1) “The Year: 2025,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. Others have taken one-hour looks at the year in pop culture, but now ABC takes two hours to do it both ways. There’s the serious side — wars, wildfires, domestic turmoil, new pope, etc. — and the light side. The latter has interviews with Robert Irwin (shown here), the Jonas Brothers, Luke Bryan, podcasters, influencers and more. Read more…
1) “A Grammy Celebration of Latin Music,” 8-10 p.m., CBS. The night is stuffed with music from Gloria Estefan, Jon Secada, Angela Aguilar (shown here), Andrea Bocelli, Luis Fonsi, Michael Buble, Robin Thicke, the cast of Broadway’s “Buena Vista Social Club” and more. Also, there are comments by Carlos Santana, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rita Moreno and others. Read more…
1) Bowl games. Eight bowls are packed into one day. ABC has Penn State and Clemson at noon ET, Brigham Young (shown here, ranked No. 12) and Georgia Tech (No. 22) at 3:30, and Virginia (No. 19) and Missouri at 7:30. There’s more on ESPN (11 a.m. amd 3:15 a.m., 5:45 and 9:15 p.m.) And CW has the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl (really) at 4:30. Read more…
1) Football, ESPN. After a one-day pause, the bowl binge is back with three games today and eight (really) on Saturday. Today has Northwestern (shown here) and Central Michigan at 1 p.m ET., New Mexico and Minnesota at 4:30 and Florida International and Texas — San Antonio at 8. Read more…
1) “Christmas Day Parade,” 10 a.m. ET (but 5 a.m. PT, ABC. Bouncing through the Disney parks, this gives Christmas a cheery star.t It includes music by Coco Jones, Gwen Stefani, Lady A, Bebe Rexha, Nicole Scherzinger (shown here), Iam Tongi and Mariah the Scientist. Read more…
1) “A Christmas Story” (1983) marathon, 8 p.m., TBS; 9 p.m., TNT. This modest-budgeted gem (shown here) reruns every two hours, for 24 hours. It’s filled with memories of a 1940s childhood — some of them dark, some nostalgic and many of them surprisingly funny.
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1) “Kennedy Center Honors,” 8-10:30 p.m., CBS. This used to be one of TV’s best shows. Now a politicized version has Trump-approved honorees (George Strait, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford, KISS) and mid-level performers. Still, it also has Kelsey Grammer, plus stars of country (Garth Brooks, Miranda Lambert, Brooks & Dunn), gospel and more. (Shown here are David Phelps and Laura Osnes.) Read more…
1) “Christina Aguilera: Christmas in Paris,” 9- p.m., CBS. Here’s a late addition to CBS’ holiday line-up: With the Eiffel Tower in the background, Aguilera (shon here in a previous concert) performs Christmas classics and her past hits. She’s joined by French singer Yseult and by Sheila E. Read more…
1) “The Road” finale, 9:30 p.m., CBS (but 9 p.m. on the West Coast). Beautifully produced, this started with 12 talented singers opening for Keith Urban in country bars. Despite some flaws — songs cut too short, over-focusing on rowdy tunes — it’s been terrific. Now it’s down to (from left), Channing Wilson, 49; Cassidy Daniels, 25; Adam Sanders, 37. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Here are opposites in many ways: Ariana Grande, who hosts, is 32; Cher (shown here), the music guest, is 79. Grande has a gentle voice and presence; Cher us a booming alto with a towering persona. But both are talented stars; Cher’s only other time as music guest was in 1987 … six years before Grande was born. Read more…
