1) “Christmas at the Opry,” 8-10 p.m. Thursday, NBC. Brenda Lee recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” 65 years ago, when she was 13; she first sang at the Grand Ole Opry (and met Elvis Presley) a year before that. Now this special has singers of all sizes, from the 4-foot-9 Lee to the 6-foot-6 Trace Adkins (shown here). Others are Kelly Clarkson, Chris Janson, Mickey Guyton, Adam Doleac, Lauren Alaina, Wynonna Judd (who hosts) and more.
2) “A Grammy Salute to Hip Hop,” 8:30-10:30 p.m. Sunday, CBS (but 8-10 p.m. on the West Coast. Fifty years and four months ago, experts say, the first hip hop party was held in Brooklyn. Now the music is celebrated, in a night that includes three people who went on to big acting careers – Will Smith (re-united here with DJ Jazzy Jeff), Queen Latifah (whose “Equalizer” rerun follows) and LL Cool J. Others are Common, Cypress Hill, MC Lyte, 2 Chainz and more.
3) “Dancing With the Stars” finale, 8 p.m Tuesday., ABC and Disney+. Last week, the show said dancers had to push extra hard to reach the finals … then advanced all five of them. Now (with last week’s scores carrying over) we have Charity Lawson, Jason Mraz, Alyson Hannigan, Xochiti Gomez and Ariana Madix. Mraz will also sing; there will be performances by 2022 champ Charli D’Amelio and by co-hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough.
4) Dating show finales. As winter reaches parts of the country, it’s time to wrap up shows that have lusty folks in bikinis and swim trunks. From 8-11 p.m. Thursday is ABC’s “Bachelor in Paradise”; it had 30 singles (including former “Bachelorette” Rachel Recchi), but 11 were gone after three weeks. From 9-10 p.m. Friday is CW’s “FBoy Island”; three women (including former “Bachelorette” Katie Thurston) choose a guy … then learn if he’s in it for love.
5) Dramas, Wednesday. With so many music and reality shows, where are the dramas? Mostly, packed together on Wednesdays. There’s a terrific “Buccaneers” (Apple TV+); setting up next week’s finale, Nan loves two guys and loathes her sister. And a so-so “Quantum Leap” (8 p.m., NBC); the old-Salem setting is interesting, but the solution is a stretch. Also: “Magnum P.I.” (9 p.m., NBC) and “Sullivan’s Crossing” and “Spencer Sisters” (8 and 9 p.m., CW).
6) “The Voice” and “Blake Shelton’s Holiday Bartacular,” 8 and 10 p.m. today, NBC. “The Voice” finally goes live, as the top 12 acts perform and viewers vote. Then Shelton, the show’s former star, presides over an hour of games and music at Ole Red — the bar he named after a song he learned from Hoyt Axton as a teen newcomer in Nashville. If you like that, you’ll find some more of the same in “Barmageddon,” at 11 p.m. today on the USA Network.
7) “Fargo,” 10 p.m. Tuesday, FX. On Halloween, four masked thugs find Dot’s house. They plan to whisk her to the brutal husband (Jon Hamm) she fled from; she prefers her current husband, who’s gently oblivious. What follows is a 15-minute scene that’s sort of “Home Alone” on hyperdrive. This season sharply blends dark humor, quick violence and great characters, including Juno Temple as Dot and Jennifer Jason Leigh as her cold mother-in-law.
8) “Primetime Hoops” opener, 7 and 9 p.m. ET Saturday, Fox. As other shows falter, Fox prefers live events – wrestling on Fridays, pro football Sunday afternoons, college basketball Saturdays. That starts here with UCLA at Villanova and Notre Dame at Marquette. Before that, Fox has Syracuse and Georgetown at 10:30 a.m. and Alabama-Purdue at 1:30 p.m. There’s more on cable, plus the final game of the pros’ in-season tournament, at 8:30 on ABC.
9) “MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays,” 8 p.m. Sunday, Fox; concludes the next day. “9-year-old shouldn’t have so much pressure on them,” Emerson groans. He’s only been cooking for a year, but othesrs have been at it much longer. “I’ve been preparing to be the world’s best chef since I was 4,” says Lorenzo, now 11. By the end of the first hour, three of the kids are crying and the other six seem quite jolly. Pressure and all, this is a fun start.
10) Family fun, Sunday. The brilliant “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is at 7 and 7:30 p.m. on TBS, facing an ABC surge: “Mickey Saves Christmas” and “Olaf’s Frozen Christmas” at 7 and 7:30 and the gorgeous “Frozen” (2013) at 8. More holiday shows? There are new movies on Lifetime (Tia Mowry and Buddy Valastro in “Yes, Chef! Christmas” at 8), Hallmark, Great American Family and UpTV, plus “Great Christmas Light Fight,” at 10 on ABC.