ABC Bumps ‘The Good Doctor’ for CMA Country Christmas on Monday Night

ABC is airing the country music special CMA Country Christmas Monday night, which bumped The Good Doctor off the schedule. The Great Christmas Light Fight will air in place of Freddie Highmore‘s show, which aired its midseason finale last week.

The Country Music Association’s special Christmas concert begins at 8 p.m. ET and is hosted by Reba McEntire. The special includes performances from Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Dan + Shay, Brett Eldredge, Amy Grant, Dustin Lynch, Martina McBride, Old Dominion, Brad Paisley, Lindsey Stirling, The Isaacs, Brett Young and Michael W. Smith. It is the ninth annual edition of the holiday music special and McEntire is hosting for the second consecutive year.

“I’ve always cherished celebrating Christmas alongside family and friends, taking time to reflect on the season,” McEntire said of hosting the special, reports Taste of Country. “I’m so excited CMA invited me back to host their show and am looking forward to some fun singing carols with my friends.”

McEntire was also part of this year’s Kennedy Center Honors class on Dec. 2. Singer Cher, composer Philip Glass, jazz legend Wayne Shorter and the creators of Hamilton were also honored during the ceremony, which will air on Wednesday, Dec. 26 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

After the CMA special, ABC will air a new episode of The Great Christmas Light Fight, a reality series featuring families showing off elaborate Christmas displays.

Last week’s episode of The Good Doctor, “Quarantine,” ended with a long list of cliffhangers. Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang) contracted a fatal disease, and it is not clear if she survived or not. Dr. Shaun Murphy’s (Highmore) mentor Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) learned his brain cancer has returned.

Dr. Neil Melendenz (Nicholas Gonzalez) was also trying to revive a leukemia patient who signed a do-not-resuscitate order because the patient’s donor is stuck in the quarantined emergency room. It is also not clear if Shaun could handle the pressure of being in that emergency room with dozens of patients who need his help.

“In the next episode, it’s all about how does it get fixed, if it gets fixed, who else gets infected, if anybody at all,” Chang told Entertainment Tonight. “You have to remember we left off with a waiting room full of people who are worried that they’ve been infected because they got thrown up on, Alex’s son is having breathing problems; does Lim make it? How do they help any other upcoming issues that might come up? It’s very exciting.”

The Good Doctor finally returns on Monday, Jan. 14 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: ABC