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Watch List: The 7 must-see shows for Dec. 25-31
The TV landscape between Christmas and New Year’s is sparsely populated, but there are a few gems here and there to help pass the time.
RELATED: 38 Christmas weekend TV marathons and specials
A couple shows aren’t taking a holiday hiatus, a couple others are airing holiday specials and there’s a chance to marathon a couple favorites.
All times Eastern.
‘Call the Midwife’ holiday special, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, PBS
The Nonnatus staff works to save a mission hospital in South Africa that is understaffed, underfunded and in danger of being shut down.
‘Doctor Who’ holiday special, 9 p.m., Sunday, BBC America
It’s a “Doctor Who” rom-com with “The Return of Doctor Mysterio,” as Nardole (Matt Lucas) returns and joins up with journalist Lucy Fletcher (Charity Wakefield) and the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) to fight brain-swapping aliens.
‘Game of Thrones’ full series marathon, noon, Monday, HBO 2
This is kind of cool — every day from Dec. 26-31 HBO 2 is running an entire “Game of Thrones” season each day from noon until 10 p.m. Season 1 kicks things off Monday and Season 6 wraps things up on New Year’s Eve.
‘America’s Next Top Model,’ 10 p.m., Monday, VH1
Time for the annual cryfest that is the makeover episode. Who will look awesome? Who will look awful? Who will get a super-short platinum blonde pixie ‘do? And who will have to wrestle with an out-of-control weave? At least with all women, no one is in danger of a beard weave. We hope.
‘Search Party’ marathon, 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, TBS
If you missed this new gem during Thanksgiving week when the entire first season aired, please tune in or set your DVR for Tuesday night, when TBS is running the entire first season from 7:30 p.m. to midnight. It’s an incredible show, you will not be disappointed.
‘Vikings,’ 9 p.m., Wednesday, History
In what is perhaps the biggest episode in “Vikings” history, Ragnar’s (Travis Fimmel) survival is hanging in the balance — so what are he and Ivar the Boneless (Alex Hogh) going to do? If you’re a “Vikings” fan, watch live. Trust us.
New Year’s Eve TV, 8 p.m., Saturday, various
Here’s a rundown of the New Year’s Eve offerings for 2016.
- ABC: The Dick Clark show now hosted by Ryan Seacrest kicks off at 8 p.m. and runs until after 1 a.m.
- CNN: Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin are back for their annual New Year’s Eve shenanigans, starting at 8 p.m. Don Lemon takes over at 12:30 a.m.
- Fox News: “Countdown to 2017” airs from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., then the “All American New Year” ushers in 2017 until 1 a.m.
- NBC: Kathie Lee and Hoda host “A Toast to 2016!” from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., then Carson Daly takes over at 11:30 p.m. for the ball drop.