TV: Five shows worth watching tonight: December 17
A select viewing guide for Monday, December 17
DRAMA Gossip Girl (MuchMusic, 8 p.m.) That’s a wrap. Gossip Girl winds up tonight with a supersized two-hour episode. The first hour will feature the show’s stars and executive producers sitting around and reflecting back upon the most memorable moments from the show’s six-season run. In the second hour, the entire Upper East Side is all abuzz over the murder of Bart (Robert John Burke), so who’s the killer? The NYPD want to question Chuck (Ed Westwick), but he’s hiding out in a luxury hotel room with Blair (Leighton Meester). Meanwhile, Serena (Blake Lively) is deeply distrustful of Dan (Penn Badgley) and Jenny (Taylor Momsen) makes an unexpected reappearance. And the really big news: The identity of Gossip Girl will finally be revealed.
REALITY Hoarders (A&E, 9 p.m.) Still one of the most chilling shows on TV (along with pretty much anything airing on TLC), this unscripted series is still somehow finding and filming people perfectly content to live in abject clutter. Tonight’s new episode profiles a middle-aged woman named Jan, who threatens to throttle anyone who dares suggest she remove the mounds of junk from her domicile. Next, meet Bebe, whose privileged existence and beautiful home fell to ruins following her husband’s death. In both instances, the hoarders benefit hugely from much-needed counseling.
FOOD Mystery Diners (Food Network, 9:30 p.m.) What’s a restaurant owner to do when they suspect employees of dodgy work practices? On this show, they get sneaky. Hailing from the U.S. version of Food Network, the series plants hidden cameras in restaurants to catch the bad behavior. And when the staffers get caught in the act, the big reveal moment is always a magic TV moment. Tonight’s episode travels to Cave Creek, Arizona, where the proprietor of the Amaro Italian Bistro believes his manager is sexually harassing the female staff. To catch him in the act, the Mystery Diners team sends in two females to interview for a new waitress position. Will the manager hire the plain Jane or the hottie?
DRAMA Hawaii Five-O (CBS, Global, 10 p.m.) It took a few years, but George Takei finally wrangled a free trip back to Hawaii. The former Star Trek fixture guest-starred in a 1975 episode of the original Hawaii Five-O series and returns tonight to the remake in a new and recurring role. Takei plays a character named Choi whose niece Chin (Grace Park) is a key member of the Five-O police unit. Against all probable odds, the sly old coot somehow becomes involved in the search for a man who has gone missing in the backwoods of Oahu. Good on you, Mr. Sulu.
MOVIE A Christmas Carol (AMC, 10:30 p.m.) Some actors are simply born to play certain roles. First broadcast in 1984, this TV-movie boasts a splendidly venomous performance by George C. Scott as the man who hates Christmas with a passion. The Oscar-winning actor is completely in his element as the curmudgeonly Ebenezer Scrooge, who takes out his rage against the world against his sole employee, the cringing Bob Cratchit (David Warner). As with Patton and every film role he ever undertook, Scott chews up the scenery, but British acting veteran Susannah York steals several scenes as Cratchit’s long-suffering wife.