ICYMI: Biggest TV news of November 2019

By Wonderwall.com Editors 9:00am PST, Nov 26, 2019

"Dancing With the Stars" announces winner

"Dancing With the Stars" announced its season 28 winner on Nov. 25: "The Bachelorette" star Hannah Brown and her pro partner Alan Bersten took home the Mirrorball Trophy after beating out stars Lauren Alaina, Ally Brooke and Kel Mitchell on the finale.

"Fuller House" cast bids farewell to series

The stars of "Fuller House" took to social media to say goodbye to the Netflix sitcom after shooting the final episode of the rebooted series on Nov. 15. "Sad day. Shooting final episode of @fullerhouse," John Stamos tweeted before sharing an Instagram slideshow of photos of himself and his co-stars. "The end of an era…again. Last night was final taping of @FullerHouse," he wrote in the caption. Jodie Sweetin, meanwhile, captioned an on-set selfie, "This couch. This show. This family. I will miss this with all my heart." Bob Saget posted a photo of Jodie, Candace Cameron Bure and Andrea Barber looking emotional while sharing a group hug. "After the final ever episode of the 5th season of 'Fuller House,'" he captioned the sweet shot. "So proud of the incredible work, love, and deep friendship of Candace, Jodie, and Andrea who made 'Fuller House' such a special show for so many. Here's to five wonderful years full of love and laughter, and more love. These are three incredible and talented women. I love them all so much."

Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle bring lots of drama to "The View"

What happened when Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle appeared on "The View" on November? Fireworks, that's what. The couple sat down on the ABC show on Nov. 7 and it only took minutes before things got heated. Drama erupted when the president's son attempted to defend his father after host Joy Behar brought up some of Donald Trump's past bad behavior, with Don Jr. calling out Joy for "bringing the discourse down" too, claiming she wore blackface when she was younger and that a decade ago, host Whoopi Goldberg minimized filmmaker Roman Polanski's sex crimes. Host Abby Huntsman took issue with Don for re-tweeting an article promoting the alleged identity of the whistleblower whose concerns about President Trump's behavior with Ukraine's leader sparked an impeachment inquiry. The Trump scion hit back by lamenting that there wasn't equal outrage over his family receiving white powder in the mail. When asked by host Meghan McCain if the pain his family has caused people made Don feel good, he said, "I don't think any of that makes me feel good, but I do think that we got into this because we wanted to do what's right for America."

James Van Der Beek cut from "Dancing With the Stars" in wake of wife's miscarriage

After the judges saved Ally Brooke over James Van Der Beek on the Nov. 18 episode of "Dancing With the Stars," the Fifth Harmony singer asked if she could bow out of the following week's finale so that the actor could compete for the Mirrorball Trophy instead — which isn't allowed. James — who announced during the semi-finals that his wife had just suffered a miscarriage — wouldn't have allowed it either, Ally told People magazine following an emotional elimination ceremony. "He was just like, 'I can't accept that,' and 'It's very, very kind,' and he said, 'Just enjoy it,'" she recalled. "I talked to him afterward as well and I tried to offer again … and he was just like, 'No, please, you just enjoy it and you shine and don't be afraid to shine.' [Those] are the exact words he told me. … He's just one of the most magnificent, unbelievable people I've ever met in my life."

Get ready for "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City"

During a Nov. 16 BravoCon panel, network exec Andy Cohen announced that the "Real Housewives" franchise is expanding to Salt Lake City. "We are very excited to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, for 'The Real Housewives of SLC,'" he said. "We didn't see it coming, but I have to tell you, in Utah, you've got the majesty of the mountains, you've got the majesty of the Mormon religion, you've got an exclusive community of people who have very successful businesses who live in their own universe." Social media has been abuzz about who will be joining the new franchise, but for now, Andy's remained mum.

"America's Got Talent" is losing its female judges

On Nov. 22, Variety reported that Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough were leaving "America's Got Talent" ahead of season 15 after both serving just one season on the judges' panel. The same report claimed that the show's male judges, Simon Cowell (who's also an executive producer on the show) and Howie Mandel — as well as host Terry Crews — are expected to remain on "AGT."

Kelsey Grammer says "Frasier" revival could start filming next spring

It looks like "Frasier" is coming back! Kelsey Grammer confirmed in an interview on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger" posted on Nov. 6 that a reboot of his beloved sitcom could start filming as early as next spring, with the show airing in late summer 2020. "We've hatched the plan, what we think is the right way to go. We're sort of on standby a little bit working on a couple of possible network deals that we're circling," he said. "But a revisit to Frasier's world is, I think, definitely going to come."

El Chapo's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, joins VH1's "Cartel Crew"

Less than a year after her husband, drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, was sentenced to life in prison, Emma Coronel Aispuro signed on for a new gig — to appear on VH1's reality TV show "Cartel Crew." Her first episode aired on Nov. 18.

"Jeopardy!" contestant almost makes Alex Trebek cry mid-show

On the Nov. 11 episode of "Jeopardy!," contestant Dhruv Gaur almost brought host Alex Trebek to tears. The contestant didn't know the answer in final jeopardy, so he instead wrote "We [heart] you Alex!" The veteran game show host, who's fighting pancreatic cancer, got choked up, saying, "That's very kind of you, thank you. It cost you $1,995. You're left with $5." Speaking of good "Jeopardy!" stories…

"Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time" is coming to primetime in January

ABC announced on Nov. 18 that the three biggest winners in "Jeopardy!" history — Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer — will face off on "Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time" on primetime in early 2020. The multi-night event, which kicks off on Jan. 7, will see the gameshow superstars competing in a series of matches. The first competitor to win three will take home $1 million — as well as priceless bragging rights!

"This Is Us" star Justin Hartley files for divorce

On Nov. 22, "This Is Us" star Justin Hartley shocked fans when he filed to divorce his wife of two years, actress-turned-realtor Chrishell Stause. People magazine reported that he cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split and listed their date of separation as July 8, 2019 — which raised eyebrows as he and Chrishell, who dated for four years before marrying in 2017, attended multiple big events together after that including the Emmys.

Carrie Ann Inaba calls Sean Spicer's run on "DWTS" frustrating

While legions of viewers might have loved competitor Sean Spicer, one judge on "Dancing With the Stars" didn't think he deserved to be on the show for as long as he lasted. "My reaction to Sean being saved, it's frustrating," Carrie Ann Inaba told Us Weekly early in November. "There are really great dancers being sent home, but that is part of our show. It's always been the audience and the judges' perspective. So I'm not — I can't be mad at it, but it's frustrating." Despite the former White House press secretary receiving the lowest scores from judges, the TV audience sent home actress Kate Flannery on Nov. 4. But he wasn't around for much longer…

Sean Spicer relieved to be eliminated from "Dancing With the Stars"

Fan favorite Sean Spicer was finally eliminated from "Dancing With the Stars" on Nov. 11. "The judges made the right decision on a night where you had two dances," Sean said after he was voted off the hit show. "The scores were going to be very difficult to overcome. There's been a tremendous amount of support that's kept me out of the bottom two the last nine weeks and I've truly been humbled by how many people have taken time out of their Monday nights to keep me going."

"Days of our Lives" cast coming back for season 56 after contracts are canceled

On Nov. 12, news broke revealing that every single contract for the cast of "Days of our Lives" had been canceled and that the show would go into production hiatus at the end of November. However, star Kristian Alfonso took to Twitter to refute that, saying, "Today is Tuesday, November 12th, and we are still here and we are not going anywhere. You heard it here first, folks. Don't listen to the news, always — especially that report." She was right: On Nov. 21, Entertainment Weekly reported that a production executive had confirmed to the cast that a renewal was happening and that season 56 of the daytime soap opera would start production in January 2020.

Emilia Clarke felt pressured to do nude scenes on "Game of Thrones"

On the Nov. 18 episode of Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, Emilia Clarke revealed that in her early days on "Game of Thrones," she felt pressured to shoot nude scenes. "I'd come fresh from drama school, and I approached [it] as a job — if it's in the script, then it's clearly needed. This is what this is and I'm gonna make sense of it," she said. "I'm floating through this first season, and I have no idea what I'm doing; I have no idea what any of this is. … I've never been on a film set like this before — I'd been on a film set twice before then — and I'm now on a film set completely naked with all of these people, and I don't know what I'm meant to do, and I don't know what's expected of me, and I don't know what you want, and I don't know what I want. Regardless of there being nudity or not, I would have spent that first season thinking I'm not worthy of requiring anything, I'm not worthy of needing anything at all." Ultimately, it was on-screen love Jason Momoa who encouraged her to speak up about the times she felt uncomfortable on set. "I'm a lot savvier with what I'm comfortable with and what I am OK with doing [now]," said the four-time Emmy nominee. "I've had fights on set before where I'm like, 'No, the sheet stays up,' and they're like, 'You don't wanna disappoint your 'Game of Thrones' fans.' And I'm like, 'F— you.'"

Jason Mitchell opens up about his "The Chi" firing

A couple of months after his high-profile exit from "The Chi" in the wake of alleged sexual misconduct, Jason Mitchell finally shared what he thinks happened. "[Season 2 showrunner Ayanna Floyd Davis] had a lot to say, but she was the only person that ever made a statement at all," he explained in a Nov. 4 interview with "The Breakfast Club." "I'm all for the #MeToo movement, but I think in this situation Ayanna tried to use it as a really, really ugly weapon." Jason claimed that he was actually fired because "I was asking for money" and new owner Disney "decided not to pick up my option."