Preparing for Fall TV: December 2013

As 2013 comes to a close, there is still plenty of new TV viewing to enjoy, mainly through holiday-themed movies, the debut of some new cable series and the return of several other cable dramas.

Let’s take a look at all that December TV has in store for viewers:

On December 1, the holiday themed movie Silver Bells will debut on the cable channel UP at 7 PM (with encores at 9 and 11 PM). Bruce Dalt (Bruce Boxleitner from Cedar Cove) is an ambitious, gung-ho father and local TV sports anchor who approaches the holidays much like he approaches life: competitively. This Christmas he wants his interior designing wife Piper (Bridgett Newton from Franklin & Bash) to win the neighborhood’s annual holiday house decorating contest. He wants his son Jason (Kenton Duty from Shake It Up!) to be the winning basketball player on his high school team. And, of course, he wants everyone in the family, including daughter Kasey (Laura Spencer from The Lizzie Bennet Diaries), who is in her first year of law school, to win by securing the biggest Black Friday shopping deals before dawn. Bruce Dalt is all “for the win!” This philosophy, however, has put a strain on his family; especially Jason, who has more heart than competitive drive. When Bruce gets into a physical scuffle with a ref (Kevin Downes from the box office film Courageous) at Jason’s basketball game, the holidays take a turn for the worse. In no time, the video goes viral. Bruce is then sued, suspended from the anchor desk, and sentenced to community service with The Salvation Army. There, he meets Major Melvin Lowell (Antonio Fargas from Everybody Hates Chris), who patiently guides Bruce while managing his competitive streak. When Bruce encounters the people in his life from behind the kettle, everything – especially his relationship with his son – begins to change. The Dalts are about to embark on the most meaningful holiday season ever — all thanks to ringing that signature bell.

The second season of Ripper Street will start at 10 PM on BBC America on December 1.

Also on December 1, the latest Hallmark Channel movie The Christmas Spirit will debut at 8 PM. Charlotte Hart (Nicolette Sheridan), a distinguished journalist, is spending time with her family over the holidays when a real estate developer approaches their small town with quite an offer. Skeptical and looking for the real scoop, Charlotte drives to see the real estate head honcho to question him. While she’s en route, she gets into a terrible car accident and wakes up in the hospital only to realize that her body is in a coma, but her spirit is very much awake. She meets another spirit, who just happens to be the greedy developer. It turns out that he was on the other end of the accident, and he too is in a coma. With only a few days left before the town votes on the development, Charlotte must try to change the minds of the developer and the town, but that is no easy task when no one can see or hear her. The cast includes Olympia Dukakis.

The final season of the HBO series Treme will air its season premiere at 9 PM on December 1.

And on December 1, the ION movie Holiday Road Trip will debut at 9 PM. Maya, a recently heartbroken pet supply employee, couldn’t have any less in common with her co-worker, Pat, who happens to be the company founder’s son. But, tasked with traveling across the country on a Christmastime social media tour for the company’s leading canine and most-prized possession, Scoots, fate finds a funny way to intervene. In their race against the clock, the two begin to fall for one another. Unbeknownst to Maya, though, her remorseful ex-boyfriend is in close pursuit, hoping he can win her back. The cast includes Ashley Scott, Patrick Muldoon, Kip Pardue, George Hamilton and Shelley Long.

The PBS special Return to Downton Abbey will air at 9 PM December 1. Actress Susan Sarandon hosts this special that will savor fond memories from the past three seasons of the worldwide hit mini-series.

Also on December 1, the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Christmas in Conway will air on ABC at 9 PM. Andy Garcia plays Duncan Mayor, who decides the perfect Christmas present for his beloved wife, Suzy (Mary-Louise Parker), is a ride on a real-deal Ferris wheel, set up in their own back yard. Why? Because it was while riding one years earlier that Duncan asked Suzy to marry him. Mandy Moore is Suzy’s nurse, Natalie. Natalie and Suzy develop a deep bond almost immediately. Not so for Natalie and Duncan, he’s a bit of a curmudgeon and at least initially resents the time and attention his wife pays to her soul-mate nurse. But love is in the air, and not just between Suzy and Duncan. Natalie and a young landscape designer who’s helping Duncan assemble the giant Ferris wheel also fall under the intoxicating spell of romance.

Then on December 4, the new TNT series Mob City will debut at 9 PM. The epic battle between determined police chief William Parker (Neal McDonough) and dangerous mobster Mickey Cohen (Jeremy Luke) inflames 1940s Los Angeles in TNT’s eagerly anticipated television event Mob City. The cast includes Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead), Alex Davalos, Milo Ventimiglia, Robert Knepper, Ed Burns and Gregory Itzin.

A new adaptation of The Sound of Music will air LIVE on NBC at 8 PM on December 5. Steven Moyer (True Blood) and singer-actress Carrie Underwood will appear in the lead roles of the classic story of Georg and Maria von Trapp in the story set in pre-World War II Austria about an aspiring nun who leaves the Abby to become a governess for the widower Captain von Trapp’s seven children and finds herself falling in love with her employer and questioning her religious calling. The cast includes Audra McDonald, Christian Borle and Laura Benanti.

On December 7, the Lifetime movie Christmas in the City will debut at 8 PM. After closing down her small-town family business, Wendy (Ashley Williams) and her six-year-old daughter Grace move to the big city where an old friend offers her a job in the toy department of Wolmans. But her excitement is short lived when the store’s new consultant, Teanna (Ashanti), ruins the holiday spirit throughout the store by replacing Santa with a hunky male underwear model. It’s only when Grace begins to lose faith in the holiday that Wendy realizes she must bring the true meaning of Christmas back to Wolmans before it is too late.

The Hallmark Channel movie Santa Switch will air at 8 PM on December 7. As the Christmas season approaches, Dan Ryebeck (Ethan Erickson) is facing unemployment, and struggling to pay for the gifts he thinks will impress his two kids, Sally (Annie Thurman) and Joe (Griffin Cleveland). Always chasing a new business idea, Dan hasn’t had time for family, including his wife Linda (Anne Dudek), who is finally fed up and filing divorce papers. Threatened by Linda’s handsome and successful young boss, Trevor (Steve Valentine), Dan knows he must make this Christmas the best one yet to win his family back. But after auditioning for a mall Santa job and quickly losing his cool, Dan is frustrated and broke, blaming the holidays for his troubles. Little does he know his luck is about to turn around when the real Kris Kringle (Donovan Scott) pays him a visit from the North Pole. Deciding to take a vacation and leave Dan in charge, Kris sends his hard-working elf assistant Eddie (Sean Astin) to guide Dan as the new Santa Claus, hoping he’ll learn a lesson in Christmas spirit.

Then on December 8, the ABC Family movie Holidaze will debut at 8 PM. High powered executive Melody Gerard (Jennie Garth) returns to her sleepy hometown to try and convince everyone to let her company build a giant new discount store. But she’s unexpectedly met with resistance by the townspeople, led by her childhood sweetheart, Carter (Cameron Matheson). Desperate to get out of town and back to her “real” life, Melody takes a spill and wakes up in an alternate universe where she never took the job and is married to Carter. Encore presentations of this movie will air on December 9 at 6 PM and December 17 at 7 PM.

Also on December 8, the new ION movie Christmas Belle will debut at 9 PM. With her California hometown in the rearview mirror, Belle heads north on business to catalog the sale of a large mansion. While the job is a dream, the client, Hunter Lowell, is not. But, as the two spend more time together, his icy demeanor begins to melt. Although their relationship is budding, Belle’s long-time suitor, Tony, arrives, sending mixed signals to Hunter while adding chaos to the holiday season. The cast includes Haylie Duff, Nicholas Gonzalez and C. Thomas Howell.

Then the two-night movie Bonnie & Clyde will debut at 9 PM (simultaneously) on Lifetime, A&E and the History Channel on December 8 and December 9. Emile Hirsch and Holliday Grainger will star in the title roles of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, the Depression-era outlaw couple whose crime spree enraptured the American public. Rumored to have a sixth-sense to see events before they happened, Barrow was always able to stay one step ahead of the law as they escaped capture time and again. His one blind spot was Parker, who was intent on becoming famous and fed on the alluring media attention, pushing Barrow to commit riskier and more dangerous crimes to generate bigger headlines and make them the most famous criminals of the modern era. The cast includes Holly Hunter, William Hurt, Elizabeth Reaser, Lane Garrison and Sarah Hyland.

The new Lifetime movie Christmas on the Bayou will debut at 8 PM on December 14. When successful New York marketing executive Katherine (Hilarie Burton) discovers her workaholic ways are taking a toll on her eight-year-old son, Zac, she decides to spend Christmas with him and her mother, Lilly (Markie Post) in her home town on the bayou. When Caleb (Tyler Hilton) tries to rekindle a childhood romance and convince her to move back home, Katherine is torn between the bright lights of the big city and the quiet, gentler rhythms of her Southern roots. Only a Christmas miracle orchestrated by Papa Noel (Ed Asner) can steer her heart to her true home. Country singer Randy Travis also stars.

Also on December 14, the Lifetime movie A Snow Globe Christmas will debut at 10 PM. A cynical television executive (Alicia Witt) looks at the perfect world inside a snow globe and rants about how the Christmas movies she produces fall short of real life. Upset, she tries to smash the globe in to pieces, but instead, ends up knocking herself in the head. She wakes up in a perfect snow-covered town, married to her ex, Ted (Donald Faison), with two kids. Trying desperately to return to her old life, she slowly realizes the importance of family and begins to find happiness. The cast also includes Christina Milian and Trevor Donovan.

The Hallmark Channel movie Hats Off To Christmas will debut at 8 PM on December 14. Mia (Haylie Duff), the loyal and hard-working manager of her small town’s Christmas hat shop, is blindsided when her boss of over ten years asks her to train his son, Nick (Antonio Cupo), for a vacant upper-management position that Mia had been coveting. Although Nick is a handsome, successful New York City business consultant, Mia finds training him frustrating until Nick takes an interest in Mia’s son Scotty (Sean Michael Kyer), helping Scotty with a pumpkin carving contest. However, Mia’s faith in Nick quickly diminishes when Nick fails to show up at the contest. To protect her son from further disappointment, Mia tries to keep Nick out of her and Scotty’s fragile life, and Nick must decide if staying in the small town of Wilsonville is worth giving up the big-city perks he once had in New York.

On December 15, the much-anticipated Psych: The Musical will air on the USA Network. This special will be centered on an ill-fated musical showing in Santa Barbara with Anthony Rapp playing Z, the musical’s playwright and Brooke Lyons as Elisa, the playwrights muse and an original member of the cast. Barry Bostwick will play Armitage, the womanizing businessman and owner of the lavish Santa Barbara theatre staging the musical. Ally Sheedy will also reprise her role as Mr. Yang in this special.

Also on December 15, the ION movie All I Want for Christmas will debut at 9 PM. After being told by her boss that she must listen more attentively to others and put the group first, Elizabeth, a skilled executive, meets one of Santa’s helpers, who blesses her with an extraordinary gift. Through the magic of a Christmas pin, Elizabeth can listen to every unspoken thought of anyone she encounters. With her new-found power, she attempts to be a better person, turning an office rivalry into romance while learning the true meaning of Christmas. The cast includes Melissa Sagemiller, Brad Rowe and Tom Arnold.

The Hallmark Channel movie Finding Christmas will debut at 8 PM on December 15. Single mother Ryan (Tricia Helfer) has just about given up on dating after her divorce, happily accepting her young son as the most important man in her life. That all changes when Ryan’s brother Owen (J.T. Hodges), also feeling unlucky in love after a bad breakup, swaps his home in their small North Carolina town with New York City adman Sean (Mark Lutz). Ryan feels an instant spark with her new neighbor, but Sean, who signed up for the temporary home swap after a proposal gone wrong, is out of his comfort zone in his new rural surroundings. He quickly discovers the magic involved with taking chances and starts opening up to romantic possibilities around free-spirited Ryan.

On December 27, the series finale of Nikita will air on The CW at 9 PM.

The Call the Midwife Holiday Special will air on PBS at 7:30 PM on December 29. In 1958 East End London, the holidays are not just about the opening of presents, but also about the closing of deep wounds. Although the weather is unseasonably mild for this time of year, the lives of the midwives are anything but calm. Jenny’s relationship with Alec continues to blossom and Shelagh’s (formerly Sister Bernadette) quiet wedding to Dr. Turner is underway. When a thousand-pound explosive is discovered, the district is evacuated and the Nonnatus House team is quick to take charge to ensure that the community is safe and warm. Always one to keep spirits high, Chummy decides to forge ahead with the Cubs Christmas party. However, just when the community’s holiday spirit is renewed, Poplar faces an outbreak of polio, with the repercussions of the illness affecting the nurses and nuns more than they could have ever imagined.

It’s obvious that there will be a lot of holiday movies coming to the small screen next month. Which of the movies listed above are you looking forward to watching? Will you watching any of the new or returning cable dramas in December? Please share your thoughts below.