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Thursday 29
“Sesame Street: The Monster at the End of This Story” (HBO Max streaming anytime) Sesame Workshop’s first-ever animated special is an adaptation of fuzzy blue Muppet Grover’s much-loved 1971 best-seller There’s a Monster at the End of this Book.
“Superstore” (KOB-4 7pm) For the premiere of Season 6, NBC’s retail sitcom fully embraces today’s COVID-filled world, with the ragtag staff of Cloud 9 suddenly branded “essential workers” for selling toilet paper and canned goods to pandemic-crazed consumers.
“Ghost Adventures: Horror at Joe Exotic Zoo” (Travel Channel 7pm) So, evidently, Joe Exotic’s old zoo from “Tiger King” is now haunted? Sure. Why not? … Honestly, I can’t think of a more appropriate encapsulation of the year 2020.
“Every Vote Counts: A Celebration of Democracy” (KRQE-13 8pm) Alicia Keys, America Ferrara and Kerry Washington host a gathering of artists and performers, celebrating democracy and encouraging citizens to get out and vote.
“Metallica at the San Francisco Symphony: S&M2” (KNME-5 9:31pm) Metallica returns to San Francisco to jam with the symphony orchestra in this iconic 2019 concert. ’Member concerts?
Friday 30
“The Mandalorian” (Disney+ streaming anytime) Suddenly, life doesn’t seem as dark. Disney’s cute-cool Star Wars spin-off, which got us through the early days of this pandemic, returns for a heavily anticipated second season.
“Truth Seekers” (Amazon Prime streaming anytime) Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End) reunite for a horror-comedy series about a team of paranormal investigators who stumble across a supernatural conspiracy that could spell the end of life on Earth.
Saturday 31
Candy Cane Christmas (Lifetime 6pm) If you hate Halloween, you can follow the lead of Lifetime/Hallmark this year and pretend that it’s Christmas. In this holiday romcom offering, a young woman searches for a “new tradition” to lift her holiday spirits when her neighbors decide to skip the annual Christmas decorations.
One Royal Holiday (Hallmark 6pm) A young American woman offers a stranded mother and her handsome son shelter from a blizzard, only to learn that they are the royal family of Galwick and that they are both in need of a little Christmas magic.
Sunday 1
“Roadkill on Masterpiece” (KNME-5 8pm) Hugh Laurie stars as a prime minister facing down a pair of family scandals in the latest British drama from “Masterpiece.”
“The Simpsons” (KRQE-DT2 7pm) Even if you aren’t watching “The Simpsons” on the reg anymore, you probably still tune in one a year for Halloween. This year’s “Treehouse of Horrors XXXI” takes on the scariest topic of all: the 2020 election!
Monday 2
“Q Talks” (Quibi streaming anytime) Dead network walking, Quibi, releases one of its last original shows, a talk show satire that finds various celebs giving expert talks on topics they’ve never heard before, from a script they’ve never seen before, with the “help” from a faulty teleprompter.
“Chaos: Election 2020” (VICE 8pm) VICE News delivers what sounds like an optimistic assessment of this year’s presidential election.
Tuesday 3
“Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020” (Showtime 9pm) If you’ve got to endure tonight’s tense election returns, you could do worse than sharing the pain with “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert. Hopefully, this year’s election coverage turns out less traumatic to the poor guy than 2016’s.
Wednesday 4“Love & Anarchy” (Netflix streaming anytime) With American TV struggling to produce new episodes, we turn to Scandinavia for this romantic sitcom about a married business consultant and a young IT tech who engage in a flirty game of back-and-forth.