Listmania!

It is December 2nd, and I officially have lists EVERYWHERE. I have always been a huge lover of lists. I make lists for the store, lists of daily tasks, lists of items to pack for a trip, lists of songs I hear at work and want to download later, lists of Bare Escentuals eye shadow colors I hope to own... I even make lists of what I need to make lists of! Today I made a list of holiday lists I need to make. It looked something like this:

- Christmas card list

- Christmas gifts to be shipped list

- Christmas gifts to be hand-delivered list

- Holiday budget list

- Gifts for co-workers list

- Baking supplies list

- Recipients of homemade cookie trays list

- Holiday tasks planned for days off between now and December 23rd list

In light of all of these exciting holiday tasks to accomplish, how could I neglect my favorite list of all? The list I could *never* live without - my DVR's To-Do List.

Every Sunday, I sit down and scroll through my DirecTV guide for the upcoming 7 days. Never technology-wise, I do not trust myself with my DVR presets, and live in constant fear that a Tim Gunn's Guide to Style Marathon could potentially overlap the season finale of ER, or some other comparable fiasco. Instead, I use myself as the quality assurance DVR scheduler, checking all days and times on my top favorite channels (FOX, NBC, CW, Bravo, VH1...), ensuring no overlap, checking that shows that always run over their allotted time (I can never believe that "The Hills" editors are unable to get that shit down to 28 minutes!) are scheduled into the next hour block, and so on.

In the spirit of the season, networks and cable channels alike are running Christmas specials all over the place this week. In scrolling through, I chose to record some and skip others. Here is what my DVR is set to record this week, along with some substitutions you may want to make for yourself and your viewing preferences. I kept it to prime time only, for the sake of time (and blogger web space). Unfortunately, my post is a bit late for you to catch Monday's programming, but if you missed Gossip Girl, it replays on Friday nights usually. You also missed 'Inside the Actor's Studio: Daniel Radcliffe', but I'm sure that will be shown again when the new HP movie starts getting promoted heavily.

Tuesday 12/2:

8pm: 'Biggest Loser: Families', NBC. I am 3 weeks behind on watching this show, and disappointed in this season's vindictive and mean-spirited contestants (I wish Heba and Vicki would just eat each other!). This week is MAKEOVER WEEK, and the contestants' new looks will be revealed on the scum of daytime talk shows, Tyra. I'm sure Tyra will find some way to make this episode about her.

8pm: '90210', CW. It's a repeat, but a good one! Watch as Naomi takes the fall for Adriana's lipstick full of coke.

8pm: 'Santa Claus is Comin' to Town', ABC. I skipped this on my DVR. Is this the one with the HeatMiser?

10pm: 'The Real Housewives of Orange County', Bravo. Back to the OC wives, who do it right! Looking forward to some great drama this season. Tonight, Vicki's husband threatens to leave her when she wants to buy a yacht. Maybe he is looking for a huge alimony...?

10pm: 'Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel', truTV. I have not yet tuned in to this series, but I am going to watch the new ep tonight and might invest some weekend time in a marathon. It looks a lot like intervention meets Dr. Drew. Will report back. (Due to programming constraints, my DVR is set to record the 11pm run of this new ep).

10pm: 'Ace of Cakes', FoodNetwork. If you haven't watched this show in EIGHT MONTHS, it's new to you! When will Duff and the gang start filming again?!

10:30pm: 'Sports Soup', VS. 'The Soup' (E!) meets this week's sports highlights. Best of both worlds. I *love* this show.

Wednesday, 12/3:

7pm: 'Center Stage: Turn it Up', Oxygen. Natch, this is saved on my DVR already, but if you missed it, get it now! Peter Gallagher is back and Cooper Nielson still can't act.

8pm: 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer', CBS. I watch this classic every year. Love that Abominable Snowman!

8pm: 'Christmas From Rockefeller Center', NBC. The 76th annual lighting of the biggest tree in the nation! Performances include (but are not limited to) Miley, Beyonce, Tony Bennett, Faith Hill, and Rascal Flatts. Stephen Colbert also makes an appearance! (but so does Rosie O'Donnell...)

9pm: 'Grammy Nominations Concert: Countdown to Music's Biggest Night', CBS. A concert featuring the nominees, with co-hosts Taylor Swift and... ready? Ready? LL COOL J. 2 great tastes that taste great together?

9:30pm: 'Throwdown with Bobby Flay', FoodNetwork. Bobby takes on gingerbread in this holiday-themed ep!

10pm: 'A Christmas Story', TNT. It's just not the same if you watch it on DVD. Something about the commercial breaks, maybe? Reminisce with the RedRyder, the flagpole, the snowsuits, the joy of it all!

10pm: 'Top Chef', Bravo. My favorite show on TV right now. Shout out to Denison alum Chris Homlish, Field Producer! You go, Hom!

Thursday, 12/4:

8pm: 'Ugly Betty', ABC. More laughs ensue as Betty and Amanda get into some (un?)predictable hi-jinks.

8pm: 'The Polar Express', Disney Channel. I have not yet seen this, but I think it will be a good holiday view.

8pm: 'Disney Holiday Magic with Samantha Brown', TravelChannel. Samantha shows us Mickey's Magical Christmas Parade and other fun things to do at Disney.

9pm: 'Grey's Anatomy', ABC. Cristina gets the solo surgery, and Callie is *still* a lesbian. Look for more surprising twists!

9pm: 'The Office', NBC. The Scranton branch discovers a huge cash surplus and debates the best way to spend it. I laughed just reading the ep descrip!

9pm: 'The Princess Bride', Bravo. I'm not recording, but you should, if you haven't seen this gem in a while.

10pm: 'ER', NBC. Another show I am 3 weeks behind on. I have no idea what will be happening this week, and I probably won't know until about February.

10pm: 'Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008', ABC. Cyrus! Phelps! Palin! And I hear Tina Fey talks about how she got that scar on her mouth. Number one will be announced on the show.

11:30pm: 'Larry the Cable Guy's Star-Studded Christmas Extravaganza', CMT. Deane assures me this special will be worth the 90 minutes allotted on our DVR memory. I'll report back.

Ok, there it is, folks. I'm stopping before Friday, even. This took forever! I am sure I left out quite a bit (I didn't even *touch* premium movie channels), but please feel free to share when your favorite holiday special is airing this season. Enjoy your viewing!