HBO’s unsettling documentary Baby God debuts

By Allison Shoemaker | December 2, 2020 | 6:00am

TV Lists What's On Tonight

HBO’s unsettling documentary Baby God debuts

Screenshot: HBO via YouTube

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Wednesday, December 2. All times are Eastern.

Top pick

Baby God (HBO, 9 p.m., premiere): “A sobering tale of medical hubris and the doctor/father/God complex of patriarchal medicine, Baby God tells the story of Dr. Quincy Fortier, who impregnated hundreds of women without their knowledge or consent over several decades as a fertility specialist in Las Vegas. Women would come to him for help getting pregnant, and would get results—but until the advent of DNA testing, what no one knew was that Fortier was inseminating these women with his own sperm. It’s a shocking violation, and an extremely intimate one: How can you put what’s essentially an act of sexual abuse behind you, when your abuser’s DNA is forever commingled with yours?” Read the rest of Katie Rife’s review of Baby God and four other recent HBO true crime documentaries.

Regular coverage

The Masked Singer (Fox, 8 p.m., two-hour episode): Keep an eye out for our news coverage, as well as Angelica Cataldo’s coverage (created with some help from her dad).

Holiday stuff

Christmas In Rockefeller Center (NBC, 8 p.m.) and Christmas Spectacular Starring The Radio City Rockettes (NBC, 10p.m.): A giant tree that was once home to a teeny tiny owl, two morning show hosts, and the Radio City Rockettes all join forces to imbue network television with some holiday cheer.

Wild card

Ari Eldjárn: Pardon My Icelandic (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., premiere): This is the kind of specificity one loves to see in one’s comedy specials.

Alien Worlds (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., complete first season): Sophie Okonedo’s incredibly soothing voice narrates this speculative docuseries, which uses laws of nature on earth to imagine life on other planets.