1) “Grinch” and more, TNT. Three of the best Christmas shows are packed into one night. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (shown here) – a wondrous mix of humor and emotion – is at 7 and 9:30 p.m., each time leading into a terrific movie. It’s “A Christmas Story” (1983) at 7:30 and Patrick Stewart’s “Christmas Carol” at 10. Both will be back on Christmas night – “Grinch” on NBC, “Story” in a 24-hour marathon. Read more…
1) Bahamas Bowl, noon ET, ESPN. Few people will be in the stands, watching teams that barely averted losing records. But the weather and scenery should be splendid and this starts the 42-game bowl flurry. Toledo (7-5) and Middle Tennessee (6-6) play in a 15,000-seat stadium. The first game, in 2014, had acrea of empty seats (shown here), but was a spectacular, 49-48 shoot-out, so this could be fun. There’s one more bowl today – Coastal Carolina (10-3) and Northern Illinois (9-4) at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2 – and six more on Saturday. Read more…
1) “Ghosts,” 9 p.m., CBS. It’s been a long time since anyone held a dinner party in this big old house. When the new owners (shown here, foreground) invite the nosy neighbors, the ghosts want to join in; they soon create problems … and a solution. That’s in a fairly good, all-rerun night for the CBS comedies, starting with “Young Sheldon” being a lab assistant. Read more…
1) “The Masked Singer” finale, 8-10 p.m., Fox. Last week, the show unmasked a pair of big-time music stars – David Foster, 72, a producer and 16-time Grammy-winner, and Katharine McPhee, 37, an “American Idol” runner-up and “Scorpion” star. They’re married (her second, his fifth) and appeared as Banana Split. Now the singer who beat them, Queen of Hearts (shown here), faces Bull, who topped Faith Evans. Read more…
1) “The Voice” finale, 9-11 p.m., NBC. At the end of the night, the show names its 21st champion. The final five acts include two with Blake Shelton (Wendy Moten and Paris Winningham), two with Kelly Clarkson (the Girl Named Tom sibling trio, shown here, and Hailey Mia), one with John Legend (Jershika Maple), none with Ariana Grande. First comes a flood of music, from the finalists and coaches, plus Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Ed Sheeran, Walker Hayes, Carrie Underwood (with Legend) and a Keke Palmer/Tori Kelly duet. Read more…
1) “American Auto” (shown here) debut, 10 and 10:30 p.m, NBC. Trying to survive against auto giants, Payne Motors pins its hopes on two changes – a new CEO (Ana Gasteyer) and a self-driving car. Alas, the CEO doesn’t know (or care) much about cars. And the self-driver … well, there’s a funny surprise we won’t spoil. This show – which gets a weekly spot Jan. 4 – is another delight for producer Justin Spitzer (“Superstore”) and for Gasteyer, whose recent “Clusterfunke Christmas” is a delight. Read more…
1) “A Christmas Proposal,” 8:30 p.m., CBS. For the first time in nine years, CBS has a made-for-TV movie. It has two, actually – Christmas films on consecutive Sundays. This one takes a half-hour to get its plot in motion, but is mostly worth the wait. Jessica Camacho (“All Rise”) is radiant as a smart and skilled chef who gets by as an Uber-type driver; Adam Rodriguez (“CSI: Miami”) plays a lawyer who – like most Christmas-movie guys – keeps staring at his laptop. (They’re shown here.) Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 pm., NBC. Billie Eilish (shown here) becomes the first person this season to double as host and music guest. She’s also the first to do it since Nick Jonas in February; since then, three people who had previously hosted – Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and Halsey – settled for being music guest. Eilish also may be the youngest person to do both; she’ll be a teen until next Saturday. When she was 17, she became the second person ever (after Christopher Cross) to sweep the top four Grammys Read more…
1) “West Side Story” (1961), 8 p.m ET., Turner Classic Movies. On the day Steven Spielberg’s version reaches theaters, TCM has the original from 60 years ago. It’s flawed – heavy-handed plot, cliched (almost cartoonish) characters and the casting of non-singers (Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer, shown here) who were then dubbed. But all of that is overridden by a confluence of genius – music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, choreography by Jerome Robbins. The flaws fade; this won 10 Oscars, including best picture. Read more…
1) “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 9 p.m., NBC. For a dozen years, Chris Meloni was Stabler, a sturdy “SVU” cop. (He’s shown here with Mariska Hargitay as Benson.) He left in 2011, but returned a decade later – on this show and the one that follows – as Stabler probed his wife’s murder. Now Wheeler – a businessman/mobster – faces trial for ordering the killing. Benson fumes when her ex-colleague Barba (Raul Esparza) is the defense lawyer. Read more…
