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A select viewing guide to the next seven days of television

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MONDAY NOVEMBER 18 Dancing with the Stars (ABC, CTV Two, 8 p.m.) Can you bear the excitement on the current edition of TV’s gaudiest reality-competition series? Still going strong in its 17th season, DWTS moves at a quicker pace than most unscripted shows, with much of the credit going to fast-talking host Tom Bergeron. Last week saw the ejection of actress Elizabeth Berkley (so much for Showgirls), which leaves Amber Riley, Corbin Bleu, Bill Engvall, Leah Remini and Jack Osbourne as the last five hoofers standing. In tonight’s semifinal, the celebs and their pro dance partner will perform to two different versions of the same song. Somebody’s going to go home, and it will probably be Bill Engvall.

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TUESDAY NOVEMBER 19 Rick Mercer Report (CBC, 8 p.m.) If even half the shows on CBC garnered the audience that Rick Mercer gets each week, our public broadcaster would be a much more profitable corporation. The Mercer formula works off the host’s likeability–look at that face, how could anyone not love him?–and his ongoing mandate to show Canada to Canadians. Tonight he’s at the Toronto Zoo to welcome the new resident pandas, Da Mao and Er Shun, and he even gets right in there with the care and feeding of the precious creatures. Bless you, Mr. Mercer.

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WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 20 Extreme Cheapskates (TLC, 8 p.m.) As the title suggests, this popular TLC series profiles people who take inordinate pride in their frugalness. Tonight’s marathon kicks off with the second-season outing that introduces us to Matt, who somehow manages to live on $300 a month toward the cause of becoming a professional wrestler. Also, meet Sarah, who works for her family’s catering business and never leaves an event without packing up leftovers for her own consumption.

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THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21 Doc Zone: The Condo Game (CBC, 9 p.m.) All that glitters is not gold in today’s condominium market. This Doc from Lionel Goddard and Helen Slinger goes behind the scenes of the Toronto condo market–the fastest-growing condo market in North America–where the boxlike domiciles sell fast and furious but the owners aren’t always thrilled. The program talks to disgruntled owners and real estate experts and posits the question: How many condos are too many?

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FRIDAY NOVEMBER 22 Where Were You? The Day JFK Died (NBC, 9 p.m.) For viewers of the half-century mark and older, today marks the 50th anniversary of one of the darkest days in modern history. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas and America mourned his passing in the weeks and years to come. This program is hosted by NBC News veteran Tom Brokaw, who was a cub reporter at a TV station in Omaha, Nebraska, at the time. The film combines archival footage with first-person accounts of the people who lived through the shock of Kennedy’s death, both in America and around the world.

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SATURDAY NOVEMBER 23 Breathless (TCM, 8 p.m. ET) Watch the film credited with kicking off the French New Wave cinema movement. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard, the 1960 film takes place on the mean streets of Paris and stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as the petty thief Michel, who models himself after the gangster film characters played by Humphrey Bogart. While stealing a car in Marseilles, Michel shoots a policeman and finds himself on the lam. With no one else to turn to, he heads to Paris and reaches out to his American semi-girlfriend Patricia (Jean Seberg), a student and journalist. You’ll never see people smoke more cigarettes in a single movie.

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SUNDAY NOVEMBER 24 The 2013 American Music Awards (ABC, CTV, 8 p.m.) Let the award season commence! The first big-ticket trophyfest happens tonight with this annual broadcast from Los Angeles, hosted this year by the pitbull-like Cuban rapper named, uh, Pitbull. The show will hand out a truckload of trophies, but people watch the AMAs to see the musical performances. The talent list taking stage turns includes Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, One Direction and Miley Cyrus, so you just know there’s going to be twerking.

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