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Primetime Picks… 11/25/19

Nov 25, 2019 Posted by in Features | Comments

Tonight Freeform kicks off the all new holiday-themed reality competition series Wrap Battle, with with two back-to-back episodes. The series finds nine contestants trying to out-wrap one another to be the first ever Wrap Battle Champion and take home the $50K prize. You read that correctly, it’s a present wrapping competition series! With Christmas just a month a way, it’s as good a time as any to get into the holiday spirit, and this show certainly has that in droves.

The competition is hosted by comedian Sheryl Underwood (The Talk), who serves as a judge, alongside Carson Kressley (RuPaul’s Drag Race, Queer Eye), and gift wrapping expert Wanda Wen (founder of fine stationery and luxury paper brand Soolip). Each episode consists of two rounds. The first round is the Swift Gift Challenge, a short 45-minute challenge, at the end of which, the winner will be given an advantage for the second round. The second round is the Big Gift Challenge, a longer 3-hour challenge that involves a much bigger effort. At the end of that round, some of the contestants will be put on the Nice List, while some others will make the Naughty List. And it will be a wrap for a contestant from the latter list, as they are sent home.

I checked out tonight’s two episodes and found the show to be a lot of fun. It’s got an eclectic mix of contestants ranging in age from 24 to 47. While some of them are professional gift wrappers, designers, entrepreneurs, and event coordinators, there’s also an insurance agent and a mom/PTA president. And if you like wrapping puns, this show is loaded with them—the contestants are often sent off to the present-tation room to display their work to the judges. Tonight’s second episode features a guest judge for one of the challenges, and I’m sure there will be more of that in later weeks as well. I’m looking forward to seeing more of this battle and what crazy tasks the contestants are given in upcoming episodes.

In tonight’s premiere, “Wrap Big or Wrap at Home”, nine talented gift wrappers compete to become the Wrap Battle Champion and win a grand prize worth $50,000. In the second episode, “Shopping Mall Wars”, wrappers team up to operate gift wrapping kiosks, each team try to out-hustle and out-wrap their competition; featuring guest judge Sherry Cola.

Tonight, I’ll also be watching/recording The Good Doctor, 9-1-1, Prodigal Son, and His Dark Materials.

For additional suggestions on what to check out tonight, including a new episode of 9-1-1, check out the If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/25/19 post at TVisMyPacifier.com.