1) Rose Parade, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET , NBC, ABC, Peacock and RFD-TV. The New Year’s Day party begins — a day late. With Jan. 1 on a Sunday, the parade (shown here in a previous year) was delayed a day; now it booms through Pasadena, with 21 bands, including ones from Italy, Japan, Mexico, Panama and Taiwan. The theme is “Turning the Corner” and there are 40 floats … some of which, in the past, had trouble turning corners.
2) Bowl games. Scurrying to avoid a Sunday, several bowls – including the semi-finals for the national championship – were held Saturday. Still, ESPN has two big ones today: At 1 p.m. ET, the Cotton Bowl has Southern California (ranked No. 10) and Tulane (No. 16); at 5, the Rose Bowl has Utah (No. 8) and Penn State (No. 11). Also, at noon, it’s Illinois and Mississippi State on ESPN2; at 1, the Citrus Bowl has Purdue and Louisiana State on ABC.
3) “Fantasy Island” season-opener, 8 p.m., Fox, The supernatural touch is dialed up a few notches here – even offering a cross-species transformation. The main story has Cheryl Hines and Rachael Harris as friends seeking the prom and popularity they never had. It’s an OK story that also has major changes in the romances of the show’s regular characters.
4) “America’s Got Talent: All-Stars” debut, 8-10 p.m., NBC. The “Got Talent” format has sprawled across more than 70 versions, on every continent except Antarctica. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Slovenia also have talent, it seems. Now previous contestants from many of those versions get a second chance here. The auditions start today and Tuesday.
5) “Quantum Leap” return, 10 p.m., NBC. Ben suddenly finds himself in 1979 Chicago, as the bodyguard for a likable pop star. It’s a strong episode that lets him reflect on his relationship with his fiancee … who, for him, currently exists as only a hologram.