1) “National Christmas Tree Lighting,” 8 p.m., CBS. It was on Christmas Eve in 1923 that the first national tree was lit. It’s been an annual event (shown here) ever since; here’s the 100th; LL Cool J hosts the telecast, with music by Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain, Andy Grammer, Joss Stone and the Army band. For another Washington visit, catch HGTV at 6 p.m.; it looks at the White House Christmas decorations.
2) “Must Love Christmas,” 9-11 p.m., CBS. Amid a sea of so-so Christmas movies, this one stands apart. It has sharp casting — Liza Lapira (“Equalizer”) is terrific in the lead – and a story that includes surprise romances. Also, it toys with the notion of Christmas cliches. Lapira plays an author whose book is going badly … as we see, with a scene from it. She takes a trip to break out of her writing funk … and changes lives along the way.
3) “The Great North,” 8:30 p.m., Fox. Christmas is a fine time for secrets and grudges. The kids’ secret involves a reindeer, hidden in the outhouse; their grudge involves the time their dad designated a beloved (albeit annoying) toy for a white-elephant swap. It’s a funny episode that ends with a clever dueling-toys song. Afterward, “Bob’s Burgers” has a fairly funny episode with troubling math – two parents and three simultaneous kids’ events.
4) “George & Tammy,” 9 p.m., Showtime. Last week’s opener (rerunning at 7 p.m.) ended with a knight-in-shining-armor/”Officer and a Gentleman” moment: George Jones swooped Tammy Wynette and her daughters away from her insulting husband and toward the big time. It was fun, but now we face Jones’ alcoholism. This is a tough episode, saved in the final minutes by the emotional power of Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man.”
5) ALSO: Two shows end their seasons tonight: At 9 p.m. (rerunning at 10:20 and 11:40) is HBO’s acclaimed “The White Lotus”; at 10 is Showtime’s vampire drama, “Let the Right One In.” Then there’s Great American Family: Several of its films have been solid entrants in the Christmas movie field, but “Crown Prince of Christmas” (8 p.m.) is not. Badly written and stiffly acted, it closes with the most shabby “royal banquet” in human history.