SUNDAY, NOV. 25
EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION
7 P.M. | ABC
In this two-hour episode, Ty Pennington and the gang come to the aid of Makeover's 100th house-challenged family.
DEXTER
9 P.M. | SHOWTIME
Dexter gets the creeps from his sinister 12-step sponsor (Jaime Murray). The season speeds toward deep, delicious nastiness.
TUESDAY, NOV. 27
SEASON FINALE!
DANCING WITH THE STARS
9 P.M. | ABC
Another surprisingly eventful contest—who ever expected we'd read so many headlines with the words "Marie Osmond"?—wraps up.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 28
SHREK THE HALLS
8 P.M. | ABC
In this new half-hour tale, Shrek (Mike Myers) can't quite get into the season's spirit, while Donkey (Eddie Murphy) won't shut up about it. (Antonio Banderas on favorite holiday films, p. 41.)
GOSSIP GIRL
9 P.M. | CW
So, Serena and Dan (Blake Lively and Penn Badgley) share turkey? The rich kids' knives will be out!
THURSDAY, NOV. 29
KATHY GRIFFIN: STRAIGHT TO HELL
9 P.M. | BRAVO
The comedian starts her new special riffing on her notoriously unprintable speech at this year's Creative Arts Emmys. And off she goes.
30 ROCK
8:30 P.M. | NBC
Romantic klutzarina Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) goes out with a young guy who thinks she's 29. Tracy (Tracy Morgan) coaches Little League.
SATURDAY, DEC. 1
THE RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR
8 P.M. | NBC
On its 75th anniversary the Rockettes' holiday extravaganza gets a retooled, bigger production—and its first network broadcast.
1. IT'S NOT ABOUT FOOTBALL! Really! There are five minutes of high-drama football in every episode of this critically acclaimed—but scarcely viewed—show. FNL isn't about touchdowns and interceptions. It's about relationships: of the (incidentally beautiful) Dillon Panthers with their sport, with their coach and with the occasional cheerleader.
2. CONNIE BRITTON AND KYLE CHANDLER The chemistry between these two—as Coach Eric Taylor and high school counselor Tami Taylor—could blow a fuse in my TV set! And they're not just hot: Their portrayal of the dynamics of marriage, parenting a newborn and mentoring teens is all spot-on.
3. THE LIFE COACHING The writing is smart yet subtle in its social commentary. Issues of race, sex, religion, class and disability are central to FNL's plot. But it's thought-provoking without hitting you over the head.
• He's back as Puss in Boots in ABC's Shrek the Halls. What else puts him and wife Melanie Griffith in the holiday spirit?
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET I remember watching that as a kid. It was dubbed in Spanish. I bought a house in New York, and apparently it's where the movie was shot.
THE POLAR EXPRESS That brought me back to when I was a kid. I remember going to bed thinking, "What am I going to have on Christmas tomorrow?" It's a feeling I like to give to my own kids—that magic.
BAD SANTA It goes against the obligated happy times of Christmas.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE The first time I saw it was with my wife. She came home in the middle of Christmas with the movie and said, "You are going to love it."
In VH1's reality competition The Shot, Aussie-born photog James (right), 45, instructs wannabes in the art of the fashion shoot.
DO YOU SAY, "WORK WITH ME, WORK WITH ME"? No! Shooting is like seduction without the sex. When you say "Gorgeous, baby, that's so sexy," you alienate your subject.
YOU'VE "SEDUCED" STARS. Scarlett Johansson—there's a real kid in her. Last week I photographed Kristin Davis in the nude; it was her first time.
ANY BIG SHOT MISFIRES? One contestant kept standing in front of her light and then she'd say, "Why is my picture dark?" It was driving me insane! I wanted to say, "Bonehead, get out of the way!"
HAVE YOU EVER MODELED? I'm appalled to say, yes. I absolutely hated being the subject!
Grey's Anatomy offshoot Private Practice is one of the fall's few freshman successes. Why stop there? Some spinoffs I'd glom on to ...
ESP: SVU
Concept: Heroes' mind-reading cop Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) susses out ordinary crooks—it's super Law & Order!
Why I'd Watch: Grunberg is the most rumpled, empathetic soul of that mutant lot. And he even looks a little like Criminal Intent's Vincent D'Onofrio.
PRETTY AMANDA
Concept: Shallow, sexy, pampered, mean: She's everything Ugly Betty ain't.
Why I'd Watch: One-note at first, Becki Newton's character has grown into a winningly ludicrous diva—she even sang a spectacularly bad version of Kelis's "Milkshake."
TUCK
Concept: Or Nip? Dr. McNamara (Dylan Walsh) returns to Miami minus Dr. Troy.
Why I'd Watch: The show is already so ripely brazen—last week's hot tub scene? Yeesh!—splitting up these conjoined sickos might free them for even more perverse fun.
MAMMA MIA
Concept: Why not spin off Practice? Dr. Bennett (Audra McDonald) sells her clinic and opens a maternity ward.
Why I'd Watch: McDonald is a potent actress and a great singer. If Shonda Rhimes buys her ABBA's catalog, you've got a hit.
• The 37-year-old actress has a (literally) growing role as an expectant mom on ABC's Notes from the Underbelly, back for a new season, and she's mad about Mad Men star Jon Hamm
IS IT HARD WEARING THAT PROSTHETIC BELLY? I get a new, bigger belly about every three episodes. And it's not just in your stomach. It's all over. It can be a bit uncomfortable. But you see how real it looks with the protruding belly button and the bigger, um, bra.
ARE YOU CONSIDERING STARTING A FAMILY YOURSELF? It's funny, with this show, this is so in my face. But it is also so difficult. A lot of it is, "Oh my God, I could never do this." But then working with infants, they are so adorable ... We'll see. My boyfriend [Mad Men star Jon Hamm] and I have our dog Cora. She's German shepherd and other breeds mixed in with floppy ears. She's our love child. She was rescued from death row at the pound.
IS IT A TREAT, EACH OF YOU HAVING A SHOW? [Now] we're both working in the same city at the same time. I so love Mad Men. I've believed in Jon for 10 years, and it has taken this long for him to get the perfect role.
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