“Hookers: Saved on the Strip”
Wednesday 10pm, Investigation Discovery
This new documentary series explores the realities of being a sex worker in Las Vegas. Annie Lobert worked The Strip for decades as a high-priced call girl. She got out of the business years ago, and now runs the organization Hookers for Jesus, which reaches out to women who want out of the prostitution business, sets them up in a halfway house, educates them on their legal and financial alternatives, and so on. The three-part series will focus on three specific women trying to escape the abusive, degrading existence lived by approximately 100,000 American women each year.
“Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People
of 2010”
Thursday 10pm, ABC
I’m a ride-or-die Barbara Walters bitch; I’m distraught that she’s ended her annual Oscars special. But at least we still have this chestnut, now in its 18th year. Alas, I’m less than impressed with Babs’ selections this time around. Betty White makes sense. I will begrudgingly go along with the Justin Bieber nod. Jennifer Lopez seems premature, since she could very well flop in her new “American Idol” judging gig. Sandra Bullock, sure. Impending princess Kate Middleton, great. LeBron James I know nothing about. But Sarah Palin for a third year in a row? Blech. Worse still: the cast of “Jersey Shore.” Aren’t we all over them at this point? Certainly there can’t be anything new to be gleaned from their antics anymore. It is funny that the seven of them count as one “person” on the list? If you combined all their brains, souls and chances at successful futures you might get a full person out of that mess.
“Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You”
Monday 9pm, ABC
Mariah Carey’s first Christmas album from the early ’90s remains one of my holiday favorites—literally every song is great—and her “All I Want For Christmas Is You” became an instant seasonal classic. Her second holiday disc was released earlier this year, and while it hasn’t had the same success, it has attracted some buzz for its “O Come All Ye Faithful” duet between Carey and her mother, Patricia, a former mezzo-soprano for the New York Opera. You’ll get to see the two of them sing together during this special, taped just after Carey announced that she’s preggers with husband Nick Cannon’s kid. I hope she names the baby Glitter…
