‘Golden Bachelor’s Final Rose, Chuck Lorre’s ‘Bookie,’ ‘Family Switch’ and ‘Obliterated’ on Netflix, Grinch Strikes Again

Gerry Turner, ABC’s Golden Bachelor, chooses between Leslie and Theresa in the season finale. Chuck Lorre brings his darkly comic sensibilities to the antics of an embattled L.A. bookie played by Sebastian Maniscalco. Netflix goes Freaky Friday with an entire family in the comedy Family Switch, and aims for adults in the raunchy action comedy Obliterated. The Grinch once again targets Whoville in a replay of the 1966 Chuck Jones animated classic.

Gerry and Leslie on Golden Bachelor
Disney/John Fleenor

The Golden Bachelor

Season Finale

Gerry Turner is one emotional guy. Wearing his heart on his sleeve throughout this inaugural season of the more mature Bachelor spinoff, the 72-year-old Indiana widower has anguished every time he’s sent a woman away without a rose. “The only time I’ve felt worse in my whole life was when my wife passed away, and this is a close second,” Gerry says in a trailer for the two-hour finale, where he’ll presumably choose between the last two ladies who joined him in Costa Rica. Will it be Theresa, 69, the upbeat financial services pro from New Jersey? Or Leslie, 64, the saucy fitness instructor from Minneapolis? While there must be a better way to find a soulmate late in life, Golden Bachelor has provided a welcome respite from the fame-seeking hot bodies of Bachelor Nation. (And what are the chances whoever doesn’t get the final rose will become the Golden Bachelorette? And for Leslie in particular, there’s always Dancing with the Stars looking for golden-age talent.)

SEbastian Maniscalco, Kerris Dorsey-'Bookie'
Max

Bookie

Series Premiere

Chuck Lorre’s (Mom, Two and a Half Men) sardonic style is on bold display in this pungently dark comedy, co-created with Nick Bakay, about embattled L.A. bookie Danny Colavito (Sebastian Maniscalco), who takes bets from his car like a less successful version of The Lincoln Lawyer. The pilot episode (all that was made available for preview) introduces Danny on a hectic day of debt collecting that leaves him battered, bruised and possibly in deep legal jeopardy. Adding to his woes: the prospect of legalized sports gambling in California, which could bankrupt his business. The supporting cast includes Omar J. Dorsey as Ray, a former NFL player who accompanies him as muscle (“I’m mostly a visual deterrent”) and Lost’s Jorge Garcia as a former drug dealer—legalizing marijuana was his downfall—who becomes his fair-weather driver.

Brady Noon as Wyatt, Emma Myers as CC, Lincoln Alex Sykes, and Theodore Brian Sykes as Baby Miles, Jennifer Garner as Jess and Ed Helms as Bill in 'Family Switch'
Colleen Hayes/Netflix

Family Switch

Series Premiere

Fans of Freaky Friday (and even Jennifer Garner’s 13 Going on 30, which gets a shout-out) will enjoy this family comedy about the entire Walker clan experiencing a slapstick body switch, courtesy of an astrological reader (the eternal Rita Moreno). This means mom and dad (Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms) switch bodies with daughter and son (Emma Myers, Brady Noon), and even the toddler and family dog trade personalities. While the Walker work to reverse the curse, major life events confront each of the characters, who are still adjusting to their new looks, ages and attitudes.

C. Thomas Howell in 'Obliterated'
Netflix

Obliterated

Series Premiere

Most decidedly not for the family audience, this raunchy R-rated action comedy presents a 24-like ticking-clock scenario that imagines what would happen if Jack Bauer and his CTU anti-terror team had gotten wasted before knowing the world was at risk. That’s what happens when CIA agent Ava Winters (Shelley Hennig), macho team leader Chad McKnight (Nick Zano) and their colleagues (memorably including The Walking Dead’s Paola Lázaro as a lusty sniper) party into the night after defusing a nuke-bomb threat in Las Vegas. By the time they learn the bomb was a decoy and the city is still at risk, they’re in no shape to save the world. Or are they? The wacky mayhem continues over eight episodes.

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (1966)
Courtesy of Everett Collection

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

We say goodbye to November with a taste of Christmas courtesy of one of the all-time greats: Chuck Jones’ marvelous adaptation of Dr. Seuss with humor, heart and song telling the tale of the bitter Grinch (voiced by narrator Boris Karloff) who plots to rob the innocents of Whoville of their holiday happiness. Little does he know. Every time I watch—and I watch at least once a year—the Grinch’s loyal canine sidekick Max reminds me of the dachshund I grew up with. Followed by 2007’s Shrek the Halls (8:30/7:30c), a terrific holiday companion to the Shrek franchise featuring the original voices including Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots.

David Hyde Pierce as Paul Child and his twin brother in 'Julia' Season 2
Max

Julia

David Hyde Pierce does double duty in a memorable episode of the dramedy inspired by the life of French Chef Julia Child (the great Sarah Lancashire). As the Child household prepares for a visit from a Life magazine journalist, loving husband Paul (Pierce) is surprised by an unannounced visit from his twin brother Charles (also Pierce). Julia’s not the biggest fan of her husband’s peevish lookalike, but she’s got larger concerns on the work front when WGBH boss Hunter Fox (Robert Joy) ambushes the station’s biggest star with a new twist: product placement. (If you watched Apple’s Lessons in Chemistry, you’ll already know how well this goes over.)

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

ON THE STREAM:

  • Virgin River (streaming on Netflix): Season 5 of the serialized drama continues with two special holiday episodes in which Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) considers searching for her biological father while Jack (Martin Henderson) tries to grow his business amid new secrets and threats emerging in the Northern California town.
  • Wild Crime: Blood Mountain (streaming on Hulu): The third season of the Wild Crime true-crime franchise devotes four episodes to the case of Meredith Emerson, who disappeared in 2008 while hiking on Georgia’s Blood Mountain. The investigation leads to a suspect in several other disappearances, suggesting a serial killer on the loose.
  • Paris in Love (streaming on Peacock): The reality show’s second season follows Paris Hilton and her husband as they become new parents, with the socialite making headlines after publishing a shocking memoir.
  • The Kardashians (streaming on Hulu): The Season 4 finale depicts Kim dabbling in TV acting while Kourtney takes Kris and Khloé on tour to San Francisco.
  • Off Season (streaming on Topic): A six-part French thriller set in the Alps between France and Switzerland involves the search for the Edelweiss serial killer who leaves corpses on both sides of the border.