1) “A Home for the Holidays,” 9:30 p.m., CBS (but 9 p.m. PT). There’s music starpower here, with Justin Bieber (shown here), Alessia Cara, Darren Criss and Kane Brown. And between songs, there are true stories of adoptions. We’ll meet a UCLA freshman who was in nine foster homes in her first 12 years. And a former adoptee who now has an adoptive son. And a family that had three biological siblings, then adopted a boy and his baby sister. We’ll also see a girl’s adoption being finalized.
2) “National Christmas Tree Lighting,” 8:30 p.m., CBS (8 p.m.PT). For the first time, the tree in Washington, D.C., gets the same TV attention as the Rockefeller Center one in New York. The actual lighting was Thursday, but now we see it with LL Cool J introducing lots of music. That includes country stars Chris Stapleton and Maren Morris, plus H.E.R., Billy Porter, Kristin Chenoweth, Keb’ Mo’, Patti LaBelle, the Howard Gospel Choir and an Army band.
3) “Yellowstone,” 8 p.m., Paramount Network, repeating at 9:07. Two weeks from now, Kevin Costner’s show will wrap up its short season … on the same day that a prequel debuts on the Paramount+ streamer. First, you can catch up: At 2:40 p.m., this season’s previous five episodes rerun.
4) “Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday,” 8-10 p.m., Hallmark. Think of this as a Christmas mini-series – two movies, with real-life sisters (Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Ashley Williams) playing sisters. One is a widowed mom who has a Salt Lake City restaurant; tonight, she visits the other in their home town … where their late uncle’s theater is closing. Next week, they go to the city.
5) “Dexter: New Blood,” 9 p.m., Showtime. To his high school classmates, Harrison is a hero; he stopped a friend from killing theit classmates. But Dexter (Harrison’s dad) – who was a crime-scene expert AND a serial killer in his old life – suspects the truth: The kid has inherited his dad’s dark side. Now – against the advice of the late sister he keeps imagining – Dexter regresses. It’s a tough, sharp episode that also begins to tie in pieces from Dexter’s old Miami life.