Mike Hughes

1) “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” 7:30 p.m., PBS (check local listings) and PBS Kids; “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” 8 p.m., TBS. By coincidence, two of TV’s all-time greatest half-hours run back-to-back. The Charlie Brown cartoons had gone to Apple TV+, causing fears that a classic (shown here) would be out-of-reach for many people. Then came a compromise: Non-subscribers can find it this weekemd (through tonight) on Apple online; it’s at 7:30 p.m. nationally on PBS Kids and most PBS stations. Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Here’s a top music guest – Bruce Springsteen (shown here), in his fourth time on the show. The host is Timothee Cyears after Springsteen’s “Born to Run.”halamet, who was Oscar-nominated for “Call Me By Your Name,” co-starred in “Little Women” … and was born 20 years after “Born to Run.” Read more…

1) “The Prom” (shown here), any time, Netflix. This reached Broadway two years ago, drawing seven Tony nominations, including best musical. It tells of a bunch of stars who head to a small town to create a party for a teen who wasn’t allowed to take her girlfriend to the prom. Now Ryan Murphy (“Glee”) has turned it into a movie with, appropriately, a bunch of stars – Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Tracey Ullman, Kerry Washington and Andrew Rannells. Read more…

1) “One Night Only: The Best of Broadway,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. For Broadway, this is the lost year. Shows have been closed since March; they won’t re-open until at least June. Two key openings have been pushed back to September and December. Now Tina Fey hosts a concert from the streets of New York. That includes her “Mean Girls” cast (shown here onstage) and the casts of “Ain’t Too Proud,” “Rent,” “Jersey Boys,” “Jagged Little Pill” and “Diana,” plus Kelly Clarkson, Brett Eldredge and Patti LaBelle. Read more…

1) “The Grinch Musical,” 8 p.m., NBC. This has lingered on the fringe of the theater world. It was on Broadway (2006, 2007) and on tour (four times), but always confined to two-month, holiday spurts. Now it’s been done in London for NBC, with Matthew Morrison (shown here) starring, amid a “Grinch” overload. FX has the animated movie (2018) at 8 and 10 today and Saturday, then 9 and 11 p.m. Sunday. Freeform has the Jim Carrey film, at 8:20 p.m. Thursday; TBS has the cartoon classic at 8 p.m. Sunday. Read more…

1) “Transplant” season-finale, 9 and 10 p.m., NBC. This series started with Bashir Hamed (shown here)  – once a battlefront doctor for Syrian rebels – working at a Toronto restaurant. Tragedy struck and he saved a customer (Dr. Bishop) by drilling into his skull; Bishop soon hired him. Now come belated aftershocks. This is a taut and emotional two-parter with about five endings – four powerful and one confusing. Read more…