25 Days of Christmas Now on Multiple Networks of Disney|ABC; Winsanity Returns to GSN

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

25 Days of Christmas Now on Multiple Networks of Disney|ABC; Winsanity Returns to GSN

Cable's biggest programming event of the year is now even bigger. Beginning December 1, Freeform's beloved '25 Days of Christmas' will expand across all Disney|ABC Television Group networks to create the ultimate fan-favorite holiday event. ABC, Freeform, Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior will be airing holiday-themed programming and entertainment for the whole family throughout December, leading up to Christmas Day. Viewers can ring in the season with festive specials, classic holiday movies and returning favorites. Freeform will continue to be the home of all your favorite Christmas films with a robust library of holiday favorites including Elf, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, The Santa Clause, The Polar Express and many more. The network will also debut its first original Christmas movie, Angry Angel, starring Brenda Song and Jason Biggs. Additionally, Freeform will feature The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration, (originally airing on ABC) and premiere Decorating Disney: Holiday Magic, a one-hour holiday special giving viewers an inside look at how holiday magic is created throughout Disney Destinations. Viewers will go behind the scenes as a team of dedicated Disney cast members and Santa's helpers transform Disney theme parks and resorts into a winter wonderland.

ABC will debut new seasons of The Great Christmas Light Fight, a competition series where families transform their homes into festive wonderlands judged by lifestyle expert Carter Oosterhouse and interior designer Taniya Nayak; and The Great American Baking Show, hosted by New York Times best-selling cookbook author Ayesha Curry and former NFL star Anthony "Spice" Adams. ABC is also home to original, holiday-themed episodes of comedies American Housewife, black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat, The Mayor, The Middle and Speechless, plus returning specials Shrek the Halls, The Toy Story That Time Forgot, Disney Prep and Landing, Disney Prep and Landing 2: Naughty vs. Nice, A Charlie Brown Christmas and I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown! Weekdays on The Chew, Emmy(R) Award-winning co-hosts Mario Batali, Michael Symon, Clinton Kelly and Carla Hall will deliver a festive daily dose of holiday cheer. This year, viewers will once again experience the holiday magic at Disney Parks with star-studded performances during the Disney Parks Magical Christmas Celebration.

Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior and Radio Disney will add to the joy with special holiday-themed programming including episodes of hit series Stuck in the Middle, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Mickey and the Roadster Racers and Sofia the First. Disney Channel, in partnership with Disney Parks, will present a holiday telecast, Disney Parks Presents a Disney Channel Holiday Celebration, featuring performances by fan-favorite Disney Channel stars; and Disney Junior will debut The Lion Guard: Timon and Pumbaa's Christmas.

Winsanity

The all new Winsanity, hosted by actor Donald Faison (Scrubs), will return for a second season airing weeknights at 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. CT) starting Monday, November 27. Winsanity, which debuted in June 2016, was watched by nearly 13.5 million viewers during its initial 40-episode run. Changes to the show in season two include a new set, as well as a new format, with two contestants (instead of one) competing against each other for the $10,000 prize. However, the show continues to offer the opportunity for prizes to be won not only by the contestants but also by the studio audience.

In each half hour episode, the two contestants each represents half of the audience, who stand to share in the prize money their contestant wins. The contestants face off against each other, attempting to rank compelling and surprising facts in numerical order (i.e.: Which is greater: the number of marriages each year in the US, or the number of Pope Francis' Twitter followers?). Each correctly stacked fact earns money towards a cash jackpot. In the final round, the contestant with the largest bank will play a final game of timed touch screen stacking without help from the audience. If they correctly put five facts in order, the contestant goes home with $10,000 and their audience section will share in an additional $10,000. If they fail, the contestant and audience section win the amount previously banked.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Friday, December 14

Fresh Off the Boat - "Cousin Eddie" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The battle begins between mother and son when Eddie informs Jessica that he wants to spend Christmas with friend Nicole in New York. But Jessica insists that tradition prevails and he needs to spend the holiday with the family, so he does everything within his power to try and get her to crack and allow him to go. Meanwhile, Louis and Evan do their best to try and help an overwhelmed Emery decide on which one of his numerous friends to invite to the family’s Christmas Eve dinner.

Speechless - "J-I-- JINGLE T-H-- THON" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
A Christmas tree fire leads Maya to tell a small lie with big consequences. Meanwhile, Ray struggles to live in Pepper’s shadow as Dylan twists the knife, and JJ encourages Kenneth to stand up to his sisters (guest stars Niecy Nash and Lisa Leslie).

I Love Lucy - "I Love Lucy Christmas Special" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
I LOVE LUCY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL features “The Christmas Episode” and the newly colorized “Pioneer Women.” Both were colorized with a nod to the 1950s period in which they were filmed. The main titles and end credits are seamlessly combined into one set at the beginning and end of the hour, with no interruption between the episodes.

“The Christmas Episode” finds the Ricardos and Mertzes decorating Lucy and Ricky’s Christmas tree and reminiscing about how their lives have changed since the arrival of the Ricardos’ son, Little Ricky (Keith Thibodeaux). Flashbacks recall the night Lucy tells Ricky she is pregnant, the time Lucy shows up unexpectedly as part of a barbershop quartet, and the day Ricky and the Mertzes rehearse taking Lucy to the maternity ward.

“The Christmas Episode” was first broadcast on CBS on Christmas Eve, 1956. The episode was not included in the series’ long history of rebroadcasts, first on CBS Daytime and later in syndication. Long thought to be lost, the program was rediscovered by CBS in 1989.

In “Pioneer Women,” Lucy and Ethel’s hopes of joining the posh Society Matrons’ League leads to a bet with their husbands over which sex – the men or the women – had it harder living in a bygone era. They select the turn of the last century, and as Lucy and Ethel start to bake their own bread and churn their own butter, the men become acquainted with straight-blade shaving and riding home from work on horseback. They all have some “‘splainin’” to do when two ladies from the Society Matrons’ League stop by for an unexpected visit.

“Pioneer Women” was originally broadcast on March 31, 1952, and became an immediate viewer favorite.

The Dick Van Dyke Show - "The Dick Van Dyke Show -- Now in Living Color!" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The special features the season one episode “Where Did I Come From,” written by Carl Reiner, and the season four episode “Never Bathe on Saturday,” also written by Reiner. The main titles and end credits of the two episodes are seamlessly combined into one set – at the beginning and end of the hour – with no interruption between the episodes.

The Emmy Award-winning series starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore as television comedy writer Rob and his wife, Laura Petrie; Larry Matthews as their son, Ritchie; Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie as Buddy Sorrell and Sally Rogers, co-writers on the fictional “The Alan Brady Show”; Carl Reiner as Alan Brady; Richard Deacon as Mel Cooley; Jerry Paris as Dr. Jerry Helper; and Ann Morgan Guilbert as Millie Krumbermacher Helper.

In “Where Did I Come From,” 6-year-old Ritchie asks his parents the inevitable “where did I come from?” question, and they recall the days before his birth. The episode was first presented on Jan. 3, 1961 during the series’ first season.

In “Never Bathe on Saturday,” the Petries’ romantic second honeymoon becomes a disaster when Laura’s toe gets caught in a bath spout. The episode was first presented on March 31, 1965, during season four.

Last Man Standing - "The Gift of the Mike Guy" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Vanessa helps the family realize the importance of its long-standing holiday family traditions.

The Cool Kids - "Margaret Dates the Zodiac Killer" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Margaret begins dating Karl, a fellow resident who may or may not be the "Zodiac Killer."

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 10)

Friday, December 14

Karen Gillan (Selfie) - Watch Karen on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC. She talks about The Party's Just Beginning on the BUILD Series at 2pm.
Tony Shalhoub (Wings/We Are Men) - Watch Tony on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle, Laura Linney (The Big C) and Nick Kroll (The League/Cavemen) - Bryan, Laura and Nick make special guest appearances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Bill Burr (F Is for Family/Townies) - Bill is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Busy Philipps (Vice Principals/Cougar Town) - Busy appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Romany Malco (Weeds/Blunt Talk) - Romany is a guest on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
Kathryn Hahn (I Love Dick/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn talks about the film Private Life on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Office) - Ellie appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Minnie Driver (Speechless/About a Boy) - Minnie is a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Leah Remini (Kevin Can Wait/The Exes/Family Tools/The King of Queens/Fired Up) - Leah visits The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Angela Kinsey (The Office/Haters Back Off/Your Family or Mine/The Hotwives of Orlando) - Angela and her husband Joshua Snyder serve up monkey bread and chocolate peppermint cupcakes on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
Vanessa Hudgens (Powerless) - Vanessa talks about Second Act on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Chris Elliott (Schitt's Creek/Get a Life) - Chris talks about Clara's Ghost on Couch Surfing at 8am.
Tia Mowry (Instant Mom/The Game/Sister, Sister) - Tia talks about Hallmark Channel's A Gingerbread Romance on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
Christine Lakin (Hollywood Darlings/Step by Step) - Christine is a guest on Steve, so check your local listings.