The book is closing on “Dickinson,” the Peabody Award-winning series starring Hailee Steinfeld in a reimagination of Emily Dickinson’s youth. In the series finale streaming now on Apple TV+, the poet’s work is flourishing but there’s strife in her family and across Civil War-torn America. For viewers playing catch-up on the concluding 10-episode third season, its new and returning guest stars include Ziwe as Sojourner Truth; Billy Eichner as Walt Whitman; Chloe Fineman as Sylvia Plath; Zosia Mamet as Louisa May Alcott and, as Death, Wiz Khalifa.
— Television Writer Lynn Elber
Also new this week:
• A looming figure in the “Star Wars” canon is coming into his own. “The Book of Boba Fett,” starting Wednesday, Dec. 29, on Disney+, tracks the bounty hunter and mercenary Fennec Shand as they attempt to claim Tatooine land once controlled by Jabba the Hutt and his criminal syndicate. Temuera Morrison stars as Fett opposite Ming-Na Wen’s Shand, with Jon Favreau and Robert Rodriguez among the seven-episode series’ producers and directors. A trailer offers insight into Fett’s viewpoint: Declaring he will rule with respect, he makes an offer to Jabba’s former captains that has a “The Godfather” ring to it. Episodes are out weekly on Wednesday.
— Television Writer Lynn Elber
• CBS’s New Year’s Eve telecast will have a distinctive twang to this year with the five-hour special being hosted in Nashville, Tennessee with 50 performances from country’s biggest names. Dierks Bentley, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Gabby Barrett, Kelsea Ballerini, Zac Brown Band, Miranda Lambert and more will perform on the CBS special, also airing on Paramount+. Bentley, Hunt and Zac Brown Band will co-headline a free show in Nashville’s Bicentennial Mall, while other performances will be shot at the city’s honky tonks and clubs. The show will be hosted by radio and TV personality Bobby Bones and “Entertainment Tonight” correspondent Rachel Smith.
— Entertainment Writer Kristin M. Hall
• “Around the World in 80 Days”: A new production of the Jules Verne classic adventure story stars David Tennant as explorer Phileas Fogg, who accepts a bet to attempt to circumnavigate the globe in just 80 days. The PBS Masterpiece series premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 2, on WTVS-Channel 56 in Detroit (check listings for your local PBS station). A second season is already greenlit, premiere date to be announced later.
• Richard Gere is the narrator for “Earth Emergency,” about a less-prominent aspect of climate change. According to scientists interviewed for the documentary, human-caused global warming activates a natural response from the Earth that releases further greenhouse gases — and makes the planet even hotter. Activist Greta Thunberg and the Dalai Lama are among those featured in the film, which uses illustrations, graphics and video to examine what’s termed a “crucial piece of the climate puzzle” and the urgency of addressing it. The hour-long documentary debuts Wednesday on PBS (check local stations for times) and on PBS.org.
— Television Writer Lynn Elber
• “Next Level Chef”: Gordon Ramsay’s newest cooking competition show premieres on Fox, immediately following football. Subsequent episodes will air at 9 p.m. Wednesdays beginning Jan. 5.
• “Stay Close”: This adaptation of a Harlan Coben novel, in which the lives of a photojournalist, a soccer mom and a homicide detective are disturbed by a terrible event from the past, stars Cush Jumbo, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Eddie Izzard, and Sarah Parish. All eight episodes stream Friday, Dec. 31, on Netflix.
