Preparing for Fall TV (December)

The 2012-2013 TV season is now four months old (ALREADY!) and there is a lot of programming for TV viewers to enjoy, including more holiday-themed movies and lots of winter and/or mid-season finales as well as a few season finales of several cable series favorites.

In an effort to help our readers keep track, I wanted to provide a rundown of the programming choices to expect throughout December. They are as follows:

December 4 – Sons of Anarchy will air its season finale on FX at 10 PM

December 4 – The mid-season finale of Emily Owens, M.D. will also air on December 4 at 9 PM

December 5 – The winter finale of Nashville will air on ABC at 10 PM

December 5 – Supernatural will air its mid-season finale on The CW at 9 PM

December 7 – The season finale of the new drama Hunted will air on Cinemax at 10 PM

December 7 – The Sundance Channel mini-series Restless (part one) will debut at 9 PM

This two-part mini-series is based on the novel by British writer William Boyd that follows the story of a daughter who discovers that her mother was recruited as a spy during World War II.

The cast includes Hayley Atwell (Captain America), Rufus Sewell (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Michael Gambon (Harry Potter franchise) and Charlotte Rampling (Melancholia).

December 7 – The mid-season finale of Nikita will air at 8 PM on The CW

December 8 – The Hallmark Channel movie Come Dance With Me will debut at 8 PM

Financial investor Jack (Andrew McCarthy from St. Elmo’s Fire) is aiming for a promotion at a prestigious firm, run by his girlfriend’s (Stephanie Mills from Urban Legend) wealthy father. Wanting to make a good impression in hopes of proposing, he signs up for ballroom dance lessons before the firm’s big Christmas party, but is soon caught in a moral dilemma when his company plans to tear the dance studio down, and his feelings for his instructor Christine (Michelle Nolden from Saving Hope) move beyond the dance floor.

December 8 – Holly’s Holiday is the new Lifetime movie that will premiere at 8 PM

Claire Coffee (Grimm) stars as advertising executive Holly, who can’t quite imagine why she is so drawn to the handsome mannequin in the perfect holiday window display she passes every morning (Ryan McPartlin from Chuck). When she is knocked unconscious by a falling icicle, her once fake window man becomes the man of her dreams, but she soon discovers that though his looks are perfect, his personality is still, well, plastic.

December 9 – The Lifetime movie All About Christmas Eve will debut at 9 PM

Haylie Duff stars as Eve Wright, an over-extended New York City party planner who has to decide whether to jeopardize her career and go off on a romantic Christmas vacation or risk ending the relationship when a top client insists on throwing a huge Christmas Eve party 3,000 miles away in Los Angeles.

December 9 – The ABC Family movie The Mistle-Tones will debut at 9 PM

Holly (Tia Mowry from The Game) is devastated when she is turned down for a spot in the Christmas singing group The Snow Belles so she forms her own group, the Mistle-Tones and challenges her rival Marci (Tori Spelling from the original Beverly Hills, 90210) and The Snow Belles to a Christmas Eve sing-off.

The cast includes Jonathan Patrick Moore (The L.A. Complex), Reginald VelJohnson (Family Matters) and Tammy Townsend (Lincoln Heights).

December 9 – Help for the Holidays is the new Hallmark Channel movie that will debut at 8 PM

Although she loves Christmas, Santa’s elf Christine (Summer Glau from Firefly) wonders if there could be more to life than making toys in the North Pole. When Santa receives an emergency wish from a little boy in Los Angeles, he puts Christine on special assignment, sending her to L.A. to give the VanCamp family – mom Sara (Eva La Rue from CSI: Miami), dad Scott (Dan Gauthier from Tour of Duty), and their two kids – a holiday wake-up call.

December 9 – The Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Christmas with Holly will debut on ABC at 9 PM

After being left at the altar, Maggie Conway (Eliose Mumford from The River and Lone Star) relocates from Seattle to a smaller and calmer place: Friday Harbor in Washington State where she opens a shop. After the death of his sister, Mark (Sean Faris from The Lost Valentine), the local coffee shop owner, becomes responsible for raising his 6-year old niece Holly along with his two brothers. Maggie takes a special interest in Holly – especially with Christmas fast approaching – and by Christmas Eve, Maggie and Mark fall in love.

December 9 – The new ION movie Anything But Christmas will debut at 7 PM

John loves Grace and her 10-year-old son, Zachary. Although he wants to propose to her at Christmas, it’s the one holiday John runs from. In this romantic comedy, chaos with exes, misunderstandings, parents and in-laws all imperil John and Grace’s relationship. But can they get it sorted out by the holidays?

The cast includes Elaine Hendrix (Joan of Arcadia), Sergio Di Zio (Flashpoint), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future franchise) and Adrian Holmes (Smallville).

December 10 – Syfy will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a two-hour special at 9 PM

December 14 – The Sundance Channel mini-series Restless (part two) will debut at 9 PM

December 15 – The Hallmark Channel movie Baby’s First Christmas will debut at 8 PM

When a pair of feuding colleagues, Kyle (Casper Van Dien from Starship Troopers) and Jenna (Rachel Wilson from Republic of Doyle) are thrown together after their siblings, Jim (Noah Cappe from The Good Witch TV movies) and Trisha (Natalie Lisinska from Total Recall) fall in love, they have to learn to get along in time for their nephew’s birth on Christmas. Realizing Jim and Trisha have major money troubles, Kyle and Jenna band together to help and end up on a snowy New York adventure that will prove miracles really do happen at Christmas.

December 15 – The Real St. Nick is the new Lifetime movie that will debut at 8 PM

Torrey Devito (Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries) stars as psychiatrist Kate, who attends to a handsome but unconscious man in a Santa Claus suit who saved her during an earthquake. When he awakens and insists he is Santa Claus, he is placed in the hospital’s psychiatric wing, where his Christmas spirit soon “infects” everyone in the ward and Kate can’t help falling for the man even before she finds out his real identity. The movie co-stars Callard Harris (Dallas).

December 16 – The Lifetime movie Merry-In-Laws will debut at 9 PM

Cheers alums Shelley Long and George Wendt star as Mr. and Mrs. Claus, who are about to meet their future daughter-in-law, a single, uber-intelligent mother and her equally Mensa-type son. Imagine saying “yes” to your boyfriend’s marriage proposal and then finding out that your future in-laws are Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.

December 16 – The 2-hour Royal Pains holiday movie will air on the USA Network at 9 PM

December 16 – The season finales of both Dexter and Homeland will air on Showtime at 9 and 10 PM respectively

December 16 – Christmas Twister is a new movie that will debut on ION at 9 PM

After a massive, out-of-season swarm of Texas tornadoes levels weather scientist Ethan Walker’s home on Christmas Eve, he must find courage in the face of devastation to help restore his marriage and rescue their missing children.

The cast includes Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers), Victoria Pratt (Mutant X) and Richard Burgi (Desperate Housewives).

December 17 – Gossip Girl will air its two-hour series finale on The CW at 8 PM

December 20 – The two-hour Burn Notice season finale will air at 9 PM on the USA Network

December 21 – Haven will air its season finale on Syfy at 10 PM

December 25 – The annual Christmas episode of Doctor Who will air on BBC America at 9 PM

Doctor Who accompanied by his newest companion (Jenna-Louise Coleman), the Doctor’s latest adventure through space and time sees him once again crossing paths with the homo-reptilian Silurian Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh) and her cohort Jenny (Catrin Stewart).

December 25 – The season finales of both Rizzoli & Isles and Leverage will air on TNT at 9 and 10 PM respectively

December 29 – The original Lifetime movie She Made Them Do It will debt at 8 PM

The film is based on the true, twisted life of Sarah Pender (Jenna Dewan Tatum of Step Up) a charismatic, intelligent young woman who would become one of the country’s most sought after fugitives. Mackenzie Phillips (One Day at a Time) co-stars.

December 30 – The holiday special of Call the Midwife will air on PBS at 9 PM

In a few weeks I will provide a run-down of all the shows to look forward to in the early part of the new year, including returning favorites, new fall shows coming back after their holiday hiatus and brand new shows premiering during mid-season.

Mark your calendars!