— A hybrid of older shows, can "Flirty Dancing" (8 p.m. Sunday, Fox, TV-PG) become the next reality TV sensation? What if "Dancing With the Stars" doubled as a dating show, and its performances were really "first dates" set to music?
It seems like a nice idea, until you think about it. Then the magic tends to evaporate. The participants are matched with two different partners and asked to perform a highly choreographed routine with two potential love interests.
Do they rehearse separately? If so, how can their performances seem slick enough to pass muster for viewers? If they prepared together beforehand, how can these be considered "first" dates?
"Flirty Dancing" may be a mashup of two reality shows, but the phoniness factor seems to have multiplied exponentially.
— Also debuting Sunday, the drama/mystery "Dare Me" (10 p.m., USA, TV-14) is set in the pressure-cooker world of competitive high school cheerleading. The series opens with Addy (Herizen Guardiola) reflecting on her intense relationship with the team’s new coach, Collette French (Willa Fitzgerald).
At this point, it’s clear that something dreadful has just occurred. Then we flash back to the week of the coach’s arrival in Addy’s small, isolated town. It’s a place where football players and cheerleaders mingle in the parking lot of a dead mall out of lack of anything better to do. Marlo Kelly stars as Beth Cassidy, Addy’s best friend and the queen bee of the pep squad. At least until Coach French’s arrival.
Based on a novel by Megan Abbott, "Dare Me" deserves some credit for its evocation of high school madness and the boredom that can fester in a world with few outlets or options. But it exhibits an almost laughable reliance on techniques that used to be associated with soft-porn exploitation movies. It takes about five minutes for the cameras to follow the girls into the locker room for suggestive shower scenes.
What year is this, anyway?
— "The Faces of Family Separation" (10 p.m. Saturday, CBS) follows those impacted by the zero-tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border. In this co-production with CBS’s digital news platform CBSN, "Faces" correspondent Manuel Bojorquez was embedded with four families that fled the chaos of Central America’s drug violence only to find themselves detained and torn apart upon crossing the border. It also examines the lingering impact of long-term incarceration on children removed from their parents.
It’s interesting to note that "Faces" airs late on the last Saturday of the year, a rare hour of hard news on a network prime-time schedule that is not dedicated to kidnapped blond teenagers or new examinations of the Laci Peterson saga.
— An infertile couple thinks their prayers have been answered when a UFO crash-lands containing a bundle of joy in the 2019 shocker "Brightburn" (8 p.m. Saturday, Starz). Only in this horror variation on the Superman origin myth, the mysterious child grows up to be anything but Clark Kent.
— A stalker shifts focus from a movie star to his new love interest in the 2019 shocker "Deadly Hollywood Obsession" (8 p.m. Saturday, Lifetime, TV-14). It’s so nice to see Lifetime get back to normal after a season of saccharine movies.
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Stars re-enact episodes of classics from the 1970s on "Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family and Good Times" (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-14).
— Clemson and Ohio State meet in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl (8 p.m., ESPN).
— A tour guide falls for a busy executive in the 2019 romance "Christmas in Rome" (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Scheduled on "60 Minutes" (7:00 p.m., CBS): a possible gene therapy for sickle cell anemia; using psychedelic drugs to treat depression and anxiety; a medical school goes tuition-free.
— The Seahawks and 49ers meet in NFL football action (8:15 p.m., NBC).
— Mickey gets the lowdown on the heist on "Ray Donovan" (8 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
— "Masterpiece" (8 p.m., PBS, r, TV-PG, check local listings) unspools three episodes of "Victoria."
— George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell portray the title stars in their battle against Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) in the 1997 comic book adaptation "Batman & Robin" (8:30 p.m., TBS, TV-PG). Savaged by critics and disowned by its own stars, this sequel also starred Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl.
— Four professional chefs vie to ring out 2019 in a many-layered fashion on "Duff’s New Year’s Eve Cake-Off" (9 p.m., Food, TV-G).
— "The Weekly" (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA) focuses on the Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher and interviews his fellow SEALs on the war-crimes charges against him that sparked a clash between the Navy and the president.
CULT CHOICE
— A Depression-era housewife (Mia Farrow) falls in love with a screen idol (Jeff Daniels) to escape her abusive husband (Danny Aiello) in the 1985 comedy "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (2:15 p.m. Sunday, TCM, TV-14). Aiello died on Dec. 12.
SATURDAY SERIES
Kolcheck evades capture on "NCIS: Los Angeles" (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … Two hours of "Dateline" (8 p.m., NBC) … The lawsuit proceeds on "9-1-1" (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … The team faces eviction on "S.W.A.T." (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … The takeover means new rules on "The Resident" (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14).
A vintage helping of "Saturday Night Live" (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
SUNDAY SERIES
"Football Night in America" (7 p.m., NBC, TV-14) recaps the day’s action … On two helpings of "The Unicorn" (CBS, r, TV-PG): Wade finds himself attached (8:30 p.m.); Wade joins a support group (9 p.m.) … Tiffany Hadish hosts "Kids Say the Darndest Things" (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … Waiting for yesterday’s hero on "Batwoman" (8 p.m., CW, r, TV-14).
On two helpings of "Carol’s Second Act" (CBS, r, TV-PG): inconclusive tests (9:30 p.m.); a run-of-the-mill diagnosis proves anything but (10 p.m.) … Balancing the bills on "Bless the Harts" (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14).
On two helpings of "Shark Tank" (ABC, r, TV-PG), eco-friendly cleansers (9 p.m.), light therapy (10 p.m.) … Kara faces scrutiny on "Supergirl" (9 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG) … Lois joins the declutter craze on "Family Guy" (9:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … A prosecutor becomes a judge on "All Rise" (10:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG).
