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Must See HDTV (December 5th - 11th)

Richard Lawler
Senior News Editor
Updated ·6 min read

All you have to do is look at the calendar to know we're suddenly going to be buried under a deluge of holiday-season-specific programming. Of course, it's not all Michael Buble's Christmas Special, with unlikely sources like Syfy channel tossing in their efforts. While cable shows like Sons of Anarchy, Boss, and Boardwalk Empire wrap their seasons up, we also have a few new entries in the form of Luck, Moonshiners, and Invention USA. 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.

Sons of Anarchy
It's been yet another explosive season for the boys of SAMCRO, and now it's coming to an end. As is standard for the show, main character Jax is finding himself caught between the law, rival gangs, and the loyalty to his mother, wife, and best friend, all pulling in different directions. We don't know if he will avenge his father's death in the season finale, or if the entire motorcycle club will end up in jail first, but you can bet we'll be watching to find out.
(December 6th, FX, 10PM)

Spike TV Videogame Awards 2011
We haven't been a big fan of the Spike Videogame Award's presentation in the past, but with the promise of a peek at BioWare's next project and an Advisory Council that again includes our good friend and Joystiq EIC Chris Grant voting on the winners, maybe this is the year things get turned around. Videogames and the people who make them deserve their due like any other industry, and Spike is at least making an effort to make sure that happens. One of the other tweaks for the 2011 show is a focus on augmented reality, so that's another thing to keep an eye out for during the broadcast.
(December 10th, Spike, 8PM)

Eureka / Warehouse 13 / Haven
For some people it takes see It's A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, or Peanuts to get in the holiday spirit, but if you're a fan science fiction shows then you'll want to know these are all checking in with special holiday episodes Tuesday night. As silly as Syfy's name change has been, these shows have at least maintained, if not increased, their level of quality and have dedicated audiences. The special episodes are dropping in sort of out of the blue so we don't know what to expect, but we'll give them a look -- check out a sneak peek embedded after the break.




Blu-ray & Games

  • Cowboys & Aliens

  • The Hangover Part II

  • The Help

  • Vietnam in HD

  • Mr. Popper's Penguins

  • The Debt

  • 2011 World Series Highlight Film

  • Dragon Tattoo Trilogy: Stieg Larsson Extended Edition

  • Portlandia Season One

Monday

  • Neverland Part 2 of 2 (miniseries finale), Syfy, 9PM

  • American Country Awards (special presentation), Fox, 8PM

  • The Sing-Off Christmas (special presentation), NBC, 8PM

  • Gossip Girl (fall finale), CW, 8PM

  • Hart of Dixie (fall finale), CW, 9PM

  • Chargers/Jaguars Monday Night Football, ESPN, 8:30PM

  • How I Met Your Mother, CBS, 8PM

  • 2 Broke Girls, CBS, 8PM

  • The Closer, TNT, 9PM

  • Two and a Half Men, CBS, 9PM

  • WWE Raw, USA, 9PM

  • American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior, Discovery, 9PM

  • You Deserve It, ABC, 9PM

  • Enlightened, HBO, 9:30PM

  • Mike & Molly, CBS, 9:30PM

  • Rizzoli & Isles, TNT, 10PM

  • Castle, ABC, 10PM

  • Hawaii Five-0, CBS, 10PM

  • Rock Center with Brian Williams, NBC, 10PM

Tuesday

  • Sons of Anarchy (season finale part 2 of 2), FX, 10PM

  • Covert Affairs (season finale), USA, 10PM

  • 90210 (fall finale), CW, 8PM

  • Moonshiners (series premiere), Discovery, 10PM

  • Eureka (special presentation), Syfy, 8PM

  • Warehouse 13 (special presentation), Syfu, 9PM

  • Haven (special presentation), Syfy, 10PM

  • American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior (special presentation), Discovery, 9PM

  • Hide (special presentation), TNT, 9PM

  • A Michael Buble Christmas, NBC, 8PM

  • Last Man Standing, ABC, 8PM

  • Glee, Fox, 8PM

  • Man Up!, ABC, 8:30PM

  • New Girl, Fox, 9PM

  • Raising Hope, Fox, 9:30PM

  • Knights of Mayhem, National Geographic, 9PM

  • Flashpoint, Ion, 10PM

  • Body of Proof, ABC, 10PM

  • Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan, G4, 10PM

Wednesday

  • State of Play (series premiere), BBC America, 10PM

  • Pearl Harbor: 24 Hours After (special presentation), History, 8PM

  • Silent Witness (special presentation), TNT, 9PM

  • Rocket City Rednecks (season finale), National Geographic, 9 & 9:30PM

  • Survivor, CBS, 8PM

  • Up All Night, NBC, 8PM

  • The X-Factor, Fox, 8PM

  • The Middle, ABC, 8PM

  • Suburgatory, ABC, 8:30PM

  • Modern Family, ABC, 9PM

  • Inside The NFL, Showtime, 9PM

  • Criminal Minds, CBS, 9PM

  • Harry's Law, NBC, 9PM

  • Nova, PBS, 9PM

  • Happy Endings, ABC, 9:30PM

  • I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Fox, 9:30PM

  • Psych, USA, 10PM

  • CSI, CBS, 10PM

  • The Real World, MTV, 10 & 11PM

  • Revenge, ABC, 10PM

  • Law & Order SVU, NBC, 10PM

  • The Ultimate Fighter, Spike, 10PM

  • Moonshiners, Discovery, 10PM

  • American Horror Story, FX, 10PM

Thursday

  • Browns/Steelers Thursday Night Football, NFL Network, 8PM

  • Wipeout (special presentation), ABC, 8PM

  • Community, NBC, 8PM

  • The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8PM

  • The X-Factor, Fox, 8PM

  • Parks & Recreation, NBC, 8:30PM

  • Rules of Engagement, CBS, 8:30PM

  • Bones, Fox, 9PM

  • Person of Interest, CBS, 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

  • Grimm, NBC, 10PM

  • The Mentalist, CBS, 10PM

  • It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, FX, 10PM

  • Beavis & Butt-head, MTV, 10PM

  • Big Shrimpin', History, 10PM

  • Good Vibes, MTV, 10:30PM

  • The League, FX, 10:30PM

  • Gigolos (season finale), Showtime, 11PM

Friday

  • Boss (season finale), Starz, 10PM

  • Onion News Network (season finale), IFC, 10PM

  • Invention USA (series premiere), History, 10 & 10:30PM

  • Chuck, NBC, 8PM

  • Grimm, NBC, 9PM

  • WWE SmackDown, Syfy, 8PM

  • The Take (part 2 of 4), Encore, 9PM

  • Nikita (fall finale), CW, 8PM

  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Cartoon Network, 8PM

  • House of Payne, TBS, 9 & 9:30PM

  • Sanctuary, Syfy, 10PM

  • X-Men Anime, G4, 11PM

Saturday

  • Spike TV's Video Game Awards 2011, Spike, 8PM

  • Snowmageddon (special presentation), Syfy, 9PM

  • The American Giving Awards (special presentation), NBC, 8PM

  • Republican Presidential Candidate Debate in Iowa, ABC, 9PM

  • Primeval, BBCA, 9PM

  • Saturday Night Live: Katy Perry / Robyn, NBC, 11:30PM

Sunday

  • The Amazing Race (season finale), CBS, 8PM

  • Boardwalk Empire (season finale), HBO, 9PM

  • Luck (series premiere), HBO, 10PM

  • Stephen King's Bag of Bones Part 1 of 2 (series premiere), A&E, 9PM

  • Giants/Cowboys 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 Cleveland Show, Fox, 8:30PM

  • Family Guy, Fox, 9PM

  • Leverage, TNT, 9PM

  • Dexter, Showtime, 9PM

  • The Good Wife, CBS, 9PM

  • American Dad, Fox, 9:30PM

  • Hell on Wheels, AMC, 10PM

  • Homeland, Showtime, 10PM

  • CSI: Miami, CBS, 10PM

  • Pan Am, ABC, 10PM