What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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December 10 - 16, 2017 WHATS UP! T5 BY ANDREW WARREN TV Media Sounds like Christmas: Whether it's soulful croons or twangy tunes that get your head nodding and your foot tapping, it's almost certain that there's a musical Christmas special out there putting a spin on the holiday classics that can get you humming along. Well, Gwen Stefani's just the latest in a long line of musical stars to embrace the holiday season with her very own fes- tive television special. NBC presents "Gwen Stefani's You Make It Feel Like Christmas," Tuesday, Dec. 12, with the star belting out tunes from her new Christmas album, welcoming a slew of special guests and even mixing in some comedy sketch- es to lighten up the longer nights of this time of year. In the special, Stefani mixes holiday classics, including "Jin- gle Bells," "Santa Baby" and "Si- lent Night," in with some of the original pieces from her new Christmas album, "You Make It Feel Like Christmas," which was released in October and debuted in the top spot on Bill- board's Holiday Album chart. Stefani herself is a three-time Grammy winner with an im- pressive vocal range that's wowed audiences worldwide, first during her time as the lead singer of pop-rock band No Doubt, which achieved huge success in the 1990s, and later with her impressive solo career. She's welcoming her boy- friend, country music superstar and five-time "The Voice" win- ning coach Blake Shelton, for a special duet from her new al- bum. Other guests stopping by include Ken Jeong ("Communi- ty"), Chelsea Handler ("Chel- sea Lately"), Seth MacFarlane ("The Orville") and R&B artist Ne-Yo ("World of Dance"). "Christmas is one of my fa- vorite times of the year," Stefani said in a statement announcing the special. "I am excited to share my new holiday album with everyone and the joy of this holiday season. I look for- ward to giving audiences a peek into our family's favorite Christmas traditions and en- joying some of the music, old and new, that makes the holiday so special." Further frontiers: Looks like Seth MacFarlane's take on the final frontier isn't so final after all. "The Orville," the sci- ence-fiction series created by and starring the "Family Guy" creator, has had its mission ex- tended with a second-season renewal already engaged by Fox. MacFarlane stars as the new- ly appointed captain of an ex- ploratory ship — the Orville of the title — with an eclectic crew serving under him, in- cluding his ex-wife Kelly Gray- son (Adrianne Palicki, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."). Actors Scott Grimes ("ER"), Penny Johnson Jerald ("24"), Peter Macon ("Shameless") and Halston Sage ("How to Rock") round out the crew of intrepid inter- stellar explorers. That "The Orville" has been renewed so early in the TV season shouldn't come as a surprise. Although the series was met with lukewarm recep- tion from critics, it's per- formed much better with audi- ences, holding its own and consistently drawing in an im- pressive number of eyes to its competitive Thursday night time-slot. Best known for his animated comedies, including "Family Guy" and "American Dad!," MacFarlane has taken a more serious tone with "The Or- ville." Although it's not without its lighthearted moments, the comedy-drama tends to lean further to the drama side of things — a fitting place for the series that's meant to be an homage to the original "Star Trek" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Staying power: Don't wor- ry, Kardashian fans — the reali- ty TV family isn't going any- where any time soon. The "Keeping Up with the Kar- dashians" gang has signed a new deal with cable channel E! to keep its hit series running through at least 2020. The series, which is pro- duced by "Live with Kelly and Ryan" host Ryan Seacrest, is in the midst of its 14th season and recently celebrated its 200th episode. Its main focus is on the lives of the three Kardashian sisters — Kim, Kourtney and Khloé — as well as their broth- er, half-sisters and parents. Fans will be happy that the show is sticking around, and there sure are lots of them. De- spite both the show and the family being frequently skew- ered by late-night comedians, the Kardashians have built up quite the reality TV empire on E!. "Keeping Up" has expanded from the shorter half-hour for- mat of its first six seasons to filling a full hour these days, and an impressive number of spinoffs have launched over the years as well, including "Kourt- ney and Kim Take Miami" and "Life of Kylie." AFTER AFTERNOON ANNUAL BED TIME BEFORE CLOCK DAY DELAY EARLY EPOCH ERA EVENING FORTNIGHT FUTURE HOUR HOURGLASS JIFFY LATE MINUTE MOMENT MONTH NOON NOW O'CLOCK PAST PREMATURE SEASON SECOND SOON SUNDIAL SUNSET TARDY TEMPO THEN TODAY TOMORROW TONIGHT WATCH WEEK YEAR Time Gwen Stefani hosts "Gwen Stefani's You Make It Feel Like Christmas" WORD SEARCH STARS ON SCREEN Solution on page T23