Sandra Bullock, Charlie Brown, and Billie Eilish are just a few of the big names taking over the small screen this weekend. Three years after the release of Bird Box, Bullock returns to Netflix in gritty drama The Unforgivable, while Snoopy gathers the Peanuts crew for a new holiday special, and Eilish pulls double duty on SNL. Plus, Kyle Mooney bows his homage to '80s era Saturday-morning TV, The Expanse begins its final season, and Lifetime facilitates TV's latest Brady Bunch reunion. Here’s what’s new and noteworthy on TV this weekend:
FRIDAY DECEMBER 10
The Unforgivable: Original film. After serving a prison sentence for a violent crime, Ruth Slater (Sandra Bullock) attempts to find the estranged younger sister she was forced to leave behind years prior. Vincent D’Onofrio, Jon Bernthal, and Viola Davis also star. Watch trailer. Streaming on Netflix
Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne: Apple’s new Peanuts holiday special — the first released since 2011 — follows Lucy and Linus as they organize a New Year’s party and Charlie Brown struggles to accomplish one of his resolutions before midnight. Watch trailer. Streaming on Apple TV+
Saturday Morning All Star Hits: Complete first season. SNL star Kyle Mooney brings his unique brand of comedyr to Netflix in this hybrid animated-live action series that celebrates low budget Saturday-morning shows of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Mooney hosts the show as twin brothers Skip and Treybor. Watch trailer. Streaming on Netflix
The Expanse: Season premiere. Holden (Steven Strait) and the crew of the Rocinante fight alongside the Combined Fleet of Earth and Mars to protect the Inner Planets from Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander) and his Free Navy’s campaign of death and destruction as Amazon’s space drama begins it sixth and final season. Watch trailer. Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story: Complete docuseries. Witnesses and victims come forward to share their troubling stories about zoo owner Doc Antle in this new three-part documentary. Watch trailer. Streaming on Netflix
Twentysomethings: Austin: Part 1. Eight twenty-somethings move to Austin, Texas in hopes of finding success in life and love, all while learning to navigate the “new normal” of 2021 America, in Netflix’s updated take on The Real World. Read our review. Streaming on Netflix
Encounter: Original film. A decorated Marine (Riz Ahmed) goes on a rescue mission to save his two young sons from an inhuman threat in Amazon’s latest sci-fi adventure. Octavia Spencer, Rory Cochrane, Lucian-River Chauhan, and Aditya Geddada also star. Watch trailer. Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Back to the Outback: Original film. A group of “deadly” animals and a celebrity koala named Pretty Boy fight to survive after they escape the Australian Wildlife Park and head back to the outback in this animated family comedy. Featuring voicework from Isla Fisher, Eric Bana, Guy Pearce, Keith Urban, and Jacki Weaver. Watch trailer. Streaming on Netflix
Play-Doh Squished: Special presentation. Teams of kids and adults must use their imagination, inspiration, and holiday spirit to build the ultimate Play-Doh winter wonderland in this competition special. Sarah Hyland hosts. Watch trailer. Streaming on IMDb TV
American Refugee: Original film. Derek Luke, Erika Alexander, and Sam Trammell star in Blumhouse’s second EPIX film, an apocalyptic thriller about a couple who turns to their survivalist patriarch for help when anarchy engulfs the outside world. Watch trailer. 8:00 PM ET on EPIX
Ricky Powell: The Individualist: Original documentary. Showtime shines a light on photographer Ricky Powell, who rose to fame while capturing the music, fashion, and art scenes of the ‘80s and ‘90s in downtown New York City. Watch trailer. 8:00 PM ET on Showtime
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Jim Carrey plays the misanthropic Grinch, a solitary creature who tries to ruin Christmas by stealing gifts from nearby Whoville, in Ron Howard's 2000 adaptation of Dr. Seuss' beloved book of the same name. Watch trailer. 12:00 PM ET and 9:20 PM ET on Freeform
Home Alone: Eight-year-old troublemaker Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) must protect his house from a pair of burglars when he’s accidentally left by his family before their Christmas vacation in this 1990 classic. Watch trailer. 4:10 PM ET on Freeform
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York: History repeats itself when nine-year old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is accidentally separated from his family and find himself on his own in the big city. Watch trailer. 6:40 PM ET on Freeform
SATURDAY DECEMBER 11
Saturday Night Live: Billie Eilish joins the long list of celebrities who’ve pulled double duty as SNL host and musical guest in the penultimate episode of 2021. Eilish previously appeared as a musical guest in 2019, but tonight marks her hosting debut. Live coast to coast at 11:29 PM ET/8:29 PM PT on NBC
Toy Story Marathon: Freeform treats viewers to eight full hours of Toy Story, beginning with holiday special Toy Story That Time Forgot and continuing with all four movies back-to-back. Watch trailer. Begins at 2:40 PM ET on Freeform
College Football: The Army Black Nights and the Navy Midshipmen face off at MetLife Stadium in America’s most storied rivalry. 3:30 PM ET on CBS
Hot Mess Holiday: TV movie. When an overachieving finance exec is unceremoniously dumped by her cheating fiancé during the Diwali holidays, her friends convince her to embark on a raucous holiday adventure across Chicago. But things soon go awry when they come into the possession of a multi-million dollar diamond, placing the entire crew in danger. Surina Jindal, Melanie Chandra, Kal Penn, Tituss Burgess, Chris Parnell, and Lilly Singh star. 7:00 PM ET on Comedy Central
The Real Charlie Chaplin: Original documentary. Showtime combines never-before-heard audio recordings, personal archival footage, and dramatic reconstructions to explore Charlie Chaplin’s meteoric rise from the slums of Victorian London, through his Hollywood superstardom, and his scandalous fall from grace. Watch trailer. 8:00 PM ET on Showtime
The Holiday Fix Up: TV movie. When popular designer Sam (Jana Kramer) returns to her hometown to help renovate the Bell Harbor Inn, she's paired with the guy who broke her heart (Ryan McPartlin) as her lead contractor. Sparks fly as they work closely over the holidays, but will they be able to fix the mistakes of their past? Also stars Maria Menounos. Watch trailer. 8:00 PM ET on Lifetime
A Royal Queens Christmas: TV movie. A prince finds his way to Queens during Christmas when a local woman enlists his help with a children’s holiday show. 8:00 PM ET on Hallmark Channel
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: Holiday special. Rankin/Bass’ 1964 Christmas classic uses stop-motion animation to tell the story of Rudolph, a young reindeer who puts his glowing red nose to good use over the holidays. Watch trailer. 8:00 PM ET on CBS
Frosty the Snowman: Holiday special. It was 52 years ago that Frosty first came to life in this holiday classic, and all these years later he's still going strong. Followed by 1992 continuation Frosty Returns. Watch trailer. 9:00 PM ET on CBS
SUNDAY DECEMBER 12
White House Christmas 2021: Special presentation. The Bidens invite viewers inside the White House to experience their spectacular trees, breathtaking decorations, and over-the-top gingerbread creations. With host Alison Victoria of Windy City Rehab. 6:00 PM ET on HGTV
People Presents: Blending Christmas: TV movie. Original Brady Bunch stars Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, and Susan Olsen reunite in this Lifetime movie about a young couple (Haylie Duff and Aaron O’Connell) who celebrate the holidays with their eccentric extended families. Watch trailer. 8:00 PM ET on Lifetime
Miss Universe: Special presentation. 75 contestants from around the world compete for a chance to be named Miss Universe in FOX’s three-hour special event, airing live from Eilat, Israel. Steve Harvey returns to host for the sixth year. 7:00 PM ET on FOX
Sister Swap: Christmas in the City: TV movie. Lifetime’s two-film series comes to an end with a drama that sees Meg (Ashley Williams) find unexpected romance after swapping cities with her sister, Jennifer (Kimberly Williams-Paisley). Watch trailer. 8:00 PM ET on Lifetime
Sunday Night Football: The Green Bay Packers look to maintain their lead in the NFC North when they host the Chicago Bears. 8:20 PM ET/5:20 PM PT on NBC
A Christmas Proposal: TV movie. A down-on-her-luck chef (Jessica Camacho) agrees to pose as the girlfriend of a hotshot attorney (Adam Rodriguez) visiting his family for Christmas, but their business arrangement is complicated when their feelings deepen. Watch trailer. 8:30 PM ET on CBS
Greatest Holiday Commercial Countdown: Special presentation. Kevin Frazer and Nischelle Turner host The CW’s countdown of the 12 best holiday commercials ever — one for each of the 12 days of Christmas. 9:00 PM ET on The CW
Succession: Season finale. As Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard) pushes for a merger, the Roys deal with the fallout of Roman's (Kieran Culkin) "item." As for Kendall (Jeremy Strong), HBO promises that "all will be revealed" in the Season 3 finale of its Emmy-winning drama. Watch preview. 9:00 PM ET on HBO
The Santa Clause: Tim Allen signs on with Team Santa, but he fails to read the fine print before donning the classic red suit. Watch trailer. 5:15 PM ET on Freeform
Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.
TOPICS: Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne, The Expanse, Saturday Morning All Star Hits!, Saturday Night Live, Billie Eilish, Sandra Bullock