Day: November 30, 2021

Best-bets for Dec. 1 (out of order): a sunny, funny night

1) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (shown here) season-opener, 10 and 10:30 p.m., FXX. Most shows simply started late during the pandemic, but “Sunny” skipped all of 2020 and most of 2021. Hhere are its first new episodes in two years and 11 days. They start the 15th season – passing “Ozzie and Harriet” to become TV’s longest-lasting situation comedy (cartoons excluded). And they’re hilarious. The first tells how these guys triggered 2020’s key events; the second sees them make a micro-budget movie. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 2: Live “Annie” and holiday glitter

1) “Annie Live,” 8 p.m., NBC. The surge of live TV musicals has been a mixed blessing. Shows have ranged from great (“Grease,” “Hairspray”) to awful (“Peter Pan,” “Little Mermaid”). Now NBC plays it safe … just as it did in when it started the surge in 2013 with Carrie Underwood in “Sound of Music.” It takes a familiar show, filled with jaunty tunes, and inserts strong singers – Harry Connick (as Warbucks), Nicole Scherzinger and Megan Hilty. Celina Smith(shown here) stars, with Taraji Henson as Hannigan.

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