Must See HDTV (November 28th - December 4th)
Welcome to the midseason break -- while many shows are either already on hiatus or getting ready for one, cable favorites like The Closer and Rizzoli & Isles are just getting restarted. Of course, given the season that's not all there is to watch with a slew of movie debuts and one-off events like the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and Grammy nominations taking place as well. Check below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listings of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
This week is a good one for 3D fans, in theaters Martin Scorsese's Hugo is racking up the acclaims for its integration of effects and story, while at home viewers can finally experience Werner Herzog's trek into the Chauvet Caves of South France, exposing the oldest known human drawings. The entire documentary is filmed in 3D to help bring the shape and depth of the cave paintings alive, and by all accounts it's effective. Since you're probably not on the (very short list) of people who will ever be allowed access to the cave and its delicate relics, this is your best shot at taking a step 35,000 years into the past at an entirely different era of humankind. Check out the trailer after the break, but after seeing this one in theaters earlier this year we can definitely say 3D is the only way to watch.
(November 29th, $18.99 on Amazon)
College Football
The last week of the college football season means everything comes down to these games to decide conference championships and who goes on to which bowl games. From the Big East being decided by the result of West Virginia vs. South Florida, to a couple of brand new conference championship games for the Pac-12 and Big Ten, to the always classic ACC and SEC football championships, and even a few rivalry games like Baylor/Texas and Oklahoma/Oklahoma State -- it's all here. No matter which team you root for there will be something at stake this weekend, so arrange your schedule accordingly.
The Take
After jumping into the original programming game earlier this year with Moby Dick, Encore is ready to push The Take, a British crime drama. Tom Hardy (Inception, Bronson, The Dark Knight Rises) stars as Freddie Jackson, an ex-con fresh out of prison who is trying to take over London's underworld with the help of the rest of his similarly crooked family. As you can tell by the name, the theme here is that everyone and everything is available for a price, we're willing to spend an hour of our time and see if this is a series worth watching thanks to its strong cast, check out a quick trailer embedded after the break.
(December 2nd, Encore, 9PM)
Blu-ray & Games
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (3D)
30 Minutes or Less
Our Idiot Brother
Another Earth
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
The Smurfs (3D)
The Art of Getting By
Smallville: The Complete Tenth Season
Sly Cooper Trilogy (PS3)
Monday
The Closer (winter premiere), TNT, 9PM
Rizzoli & Isles (winter premiere), TNT, 10PM
House (fall finale), Fox, 9PM
Bored To Death (season finale), HBO, 9PM
The Sing-Off (season finale), NBC, 8PM
Urban Legends (season finale), Syfy, 11, 11:30 & 11:59PM
You Deserve It, ABC, 9PM
Giants/Saints Monday Night Football, ESPN, 8:30PM
Terra Nova, Fox, 8PM
WWE Raw, USA, 9PM
American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior, Discovery, 9PM
Enlightened, HBO, 9:30PM
Rock Center with Brian Williams, NBC, 10PM
American Guns, Discovery, 10PM
Tuesday
Victoria's Secret Fall Fashion Show (special presentation), CBS, 10PM
Ringer (fall finale), CW, 9PM
Scott Turow's Innocent (special presentation), TNT, 9PM
Sons of Anarchy (season finale part 1), FX, 10PM
Auction Hunters, Spike TV (season finale), 10PM
Last Man Standing, ABC, 8PM
Glee, Fox, 8PM
90210, CW, 8PM
Man Up!, ABC, 8:30PM
New Girl, Fox, 9PM
Raising Hope, Fox, 9:30PM
Knights of Mayhem, National Geographic, 9PM
Sanctuary, Syfy, 10PM
Parenthood, NBC, 10PM
Covert Affairs, USA, 10PM
Flashpoint, Ion, 10PM
Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan, G4, 10PM
Wednesday
I Hate My Teenage Daughter (series premiere), Fox, 9:30PM
Blue Mountain State (season finale), Spike, 11PM
Mythbusters (fall finale), Discovery, 9PM
Whitechapel (season finale), BBCA, 10PM
Christmas in Rockefeller Center 2011 (special presentation), NBC, 8PM
Grammy Nominations Concert Live!, (special presentation), CBS, 10PM
Ricochet (special presentation), TNT, 9PM
West Virginia/South Florida college football, ESPN & ESPN 3D, 7PM
Survivor, CBS, 8PM
The X-Factor, Fox, 8PM
Inside The NFL, Showtime, 9PM
Harry's Law, NBC, 9PM
Nova, PBS, 9PM
Rocket City Rednecks, National Geographic, 9 & 9:30PM
Psych, USA, 10PM
The Real World, MTV, 10PM
Law & Order SVU, NBC, 10PM
The Ultimate Fighter, Spike, 10PM
American Horror Story, FX, 10PM
Thursday
Weed Wars (series premiere), Discovery, 10PM
Big Shrimpin', History, 10PM
Eagles/Seahawks Thursday Night Football, NFL Network, 8PM
Community, NBC, 8PM
The X-Factor, Fox, 8PM
Parks & Recreation, NBC, 8:30PM
Bones, Fox, 9PM
The Office, NBC, 9PM
Less Than Kind, DirecTV 101, 9PM
Call Me Fitz, DirecTV 101, 9:30PM
Whitney, NBC, 9:30PM
Burn Notice, USA, 10PM
Prime Suspect, NBC, 10PM
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, FX, 10PM
Beavis & Butt-head, MTV, 10PM
Good Vibes, MTV, 10:30PM
The League, FX, 10:30PM
Gigolos, Showtime, 11PM
Friday
Pac-12 College Football Championship: Oregon/UCLA, Fox, 7:30PM
MAC College Football Championship: Northern Illinois/Ohio, ESPN2, 6PM
The Take (part 1 of 4, series premiere), Encore, 9PM
Game of Your Life (special presentation), NBC, 8PM
Nikita (fall finale), CW, 8PM
Supernatural (fall finale), CW, 9PM
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Cartoon Network, 8PM
House of Payne, TBS, 9 & 9:30PM
Sanctuary, Syfy, 10PM
Onion News Network, IFC, 10PM
Boss, Starz, 10PM
X-Men Anime, G4, 11PM
Saturday
The Ultimate Fighter (season finale), Spike, 8PM
Conference USA College Football Championship Game: Southern Miss/Houston, ABC, 11AM
SEC College Football Championship Game: Georgia/LSU, CBS, 3PM
ACC College Football Championship: Clemson/Virginia Tech, ESPN & ESPN 3D, 7PM
Big Ten College Football Championship: Michigan State/Wisconsin, Fox, 7:30PM
Oklahoma/Oklahoma State college football, ABC, 7PM
Texas/Baylor college football, ESPN, 2:30PM
Primeval, BBCA, 9PM
Saturday Night Live: Steve Buscemi / The Black Keys, NBC, 11:30PM
Sunday
Neverland (part 1 of 2), Syfy, 9PM
Hung (season finale), HBO, 10PM
Around The World In 80 Ways (season finale), History, 11PM
Lions/Saints football, NBC, 8:15PM
60 Minutes, CBS, 7PM
The Cleveland Show, Fox, 7:30PM
The Simpsons, Fox, 8PM
Once Upon A Time, ABC, 8PM
The Amazing Race, CBS, 8PM
Allen Gregory, Fox, 8:30PM
Family Guy, Fox, 9PM
Leverage, TNT, 9PM
Dexter, Showtime, 9PM
Desperate Housewives, ABC, 9PM
The Good Wife, CBS, 9PM
Boardwalk Empire, HBO, 9PM
The Cleveland Show, Fox, 9:30PM
Hell on Wheels, AMC, 10PM
Homeland, Showtime, 10PM
CSI: Miami, CBS, 10PM
Pan Am, ABC, 10PM