The Media Tourist

What to watch, and more! Week of Dec. 5 – Dec. 11

Clooney is ‘Jay Kelly,’ Melissa McCarthy stays up late & Shaq has a dunk-athon

FRIDAY, Dec. 5
Jay Kelly
George Clooney teams with Adam Sandler for this heart-tugging comedy (above) about an actor confronting his past, which also features Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Laura Dern, Isla Fisher, Greta Gerwig, Stacy Keach and Patrick Wilson among its sprawling cast (Netflix).

Spartacus: House of Ashur
The gladiator drama kicks off with two back-to-back episodes about arena fighters, nobles, villains, champions and backstabbers in ancient Rome (Starz).

The Family McMullen
Connie Britton, Tracee Ellis Ross and Edward Burns (who also directed) star in this followup to Burns’ acclaimed ‘90s indee The Brothers McMullen (HBO Max).

SATURDAY, Dec. 6
Reindeer in Here
Based on the award-winning Christmas book, you’ll be charmed by the heartwarming story of how a young reindeer and his friends band together to save the future of Christmas (8 p.m., CBS).

Dinner & a Movie
Tonight hosts Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen swoon over Reese Witherspoon’s 2002 romcom movie Sweet Home Alabama (8 p.m., PBS).

Saturday Night Live
Melissa McCarthy returns tonight to host the iconic late-night show for the sixth time (11:30 p.m., NBC).

SUNDAY, Dec. 7
The Wonderful World of Disney: The Santa Claus
Tim Allen takes over for Santa in this 1994 Christmas comedy featuring Judge Reinhold (9 p.m., ABC).

MONDAY, Dec. 8
Predators
Dive deep into an unnerving investigation of Dateline’s to Catch a Predator, pulling back the curtain on the show’s complicated legacy (Paramount+).

Password Holiday Special
Keke Palmer host a special holiday-themed episode of the classic game show, with Jimmy Fallon and Jonathan Groff as celebrity guests (8 p.m., NBC).

TUESDAY, Dec. 9
Fixer Upper: Colorado Mountain House
Three-part series finds Chip and Joanna Gaines remodeling a 1960s mountain property into a family retreat nestled in the Rockies (9 p.m., Magnolia).

A Motown Christmas
Smokey Robinson and Halle Bailey host this two-hour special of music from Motown legends and today’s hottest stars celebrating iconic Hitsville USA classics and holiday favorites (9 p.m., NBC).

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 10
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Season two begins in the YA fantasy series (above) based on The Sea of Monsters, the second book in the best-selling series by Rick Riordan (Disney+).

Merv
When their beloved dog Merv loses his spark after their split, Anna (Zooey Deschanel) and Russ (Charlie Cox) are forced into an awkward co-parenting arrangement (Amazon Prime).

THURSDAY, Dec. 11
Little Disasters
Four new moms (Diane Kruger, Jo Joyner, Shelly Conn and Emily Taafe) become entangled in a web of circumstances that threatens to destroy their friendship and their families, above (Paramount+).

Dunkman
Shaquille O’Neal rounds up 40 of the world’s greatest dunkers to compete for the coveted title of Dunkman (7 p.m., TNT).

NOW HEAR THIS

You can rock and roll all night, and long after that, with the new remastered 50^th anniversary set of the landmark KISS album Alive! Released in both CD and LP formats, it’s a deluxe box set loaded with 120 tracks, 88 of them previously unreleased, and including rehearsals. Re-live the sonic boom of  “Strutter,” “Deuce,” a Peter Criss drum solo…and, of course, “Rock And Roll All Night.” Plus a reprint of a 1975 press kit, pics, a T-shirt iron-on and much more!