Daily Best Bets

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…

1) “CSI: Vegas” finale, 10 p.m., CBS. Since its debut (shown here) in October, this has focused on a key story: Evidence suggests Hodges faked his lab work. His old friends (Grissom and Sidle) have been trying to show he’s been framed; if they fail, he’ll go to prison and countless convictions will be thrown out. Now – in the 10th and final episode of the season (and maybe the end of the series) – Hodges is missing. His friends desperately search for him. Read more…

1) “Abbott Elementary” debut, 9:30 p.m., ABC. A slow year for situation comedies is suddenly brightening. Too terrific ones get advance peeks – “Abbott” tonight and NBC’s “American Auto” next Monday – before getting weekly spots next month. Quinta Brunson (shown here) created this, produces it and stars as an earnest elementary-school teacher. Indeed, all the teachers here try hard, despite meager fundling and a clueless principal. The result manages to be both warm and funny. Read more…

1) “The Voice” semi-finals, 8-10 p.m., NBC. A week from the finale, “Voice” is down to eight acts – three on Blake Shelton’s team, two each with Kelly Clarkson and John Legend, only one with Ariana Grande. Now they perform and viewers vote; on Tuesday, five – tonight’s top four and one instant save – will advance. Tonight is all-music for NBC, with Michael Buble (shown here in a previous year) offering a special at 10, marking the 10th-anniversary of his best-selling Christmas album. Read more…

.1) “A Home for the Holidays,” 9:30 p.m., CBS (but 9 p.m. PT). There’s music starpower here, with Justin Bieber (shown here), Alessia Cara, Darren Criss and Kane Brown. And between songs, there are true stories of adoptions. We’ll meet a UCLA freshman who was in nine foster homes in her first 12 years. And a former adoptee who now has an adoptive son. And a family that had three biological siblings, then adopted a boy and his baby sister. We’ll also see a girl’s adoption being finalized. Read more…

1) “A Clusterfunke Christmas,” 7 p.m., Comedy Central. If you’ve seen a few Christmas movies, you’ll like this; if you’ve seen a lot of them, you’ll love it. It skillfully skewers their cliches, including the basic plot: A citydweller – accomplished, attractive, lonely – goes to a small town for a business deal … then discovers home-style warmth. Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch (left and right) wrote a delightful script and co-star as the inn-owners. Vella Lovell stars (center), with Cheyenne Jackson as the hunky guy with an ax. Read more…