-See Minute.
1
8
2
9
One Starry Christmas, Hallmark Channel — Original Film Finding Bigfoot, Animal Planet — New Episodes Skyscraper Live With Nik Wallenda, Discovery Channel Olive Kitteridge, HBO — Original Miniseries
3
Over the Garden Wall, Cartoon Network — New Miniseries
<
The Nine Lives of Christmas, Hallmark Channel — Original Film
11 14 15
16 17 18 21 22
Angels and Ornaments, Hallmark Channel
One Christmas Eve: © Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions Credit: Erik Heinila Ascension: Credit: Jan Thijs/Syfy Over The Garden Wall: © Cartoon Network
Covert Affairs, USA Network — Season Premiere White Collar, USA Network — Season Premiere
A Royal Christmas, Hallmark Channel — Original Film
23
The Christmas Shepherd, Hallmark Channel — Original Film Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries — Original Film Jay Leno: The Mark Twain Prize, PBS
Not all networks available in all areas. PBS programming varies regionally.
Booze Traveler, Travel Channel — New Series
25 26
The Sisterhood, Lifetime — New Series
The Whale: Devil of the Deep, Animal Planet — Original Film
27 28
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, NBC
NHL Thanksgiving Showdown: N.Y. Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers, NBC One Child, SundanceTV
29
Christmas Under Wraps, Hallmark Channel — Original Film Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever, Lifetime — Original Film
30
One Christmas Eve, Hallmark Channel — Original Film Sleepless in America, NGC The Tree That Saved Christmas, UP — Original Film
<
6
State of Play, HBO — Season Premiere
EAT: The Story of Food, NGC
The Game, BBC America — New Series Fix My Choir, Oxygen — New Series The Exes, TV Land — Season Premiere Hot in Cleveland, TV Land — Season Premiere
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State of Affairs, NBC — New Series
5
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Navy Seals: Their Untold Story, PBS
Northpole, Hallmark Channel — Original Film Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B, Lifetime — Original Film The Missing, Starz — New Series
MasterChef Junior, FOX — Season Premiere Search for the Lost Giants, History — New Series Life Below Zero, NGC — New Episodes
Chug, NGC — New Series Crowd Control, NGC — New Series Eric Greenspan Is Hungry, NGC Ascension, Syfy — New Event Series
A Cookie Cutter Christmas, Hallmark Channel — Original Film The Comeback, HBO — Season Premiere Getting On, HBO — Season Premiere The Newsroom, HBO — Season Premiere
Hitmakers, PBS
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Channel Guide Magazine 251
10/9/14 10:56 AM
Time-Sensitive
➧
PERI O DI C ALS Class Publication Postmaster please deliver by the 1st of the month
TV’s Top Cop Award Goes To Jane Rizzoli
2014 Viewers Voice Awards WINNERS LIST INSIDE Best New Series: The Blacklist
Channel Guide magazine
+12
Katherine Heigl On NBC’s “State Of Affairs”
FACTS
On Sleep & Why You Need More Of It! pg. 14
pg. 12
channelguidemag.com
LIVE & UNTETHERED!!!
OLIVE KITTERIDGE
Nik Wallenda Attempts Highest Skyscraper Walk
Frances McDormand Brings The Beloved Book To HBO pg. 16
FUNNIER THAN EVER
➼
pg. 6
LISA
KUDROW
Available This Month November 2014
MAKES “THE COMEBACK” pg. 18
Tricia Helfer Talks Syfy’s New
ASCENSION pg. 13
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