1) “This Is Us” and “New Amsterdam, 9 and 10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. Next Tuesday (Jan. 4) is a big day for NBC: “This Is Us” starts its final season and “New Amsterdam” returns after a five-week break. First, we can catch up, watching the previous episodes. At 9 p.m., the family gathers for what’s supposed to be the wedding of Kevin and Madison (shown here in an earlier episode); there are flashbacks and surprises. At 10, Max and Helen are heading to London to start their new life; then a superbug hits the New York hospital.
2) “Black-ish,” 8-11 p.m., ABC. As this prepares to start its eighth and final season next week, it’s time to recall how good it has sometimes been. “Black-ish” has won prestigious Peabody and American Film Institute awards, plus lots of others. Now here’s the pilot film at 8 p.m., followed by key episodes: At 8:30, the “N word” appears in a talent-show song; then there’s a crisis of faith (9), a Columbus Day controversy (9:30), some hair worries (10) and plans to repeat wedding vows (10:30).
3) Holiday Bowl, 8 p.m. ET, Fox. ESPN has almost a bowl monopoly: It’s carrying 36 games, with five others going to sister networks ABC or ESPN2. That leaves only three for everyone else: On Friday, CBS has the Sun Bowl and the Barstool Sports streamer has the Arizona Bowl; today, Fox has this one in prime time: North Carolina State, 9-3 and ranked No. 18, faces UCLA, a traditional powerhouse that bounced back with an 8-4 season, after going 20-31 in the past five years.
4) More bowls, ESPN. Each game has a team that has a 6-6 record and could end up with a losing season. Auburn faces Houston (11-2, ranked No. 20) at noon ET …Louisville faces Air Force (9-3) at 3:15 … Texas Tech faces Mississippi State (7-5) at 6:45 … and West Virginia faces Minnesota (8-4) at 10:15.
5) And more: NBC reruns the second episodes of two comedies that will get regular spots next week. It’s a good “American Auto” at 8 p.m. and a so-so “Grand Tour” at 8:30. Also at 8, CW looks back at the year in pop culture and Freeform has “Mary Poppins Returns” (2018), an amiable musical sequel with Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda.