“Eight Crazy Nights”
Thursday 5:30pm, MTV
There are approximately five billion Christmas specials airing between now and December 25, but there are surprisingly few Hanukkah-themed projects to entertain the Chosen People. Back in his manboy heyday, Adam Sandler tried to make the Festival of Lights cool for his fellow Jews by giving us “The Hanukkah Song” and this 2002 animated film about Sandler-type jackass Davey, who gets sentenced to community service after a prank goes too far. While working for a youth basketball program, he meets a single mom and her son, and learns about the season while falling in love and becoming a responsible adult. The set up is predictable, but things go decidedly gonzo when you factor in Whitey, a hirsute, elfin epileptic who oversees Davey’s rehabilitation. There are songs. There are voices by Sandler’s cabal of hangers-on (Rob Schneider, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon). There are…seizures. It’s all very odd.
“Barbara Walters Presents the 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008”
Thursday 10pm, ABC
Once again, news maven Barbara Walters has given me the shaft, leaving me off her annual “Most Fascinating People” list. And I really thought I had it cinched this year after starting my collection of potato chips that resemble celebrities. Anyway, the people who did make the cut include Tina Fey (totally deserving, but more for just generally being awesome than the Palin impersonation that rocketed her into the stratosphere), Olympic hero Michael Phelps, Rush Limbaugh (does anyone care about Rush Limbaugh anymore?), Will Smith (ditto), and Tom Cruise (ditto ditto; people are more interested in his kid). To further prove how out of touch Babs is, Miley Cyrus also made the list, when we are clearly now living under a Jonas Brothers regime. Walters won’t reveal the identity of the most fascinating person until the end of the show. It better not be that stupid pregnant man again.
“Boston Legal”
Monday 10pm, ABC
After five seasons and 20 (count ’em, 20!) regular cast members, David E. Kelley’s last surviving courtroom drama calls it a day. “Boston Legal” had a good run, especially if you consider that it was a continuation of the eight-season “The Practice.” Tonight we learn the fate of the law firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt, and see David Spader’s Alan Shore and William Shatner’s Denny Crane ride off into the sunset. (I bet every lead male actor in a TV series is breathing a sigh of relief, since those two typically hog up spots on the Emmy shortlist come September.) Wackiness will surely ensue before the credits roll.
