1) Thanksgiving Day parade (shown here in a previous year), 8:30 a.m. to noon, NBC. There’s lots of music, including 12 marching bands and 26 floats, bearing Jon Batiste, Chicago, the Muppets and more. But NBC will start a half-hour earlier than usual, to include the Rockettes and the casts of five Broadway muscials — “Spamalot,” “Back to the Future,” “Shucked,” “& Juliet” and “How to Dance in Ohio.” Also, Broadway’s Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells will work the parade route.
2) Same parade, 9 a.m. to noon, CBS. It’s a double day for Keltie Knight. She hosts the coverage with Kevin Frazier, but she’ll also be a performer. Knight, formerly a Rockette and a New York Knicks cheerleader, will have her moment as Roxie Hart, with the Broadway cast of “Chicago.” CBS also has the casts of “Aladdin” and “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.”
3) Post-parade. Some people will stick with NBC for the National Dog Show at noon and a parade rerun at 2 p.m. Others will catch a football tripleheader. It’s Packers-Lions at 12:30 p.m. ET on Fox, Commanders-Cowboys at 4:30 p.m. on CBS and 49ers-Seahawks at 8:20 on NBC.
4) More Christmas. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of “The Year Without a Santa Claus,” the animated special with Mickey Rooney. It’s at 4:12 p.m. today on TNT, surrounded by holiday movies, including “Polar Express” at 2:12 and “Elf” at 7. Also, Hallmark debuts “Catch Me If You Can” at 8 p.m.; that’s tonight’s only new holiday film, but 13 more are coming this weekend.
5) “Ghosts U.K.,” 9 p.m., CBS. The American “Ghosts” (rerunning at 8:30, after a “Young Sheldon” rerun at 8) has been reluctant to show these now-ghosts dying, but the original, British one jumps right into it. As this episode (the third) begins, we see the Scout leader’s final moments. Like the two previous episodes, this is louder and more frenetic than the American version, but not as funny. Another episode follows at 9:30.