1) “My Gift,” any time, HBO Max. Here’s the consummate Christmas special – no gimmicks, no distractions, no commercials, just a great singer. Carrie Underwood (shown here) has shown her religious passion with “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Something In the Water” (both included here), but she hadn’t done a Christmas album until this year. She soars in the classics (“O Holy Night,” “Silent Night,” etc.) and links beautifully with John Legend on his “Hallelujah” and with her son, 5, on “Little Drummer Boy.”
2) “The Unicorn,” 9:30 p.m. CBS. This starts with Forrest handing out small presents at a party. When he gives a water gun to Ben’s son, he’s soon chastised: For a Black boy, even a toy gun can lead to trouble with the police. What follows is a well-meaning episode, flawed by the fact that Forrest is a poorly drawn character, mostly a one-dimensional oaf. Still, this does make the point that “Black-ish” often does: Even in middle-income suburbia, Blacks must worry about subtle biases.
3) “B Positive,” 8:30, CBS. After pausing for Thanksgiving-night reruns, this terrific new comedy has a fresh episode. Tonight, Drew goes through a tough divorce mediation; Gina – the ex-classmate he barely knew before she agreed to donate a kidney – has a surprise to boost his spirits.
4) “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 9 p.m., NBC. The team searches for a college student who disappeared during the COVID crisis. This hour has been the only constant in tonight’s NBC line-up. At one point, a football game was moved to Tuesday – bouncing “The Voice” and “Transplant” to tonight. Then the game was moved yet again and those shows retreated to Tuesday.
5) “iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Greatest Moments,” 8 p.m., CW. This mini-network is busy reminiscing about pre-COVID days. Today, it has an hour of clips from 25 previous Jingle Balls, including Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Lizzo and more; on Friday, it has two hours of past Hollywood Christmas parades. A new “Jingle Ball” (Dec. 14) will have at-home music.