Best-bets for Dec.27: One more look, alas, at 2021

1) “The Year: 2021,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. What kind of year has it been? Well, the Capitol was breached, chaos ensued(shown here), people were killed and maimed … and that was in the first week. Later, unemployment plunged, inflation climbed, COVID was stifled and then rebounded. Two giant recovery bills passed and a third stalled. Robin Roberts hosts this overview, which has ABC News people plus pop-culture figures, from country music’s Jimmie Allen to “Love Island” narrator Matthew Hoffman. Read more…

1) “The Year: 2021,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. What kind of year has it been? Well, the Capitol was breached, chaos ensued(shown here), people were killed and maimed … and that was in the first week. Later, unemployment plunged, inflation climbed, COVID was stifled and then rebounded. Two giant recovery bills passed and a third stalled. Robin Roberts hosts this overview, which has ABC News people plus pop-culture figures, from country music’s Jimmie Allen to “Love Island” narrator Matthew Hoffman.

2) “That’s My Jam” debut, 10 p.m., NBC. Officially, this show arrives next week, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting lots of brash, breezy musical games. First, however, here’s an advance episode with “Voice” judges: Blake Shelton and Ariana Grande face Kelly Clarkson and John Legend … with, at first, one of the teams failing to push the answer button. Leading into that at 8 p.m. is “Trolls” (2016), an animated film filled with music stars, including Shelton’s wife Gwen Stefani.

3) “9-1-1: Lone Star,” 9 p.m., Fox. The new season starts next week with a sweeping change: A multi-episode saga has a blizzard encasing Texas, while one of the guys has become a hermit. For now, we can catch last season’s second-to-last episode, with Owen (Rob Lowe) helping Tommy (Gina Torres) with a personal emergency. That follows a “9-1-1” rerun, with a truck plowing into a parade.

4) Football, ESPN. It’s a makeshift tripleheader – two bowl games early and the pros at night. The Quick Lane Bowl (11 a.m. ET) has Nevada (8-4) and Western Michigan (7-5), under a dome in Detroit; the Military Bowl (2:30) has Boston (6-6) and East Carolina (7-5). At 8:15, the Saints host the Dolphins.

5) “NCIS: Hawaii,” 10 p.m., CBS. In a fairly good rerun, a recruiter has been killed after trying to help troubled youths. You’ll grumble at how easily Kai infiltrates a surfing gang; the story, however, does have some surprise twists.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *