Best-bets for Dec. 5: “Dancing” finale and Halloween mayhem

1) “Dancing With the Stars” finale, 8-11 p.m., ABC and Disney+. This show kept saying last week was important, because dancers were straining for a spot in the finals … then, oddly, it advanced all five of them. Now we have Xochiti Gomez (shown here), who is 17 and trying to be the second-youngest champion (after gymnast Laurie Hernandez), plus Charity Lawson, Jason Mraz, Alyson Hannigan, and Ariana Madix. Mraz will also sing; there will be performances by 2022 champ Charli D’Amelio (also a teen) and co-hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough. Read more…

1) “Dancing With the Stars” finale, 8-11 p.m., ABC and Disney+. This show kept saying last week was important, because dancers were straining for a spot in the finals … then, oddly, it advanced all five of them. Now we have Xochiti Gomez (shown here), who is 17 and trying to be the second-youngest champion (after gymnast Laurie Hernandez), plus Charity Lawson, Jason Mraz, Alyson Hannigan, and Ariana Madix. Mraz will also sing; there will be performances by 2022 champ Charli D’Amelio (also a teen) and co-hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough.

2) “Fargo,” 10 p.m., FX. On Halloween, four masked thugs reach Dot’s house. They want to take her to the brutal husband (Jon Hamm) she fled from; she prefers her current husband, who’s gently oblivious. The 15-minute scene that follows is sort of “Home Alone” on hyperdrive. As usual, “Fargo: blends dark humor, quick violence and great characters, including Juno Temple as Dot and Jennifer Jason Leigh as her cold-hearted mother-in-law.

3) “TMZ’s Merry Elfin’ Christmas,” 9 p.m., Fox. The “TMZ” folks are usually digging up celebrity stories for their website and syndicated show. Now they take a lighter approach for their third annual holiday special. Guests include Shaquile O’Neal, Tiffany Haddish, Mark Cuban, Kyle Richards, Bill Maher and Gavin DeGraw.

4) “FBI True,” 10 p.m., CBS. This begins with a bomb-tech agent being called to the site of a concert that was part of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He confronts a 40-pound pipe bomb, which explodes after the crowd evacuates. What follows is a massive manhunt that reached the Appalachian Mountains.

5) ALSO: Many PBS stations were already planning an 8 p.m. rerun of an excellent “American Experience” portrait of Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court. Now that draws extra interest, with her death Friday at 93. And Hulu has a strong episode of “A Murder at the End of the World.” There’s a slow, solemn feel to this hour, but it packs jolts near the end; Emma Corrin is compelling as Darby, the young crimesolver.
— Mike Hughes, TV America

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *